Mario Edwards, a 30-year-old, African American man who lives in Lynwood with his wife and 3 young children (ages 12, 6 and 1), is dedicated to his family and doing whatever he needs to provide for them. A native of Los Angeles and a true survivor himself, Mario knows firsthand the importance of family having overcome a number of struggles early in life, including being shot multiple times while in his senior year at Dorsey High School. Pulling through, Mario resumed school at Los Angeles’ View Park High School, where he graduated and then shortly thereafter welcomed his first daughter into the world.

With a growing family to care for and determined to do all he could to provide, Mario worked for a number of years in a warehouse as a shipping and receiving clerk. He also did some housekeeping work to help make ends meet. So, when Mario’s Grandmother shared with him a flyer she had received from church with information about the Hospitality Training Academy (HTA) and a new U.S. Department of Labor Room Attendant/Housekeeping Apprenticeship Program they were launching, he decided to go check it out. (more…)