Hundreds of laid off federal government workers and contractors are finding new hope through a program at Northern Virginia Community College designed to help people retrain for positions in high-demand fields.

Three decades into his career, 59-year-old Michael Rodriguez managed a team working for Action Against Hunger USA – a job that took him to places like Mali and Fiji. But in January, the Trump administration closed USAID, and as a contractor for the agency, his job was gone, too.

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“I was surprised,” he said. “I knew that there would be changes but I didn’t realize that it would be so sweeping. It was like a tidal wave.”

Putra Kusdarman worked for a USAID contractor, but in May, h

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