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The original was posted on /r/upliftingnews by /u/thepucollective on 2025-03-25 19:58:09+00:00.

As a teenager, Aaron Valencia didn’t think much about his future. He struggled with drug addiction, homelessness and family members in and out of prison. He wouldn’t have guessed that one day he would be running a free vocational training center for youth just like him.

In 2014, Valencia created the Lost Angels Career Center, formerly known as the Lost Angel’s Children Project, to provide at-risk youth with stability and set them on a clear career trajectory. The California center pays 18- to 24-year-old students to learn skills like welding, auto-mechanics and 3D design over 12 weeks.

After the program, the center helps students get a career in the aerospace industry. Lost Angels boasts a 95% graduation rate and a 97% hiring rate, getting hundreds of young adults jobs at companies like NASA, Northrop Grumman and MS Aerospace.