KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Prairie Village woman's dream job is gone. She'd been working for 10 months in a job for the federal government.
Maria Loconsolo found out by email she's out of work.
Loconsolo’s eyes still shine when she talks about her former job.
“I’ve never been prouder than I was in that position,” Loconsolo said. “I can't describe to you the amount of joy I experienced every day working that job."
She worked for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Region 7, which includes Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri.
Loconsolo said she served as a pathway, connecting regional behavioral health organizations to federal resources and grants.
On Valentine’s Day, she packed items from her office and took them home.
Although she normally wouldn’t be checking her email on a Saturday, she was expecting bad news.
In her inbox, she found the email with the termination letter.
“It was just devastating," she said. "As soon as I opened the letter, I burst out into tears. It’s been a time of grief.”
Loconsolo said her department used to have three employees, but two of them were terminated.
They are among the thousands of federal workers left jobless by nationwide downsizing.
“We're the ones who are helping the helpers, and if those helpers don't have that extra support, then they won't know what resources are available to them,” Loconsolo said. “They’re so busy providing direct services that they don’t have time for research or reading.”
She is trying to move on.
Although she is looking for new opportunities, she is still holding on to her old job title, at least on LinkedIn.
“I just put "former" in parentheses because if I'm not that, I don't really know what I am anymore,” Loconsolo said. “Knowing that I have to find another way to dream is very hard.”
Now, she's rediscovering herself, hoping to find her identity and joy in the opportunities ahead, just as she did before.
“I am committed to staying in the helping field in some way, whether that's in a nonprofit or continuing in public service in another capacity,” Loconsolo said.
KSHB 41 reporter Fe Silva covers education stories involving K-12. Share your story idea with Fe.
