A post 9/11 veteran discusses her path to employment after graduation
Category: My Story
My Story: Samuel Morales
After successfully serving in the U.S. Army for 21 years, I retired and was ready for a second career. I had experience in Medical Supply Logistics; however, I found myself leaving the military without a degree or certification, and wondering if I would be able to find a job. My military experience unfortunately did not
My Story: Seth Greenwood
For the first 20 years of my life, I made a series of bad choices. I was a father at the age of 14 years old. I was incarcerated several times. It was a continuous cycle until the age of 20. At that point I was incarcerated for six years (until June 2010). During my
My Story: Christcell Grant
Coming into Goodwill, my life was kind of miserable. I was overcoming a lot of distractions as far as getting to work and staying on the job. I needed a whole lot of things done with my health. Those were the challenges I faced, a lot of addiction with alcohol and drugs. I was getting a
My Story: Cherise Turner
Goodwill helped me get out of the Welfare to Work program and become self-sufficient by helping me train and providing the tools needed to apply for and obtain a job. Over the past several years Goodwill has taught me work ethic and gave me opportunities to grow by allowing me to attend seminars, help out
My Story – Jean Edmond
I went to VR (the Florida Division of Vocational Rehabilitation) and Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida (Fort Myers). They helped me fill out the application and interview and get the job at Goodwill. When I got the job here, I felt really happy.
My Story – Ryan Barleston
At Goodwill, I learned to come to work on time and work on my reading skills. In 2010, I got a job working at U.S. Security, and now I am doing security work at many locations. I love my job. I am very happy. I am more serious and motivated and a good role model for my four-year-old son.
My Story—Paul Rosenstock
The message I would have for employers is to be open minded. I do understand that there’s a huge stigma attached to people who have been incarcerated. That stigma, a lot of times, is generated by what people know, which is unfortunately what they see on television and what they read in the newspaper. That only portrays a very small part of what people who have been incarcerated are.
My Story: Laura Walling
When Laura landed a job at Goodwill's leadership office out of graduate school, she was excited to be able to advocate on behalf of Goodwill and the people it serves. "I know our democracy works, and I've seen firsthand how the collective voice of supporters can influence policymakers," Laura says. "I am honored to be one of our loudest voices."
My Story—Dwayne Hodges
When I came to the Goodwill, I had just been released from prison. I had just served 9 years of a 12-year sentence, a federal sentence for crack cocaine distribution. I was actually in the United States Marine Corps. I was in the Marine Corps from 1990 to 1994. When I got out of the
My Story—Alyssa Cowin
I work with the Office of the Secretary. I’m starting a new project called Disability Mentoring Day where we have meetings every month. The students who don’t have a job follow me or someone else around in a job. I spoke two months ago about my journey to appointment—what does it take. They have a transitioning conference, and other people were like, “I would like to learn more information about Alyssa.”
My Story—Ralph Lopez
During my sophomore year of high school, I sat down with my career counselor, and she asked me, “What do you want to do?” I told her, “I don’t know.” She asked me, “What do you like to do?” I said, ever since I was little, I liked to put things together and take things apart. She said, “Well, that sounds an awful lot like a mechanic or an engineer.”
