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From Starting Over to Leading the Way
How Rachael Clark overcame brain surgery and turned a crisis into a calling through AARP Foundation SCSEP.
When Rachael Clark talks about her career, she doesn’t describe a straight line. Instead, the former fitness instructor talks about seasons — periods of moving forward, setbacks and devastating health challenges that knocked her off course, and moments when help arrived just when she needed it most.
“I’ve learned that sometimes you don’t see the full picture right away,” Rachael says. “But if you stay open, things start to make sense.”
That understanding is rooted in a long journey that brought her full circle — from out of work to a participant in AARP Foundation SCSEP (Senior Community Service Employment Program) to one of the program’s project directors. SCSEP is a federally funded job training program that places eligible adults 55 and older in paid community service assignments to build skills and support their transition into unsubsidized employment.
A Life of Service — and Sudden Setbacks
Rachael was born and raised in Seattle, where she first developed a passion for wellness and helping others. As a single mother, she worked full time while earning a degree in exercise science and juggling jobs, school, and parenting responsibilities.
“Wellness was always my happy place,” she says. “I believed people heal from the inside out.”
Over the years, Rachael built a career that blended fitness instruction, CPR training, teaching high school health classes, and community service. She lived in California for two decades, where she taught, spoke at workshops, and continued working in health and wellness. But in her late 40s, her life changed dramatically.
Rachael experienced serious health issues that limited her ability to work in fitness. Multiple surgeries — including back surgery and brain surgery for a lesion on her pituitary gland that was causing severe and long-lasting headaches — forced her to stop doing what she loved.
“Fitness was my identity,” she says. “I was all about health and movement. And suddenly, I couldn’t do any of it.”
Looking for a Way Forward
Learn how you might receive paid on-the-job training while working for community organizations near you.
By the time the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Rachael found herself unemployed and dealing with ongoing health challenges. Never one to sit around and just take it, she made the decision, after feeling guided by her faith to “go home,” to return to Washington state to help care for her grandsons and repair what had been a rocky relationship with her son.
Rachael Clark and her son, Pfylip
But she still faced the same question many older workers confront: What comes next?
The answer emerged from a conversation with a neighbor, who suggested that Rachael look into SCSEP.
“I didn’t really understand it at first,” Rachael says. So she did what she had always done — she studied. She read the handbook, asked questions and decided to give the program a chance.
Finding Purpose in the Program
Because of COVID, her initial training was virtual. After travel became easier, though, she was able to take a trip to Georgia to visit her mother, who was being cared for by Rachael’s sister as she battled what the doctors said was COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). Sadly, it turned out to be stage four cancer and less than two weeks later, her mother was gone. It was a big blow. But then, as had happened for her before, things turned in a more fortuitous direction. She got a call from the SCSEP project director back in Washington: He wanted her to come work in the office. Rachael said to herself, “OK I think I need something at this point, right?” So she said yes.
Rachael took on an office role as a participant assistant. Drawing on her background in teaching and training, she quickly became a go-to resource — learning multiple functions, cross-training in payroll and compliance, and helping others navigate unfamiliar systems.
“I saw how overwhelmed other participants could feel,” she says. “I didn’t want anyone to feel lost the way I did at first.”
Her leadership didn’t go unnoticed. When her project director left, Rachael stepped up — helping keep the office running, supporting staff and maintaining accountability during a transition period. During this time, she was also grieving the loss of her mother. Eventually, she was invited to apply for the project director role herself.
“What I didn’t realize at the time was that SCSEP was preparing me,” she says. “All the things I’d been through were lining up for this.”
Today in her role as a project director, Rachael supports program participants who are navigating job loss, health issues, caregiving responsibilities or housing instability.
She says her goal is “to give people dignity, clarity and support while they figure out what’s next.”
Helping Others See What’s Possible
Rachael says the most rewarding part of her work is watching confidence return.
“There’s a moment when people realize, I can do this,” she says. “That twinkle in their eyes comes back.”
Whether she’s helping someone find stable housing, regain workplace skills or simply feel seen during a difficult chapter, Rachael views SCSEP as a bridge — not a destination.
“We’re a hand up,” she says. “We help people get steady so they don’t have to make desperate choices.”
For Rachael, SCSEP didn’t just provide employment — it offered purpose at a moment when she needed it most.
“I came into this program unsure of where I was going,” she says. “Now I get to walk alongside others and say, ‘You’re going to be okay.’ And I mean it — because I’ve lived it.”
Learn more about AARP Foundation SCSEP and how to apply.
Read more stories about how our programs have helped people find hope, and about the volunteers who give so much of themselves to help others.