WHEELING, W.Va. -- Working for a company that chartered private flights, Emiley Robinson, knew a layoff was possible, but she had no idea it would hit her so hard, and so soon.

“My boss leaned into my office on a Thursday and said by the way tomorrow's your last day,” she said. "I was sent away that day. No severance, no nothing. Health insurance gone. Cell phone gone. Laptop gone," she said.

That's where West Virginia Northern Community College's dislocated workers program comes in. It's free classes for degrees like culinary arts, health care and real estate. They're open to West Virginia residents who have been laid off in the past 180 days.

The program is designed to get the students through the classes and back into the workforce within a year.

"We were very careful in the programs we chose to make sure it's something that's available in the area right now,” said Janet Fike, WVNCC’s Dean of Enrollments Management.

Each person who stopped at the college's open house today has their own story. And all are looking for the training that could get them a more stable job.

"Our goal is to carry them through the entire degree. So as long as they're taking courses related to that degree, the program is set to carry them for the entire degree," Fike said.

It's a blessing for people like Robinson who said they had nowhere else to turn.

"I just hope to benefit as much as I can from it, get the most education I can out of what they're offering,” Robinson said. “Thank God they're offering something like this."