Van Carlisle, an outreach care coordinator for CareSouth, went back to school at Northeastern Technical College after being laid off from a textile mill. Earning health care program certificates through the College’s continuing education division, Carlisle, of McColl, was hired by CareSouth Carolina and has since received a state award for community outreach.

January 26, 2011
Former Textile Worker Learns New Career Skills at NETC

The work force needs more Van Carlisles, according to a CareSouth Carolina employee, who says her coworker’s high energy and positive attitude keeps the office charged up.

An outreach care coordinator for CareSouth, Carlisle, of McColl, provides health screenings and education on stroke prevention for the Marlboro County area through the Stroke Mobile Project.

“While (Carlisle) does the screenings, he talks with the participants. He gets to know you as a person not just a body in the chair,” said Karen Montoya-Butler, community development technical advisor. “He puts the ‘care’ in CareSouth Carolina when he is out in the community doing screenings and representing us.”

He was recently awarded for his dedication to the community’s welfare by being named South Carolina Primary Health Care Association’s Outreach Worker of the Year for 2010. This is a big honor for someone who wasn’t in the health care field four short years ago.

For 22 years, Carlisle was a weaver for the textile manufacturing company WestPoint Stevens in Wagram, N.C. In October 2006, he was laid off. But Carlisle, who has always had a strong work ethic, didn’t sit around wondering, “What now?” He enrolled in classes at Northeastern Technical College in order to pursue a job in health care, which had always interested him.

After a year of nursing prerequisite courses, Carlisle looked into NETC’s continuing education classes related to health care and enrolled in the nursing assistant and phlebotomy certificate programs. Through the College’s continuing education division, he began doing lab work for CareSouth and volunteered to help with health screenings for the Stroke Mobile Project.

The position with the community outreach program was only temporary, but CareSouth valued Carlisle as an employee and the skills he brought to the job, so a position was created for him. He became the outreach care coordinator for the Stroke Mobile Project.

“They saw how I conducted myself professionally and how well I interacted with people that they wanted to keep me,” Carlisle said of CareSouth. “While I’ve moved away from the medical part and am more into the outreach part of health care, I know it’s where I’m meant to be. I absolutely love my job.”

Carlisle’s decision to go back to school after 20 years and learn a new skill has changed his life.

“I was in a position personally and financially to make school a priority, and it became my main responsibility,” he said. “I believe you get out of an education what you put into it.”

“I’m very proud to say I went to Northeastern Technical College, and now my son, Daniel, is enrolled in NETC’s nursing program,” Carlisle said.

Father and son have worked side by side at CareSouth health screenings in which NETC nursing students have assisted.

“I’m thankful for the opportunity that was put in front of me through NETC’s continuing education division,” Carlisle said. “I’ve always strived to do the best that I can do, because that’s when doors start opening for you. And NETC opened this door for me to do what I love most: helping others.”

For more information on NETC’s certified nursing assistant (CNA) and phlebotomy programs, contact the division of continuing education at (843) 921-6900 or 1-800-921-7399 and choose option 4. To obtain a complete list of course offerings this spring, visit Continuing Ed on the Home page and then follow the links to “OnLine Courses” or “OnCampus Courses” listings.