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She had no hope. Her "profession," she said, was drug addiction. From the ages of 16 to 28, Jessica of Granite Falls said she felt hopeless about her life.

Getting her GED through Adult Basic Education last February was the "first sign of hope," for her and it "set in motion a change in her life. I thank God for that opportunity," she said.

She's been clean and sober for 15 months and she's been able to get her three children out of foster care. In addition, she's going to school to become a chemical dependency counselor.

"Without this program, it would not have been possible," Jessica said.

Jessica was one of many former and current participants of programs such as ABE, Private Industry Council and the Workforce Center. They, along with the directors and teachers of the programs, met Monday afternoon to tell legislators the importance of continuing to fund these programs.

Sen. Jim Vickerman, DFL-Tracy, Rep. Lyle Koenen, DFL-Clara City, and Sen. Dennis Frederickson, R-New Ulm, were on hand to hear the stories of how taxpayer dollars are being used in their districts.

As Pat Thomas, the director for Adult Basic Education Southwest, said, "We won't talk about ABE - the stories are more important than stats."

One woman from Guatemala who is learning English through ABE said now she'll be able to talk to her son's teachers.

Another woman has learned English, went to cosmetology school and now has her own business.

Another stood up to say she was the first of her family to go to post-secondary school. She said she had experienced drug addiction, teen pregnancy and even homelessness. Agency employees have helped her in many ways, she said, and now she is going to school to learn radiology.

"I now live on my own with my two children," she said.

Another story was shared by Scott from Russell who lost his job "a little over a year ago," he said.

He figured his best bet was to study for his GED.

"I told the kids, 'I'm going to school,'" he said. "The kids said, 'huh?' 'Yeah Dad never graduated.'"

He said he appreciated the opportunity that ABE is giving him.

Mohamed Ahmed, the human resource representative for Turkey Valley Farms, said Turkey Valley employs about 330 people from "different backgrounds and different levels of education."

Ahmed said over the years, ABE and Turkey Valley have developed a "close relationship and when employees get their GED and learn English - we win as well."

After hearing the stories, Frederickson said that when legislators are in St. Paul, "all we see is a line of big numbers. Now we'll be able to think of the faces behind those numbers."