Peoplescape: Tania Mercurio

By SHANNYN SNYDER/For the News & Messenger
Published: January 11, 2009

Tania Mercurio is on her way to Quantico Marine Corps base, and then to Fort Belvoir, with flyers and paperwork in hand, but she's not on military business. She is, instead, on a humanitar-ian mission.

Mercurio followed her U.S. Air Force husband to Virginia from her native London, England in 2004. Mercurio, who has four children and a grandchild, now calls Woodbridge home.

Even with 15 prior years experience in marketing and graphic arts, however, she found navigating the job market in the D.C. area to be a challenge.

"I found that networking was a big part of getting a job in this area," Mercurio said. Instead of landing a career, Mercurio found opportunities volunteering with military family readi-ness groups. It was there she connected with many military wives who were experiencing the same obstacles each time they moved to a new community, which can be as often as twice per year.

"The majority of careers in the U.S. have certification requirements that differ from state to state, so frequent relocation can cause significant delays in obtaining employment," Mercurio said. In addition, many employers may not hire military spouses who may resign in a short amount of time, and most military families cannot afford child care or gas to support working outside the home.

Frustration with the job market and the cost of education and certification motivated Mercurio and two fellow colleagues to create Operation Life Transformed (OLT) in 2007. OLT, a national non-profit organization, provides education and resources to military spouses and caregivers through private and public contributions. In short, they provide scholarships to military spouses desiring education and career advancement; and OLT connects them to online training programs and employers who allow telecommuting, transfers and advancement opportunities, regardless of military status.

"Most of our recipients are enrolled in medical transcription certification programs," Mercurio said. It is a portable job, as is data entry, accounting and insurance. "Hartford Insurance will often pay for training and offer an entry-level job to participants," Mercurio said, and OLT has a healthy source of employers, such as INOVA, which continues to hire pro-gram graduates.

"We couldn't do this without donations and contributors," said Mercurio, who counts CVS, Verizon and the Elks Lodge among her most loyal local supporters.

Mercurio wants to assure all potential donors the investment is worthwhile.

"As military wives finish their training, we line up job opportunities that also have pay step increases, and some of them are already surpassing their original earning goals," Mercurio said, adding the return of investment is remarkable, as every military spouse then contributes to her family, community and local economy because she has a job. "If a donor invests $1,000 on 100 military spouses, those spouses will collectively contribute an average of $2.5 million to the economy."

The success stories are numerous, and OLT continues to seek both program participants and scholarship donors. "The more donations we have, the more scholarships we can pro-vide," Mercurio said.

Tiana Karst of Quantico is one such success story.

"OLT and Tania have made a huge impact on my life," Karst said. "I am [half-way through] my Medical Transcription degree and can't wait to start working. With our first baby on the way, I am very excited knowing I will never have to leave our baby alone to go to work. I will be able to still have an income."

Rebecca Regan of Quantico also shares her appreciation for OLT. "It wasn't until I was referred to OLT did my goals for becoming a nurse become real. My husband is currently deployed, we have three children and I needed a program that has online courses to fit my busy schedule. Tania has helped me to get a scholarship and find a nursing program that I can do online and in my spare time," Regan said.

"The last thing deployed service members should be concerned about is the state of family finances back home," Mercurio said.

Shannyn Snyder can be reached at .

INTERESTED?

» WHAT'S UP: Tania Mercurio created Operation Life Transformed, a non-profit providing education and resources to military spouses.

» VISIT: http://www.lifetransformed.org

» CONTACT: Tania Mercurio at or at 703-577-4521.