Shavouya Terry runs Legacy Living Training Center at 4444 Broadway in Gary, Indiana, and she named it for her late grandmother, Diane.
The center trains certified nursing assistants and home health aides and runs CPR certification. The CNA course is four weeks, costs $1,200, and the price covers training materials, scrubs, CPR training, and the other supplies the state requires. The first two weeks can be taken in a hybrid format. A self-paced home health aide course costs $500 and carries an in-person CPR component and an eight-hour hands-on boot camp. Terry is adding qualified medication aide training at $1,200, with another $300 for insulin training.
Nursing assistants earned a national median annual wage of $42,260 in May 2025, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures, with wages varying by employer and location. It is one of the few routes into a hospital or a nursing home that does not require a degree. What stops people from getting there, on Terry’s account, is not the coursework.
“There are other CNA programs, but people do not always know about them, and cost can keep them from enrolling,” she said.
She struggled with childcare, transportation, and affordability while training as a CNA herself, and she built the center around those three things. “We are near a bus line, have carpooling options, and are exploring additional transportation support,” she said. The center runs payment plans and alternate class schedules.
She chose Gary deliberately. “I felt Gary was often overlooked, and I wanted to bring an opportunity where it was needed,” she said. She grew up in Hammond, and her parents live in Gary.
Classes are capped at ten. “I originally imagined larger classes, but experience taught me the value of small groups,” she said. “We cap classes at 10 so students receive individual attention.” Students arrive from different backgrounds and end up supporting one another.
The CNA course takes students as young as 16. The qualified medication aide program requires an existing CNA credential plus 1,000 hours or 24 months of work experience, with exceptions by application. Some criminal background checks carry five- or ten-year lookback periods.
Terry puts the same question to everybody who walks in. “First, I ask: If you take the money out of it, is this something you would still want to do?” she said.
Free CPR classes and a possible food pantry are part of what she wants the center to become.
