Joe is a Vietnam-era Army veteran who first came to Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont in the summer of 2017. He enrolled in our Operation: GoodJobs program, which provides job training and placement services specifically for veterans and military service members, their spouses and their dependents.
At 75 years old, Joe is easily the oldest person in the program, but you would never know it. He instantly won over the hearts of everyone at Goodwill, and his infectious smile and boundless energy are an inspiration to everyone he meets.
Each month, Joe sends a good portion of his Social Security income to his wife and family in Guatemala, which leaves him with little money to live on. As a result, Joe’s housing situation became unstable. Despite being well over retirement age, Joe needed a job to secure additional income with which to secure stable housing and live comfortably.
For several weeks, Joe worked with team members in Goodwill’s Operation: GoodJobs program who helped him update his resume and apply for jobs. One day, Goodwill’s Business Relationship Management Team, which specializes in connecting hiring employers to qualified applicants, hosted a job fair that Joe attended. As a result, Joe was hired to work at a retail shop at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
But Joe didn’t stop there. Even though he was happy about his new job, Joe wanted more. He continued to apply for jobs with assistance from Goodwill team members, who would encourage him and send him job leads and information about upcoming job fairs. Joe’s hard work and determination soon paid off when he landed a job as a dispatcher for an armored security cash handling company.
Even though Joe is now making more money than he was, he still isn’t resting or slowing down. He likes his current job, but his ultimate dream is to work at the veterans hospital so that he can pay it forward for all the help he has received along the way. And Goodwill will be there with him every step of the way on his journey to achieving his dream.
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