Instrumental Member of the “2nd Chance” Team
As Program Director of 2nd Chance MS in Oxford, Sarah Rose Lomenick gets to follow her “lifelong passion” of working with those who are financially insecure or vulnerable in the population to get back on their feet and find better opportunities.
A non-profit organization founded by father and son, Dickie and Zach Scruggs, 2nd Chance MS, was formed in 2016 to raise awareness—as well as funds—for adult education and vocational skill-training in order to increase the needed knowledge, skills and employability of Mississippi’s workforce.
Lomenick, who joined 2nd Chance MS in 2017, had previously served as County Director for the Department of Human Services of Lafayette County from 2013 to 2017, so the transition to 2nd Chance MS was a natural progression for her, she says.
“I primarily work directly with community colleges in the state to provide wraparound support for adult and workforce training students,” says Lomemick. “I help coordinate the programs we have in place here at 2nd Chance MS, as well as write and review grants for us and other organizations doing similar work.
Lomenick also oversees the various programs which support testing fees, transportation assistance, food vouchers—essentially, anything to help an adult student overcome any obstacles in their educational programs, she said.
“I went to law school at Ole Miss where I received my Juris Doctor in 2010 after getting my undergraduate degree in Liberal Arts in 2007,” says Lomenick. “After getting my law degree, I went to work for the county where I oversaw the SNAP program and child support enforcement programs. So, I’ve always enjoyed helping lower income people after realizing I didn’t really want to go into law full time.”
Lomenick says that she was attracted by the offer to work for 2nd Chance MS because so much more can be done in the non-profit world than through government programs.
“Absolutely,” she enthuses. “We don’t have to deal with all of the red tape and can help individuals basically in any way that is needed and can as long as it’s approved by the schools we’re working with. That frees up our funds to assist people with basic services and needs that no other non-profit or government entity is offering or can offer.”
Since its inception, 2nd Chance MS has helped over 2,100 lower income adults in Mississippi, resulting in 800 High School Equivalencies, 500 employable work skill certifications and 778 Career Readiness Certifications.
Lomenick has also personally been charged with overseeing an innovative program to provide workforce education and training to parents of the children attending Mississippi’s Early Learning Pre-Kindergarten Collaboratives.
“On the 2nd Chance MS Facebook page, we regularly feature one of our success stories, highlighting an individual student we have helped,” says Lomenick, “and that’s one of my favorite parts of this job. Seeing them succeed with confidence and obtaining diplomas and employment is the highlight of my job.”
Lomenick and her husband, Robert, live in Oxford and have two children: Hudson, seven, and Mary Leonard, five. They are members of Oxford University United Methodist Church. Both of her parents grew up in Indianola, and both sets of her grandparents—Sara Jane and Joe Buchanan and Rose and Henry Paris—were longtime residents, so she says she spent many summers in the Delta growing up.
“My love for helping others started during that time spent in Indianola,” says Lomenick, a native of Jackson who grew up in Grenada. “For twelve years, I would go with the Methodist church in Indianola every February on a mission trip to Honduras and that instilled that sense of service in me that I carry with me every single day and apply in my work. I’m very fortunate to work here at 2nd Chance MS.”