When St. Camillus Life Plan Community in Wauwatosa, WI, struggled to recruit skilled electricians, leadership realized they needed a different solution. Instead of continuing an increasingly difficult search for outside talent, they decided to invest in growing their own workforce from within.

That decision led to the creation of an electrician apprenticeship program that is now helping develop highly skilled talent while creating new career pathways for employees.

“We tried for many years to find someone we could train,” said Dan Merian, master electrician, interim maintenance manager, and apprentice supervisor at St. Camillus. “This is a large campus with complex systems, and it’s simply too much for one person to handle alone.”

Today, Electrician Apprentice Izzy Gordon is nearing completion of the program and preparing to graduate from the classroom portion of her apprenticeship after four years of schooling and hands-on training.

Gordon first came to St. Camillus at age 22, working as a cook in the culinary department. Over time, she realized she was looking for a greater challenge and began considering a different career path.

The spark came from one of the most familiar sources of encouragement and inspiration — her mother.

“My mom actually showed me an NPR article about electrical apprenticeships,” Gordon shared. “That’s what first got me interested in becoming an electrician.”

When Gordon later mentioned her growing interest in the trades to Pam Loveless, vice president of human resources at St. Camillus, the idea immediately stood out.

“We had already been struggling to recruit an additional electrician,” Loveless explained. “When Izzy shared that she was interested in the field, it really got us thinking that she could be an excellent fit for an apprenticeship opportunity.”

A Different Approach to Workforce Challenges

Loveless said the apprenticeship idea grew out of both operational necessity and long-term workforce strategy.

“Years ago, one of our facilities' directors recognized that a campus of our scale couldn’t rely solely on maintenance generalists,” Loveless explained. “The systems are too large and too complex.”

St. Camillus ultimately decided to build a specialized in-house trades team that now includes electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians, carpenters, painters, and maintenance staff.

But recruiting skilled tradespeople remains challenging — especially for nonprofit senior living organizations competing against higher-paying union employers and a tight labor market.

“We ran ads over and over and still couldn’t find a second electrician,” Loveless said. “When Izzy expressed interest in a different career path, we realized we had an opportunity.”

Because Merian had previous experience running apprenticeship programs, the organization explored creating a formal apprenticeship through ABC of Wisconsin, a non-union apprenticeship and training organization.

The approval process required St. Camillus to demonstrate that apprentices would receive enough exposure across multiple disciplines and systems to meet state and program requirements.

“That was our biggest hurdle,” Merian said. “We had to prove we could provide enough hours in all the required categories. Once they saw the breadth of systems we work with here, I think they were surprised by how much experience a senior living community could offer.”

Why Senior Living Is an Ideal Training Environment

One of the program’s biggest strengths is the variety of experiences available on campus.

Unlike some apprenticeships that focus heavily on one type of work, St. Camillus exposes apprentices to a wide range of electrical systems and troubleshooting scenarios.

“Every day is different,” Gordon said. “I might deal with a faulty outlet, a breaker that keeps tripping, or a door control issue. Compared with many other apprentices in my class, I get exposure to almost everything.”

Loveless said senior living communities are uniquely positioned to support this kind of learning because of the wide range of environments and systems operating under one roof.

“You’re not just working in one type of setting,” she said. “You’re working in commercial kitchens, industrial power plants, healthcare environments, and residents’ homes. That variety creates an incredibly rich training ground.”

Merian agrees.

“There’s so much more to the trade than pulling wire or bending pipe,” he said. “It’s theory, troubleshooting, and understanding why systems work the way they do. That broad exposure is what creates a well-rounded journeyman.”

The Investment Behind Apprenticeship Success

While apprenticeships can create powerful workforce pipelines, St. Camillus leaders emphasized that they require patience, organizational commitment, and strong mentorship.

“Training definitely slowed things down at first,” Merian admitted. “Early on, I might have completed three jobs by myself in the time it took us to complete one together. But that’s part of the investment.”

Leadership support was essential during those early stages.

“Dan did a great job setting expectations,” Loveless said. “We understood successful training requires time, flexibility, and patience.”

The organization also relied on outside contractors when needed to help balance workloads while maintaining training opportunities for the apprentice.

Merian believes mentorship is one of the most critical ingredients.

“If an organization wants a successful apprenticeship, two things are essential,” he said. “You need a skilled person with the patience to train, and a candidate willing to commit to a long-term process.”

Building Career Pathways — and Organizational Culture

For Gordon, one of the most meaningful parts of the experience has been the support she has received from the broader St. Camillus community.

“Residents, sisters, employees, and even outside providers still ask me how close I am to finishing,” she said. “People remember when I started, and they’ve encouraged me the whole way.”

Loveless believes that sense of community matters.

“She’s one of our own,” she said. “That makes people invested in her success.”

St. Camillus has since expanded apprenticeship opportunities into culinary services and hopes additional programs could eventually develop in areas such as plumbing, HVAC, and carpentry.

The organization also prefers to recruit apprentices internally whenever possible.

“Internal candidates are a known quantity,” Loveless said. “Career ladders help employees see a future here.”

For organizations considering apprenticeships, both Loveless and Merian stress that success depends on culture as much as technical training.

“Apprenticeships reflect organizational culture,” Merian said. “The work, the trainer, the learner, and the administrative support all have to fit together.”

As Gordon prepares to complete her apprenticeship, the program is already demonstrating how senior living organizations can rethink workforce development — not simply by filling positions, but by building careers from within.

“It’s been really rewarding to see how much I’ve grown,” Gordon said. “In the beginning, I didn’t fully understand a lot of what I was doing. Now I can work independently and confidently. Seeing that progression has been the best part.”