The strikes against me

Greetings TR board. Started reading this board within the last month and am very impressed with the wealth of knowledge, and the civil and friendly tone. (Well, mostly. Every board has a few knots.)

I'm 40, looking to get into commercial driving. There's several things I worry are going to make it difficult to get hired.

1. Work History. In 2005 I was let go from my job of 10 years, self-termination for company policy - 2 NCNS within a year. One of those NCNS could've been argued (I did call in before the shift), but it's a little late now.
(NCNS = No Call No Show, for those wondering.)

Since then, there's not much but 6 months at a construction site and several temp jobs that lasted 30 days each. I've mostly been off-the-radar, doing handyman projects and other odd jobs, staying with relatives for extended periods, etc... Enough to cover living expenses, but not enough to dig out of:

2. Credit History. Loss of job led to loss of house, as in foreclosure. Loss of house led to IRS demanding repayment of 401k loan that I took out to purchase house. I currently owe money to IRS and state gov't.
Not a TON of money, less than 1k, but still, it's on the record.
Also left a $5000 balance on credit card go unpaid.
So yeah, my credit score is pretty much FUBAR.

On the positive side, I do have a clean driving record for at least the last 10 years, no criminal record. I'm single, no kids to support, no ex'es or other skeletons to deal with. My eyeglass prescription could probably use an update, but I'm otherwise in good health, knock on wood.

I'm in Wisconsin, so looking at the schools here. Would love to go to Fox Valley, but commuting to Appleton is not an option and I couldn't afford lodging for weeks, so it would have to be Waukesha Tech.
Also looking into companies in the Wisconsin area that train newbies, like Roehl and Millis. Haven't found any others yet. Still browsing the DAC board.

I'm just really nervous that my work/credit histories are going to put my app into the circular file - the few places I've applied to so far have yet to contact me. Maybe it's just the holidays... I hope...

Appreciate any insight you can give about my situation, suggestions on companies to check into, loans (I'm looking into WIA), words of comfort... hugs... PM's from recruiters...

Thanks!