“I had it in my head what a successful job was. I was trying to do that, but I wasn’t enjoying it. This is definitely more along the lines of what I wanted to do,” says Jordan Campbell, a college graduate who found her career path in construction by taking free training programs at Goodwill.
After graduating from the University of Florida in 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts in sustainability studies with a minor in anthropology, Jordan found herself questioning her path. In the spring of 2020, when COVID-19 hit, she moved back home to Clermont, Florida to finish her senior year remotely. Then in 2021, she moved to Charlotte to be closer to her grandmother in Fort Mill. Once moving, she started working at Target.
“I was kind of stuck. I just kept on working there, and I wasn’t sure what my next move was,” she recalled.
Her interest in hands-on work led her to explore the trades. “I’ve always liked to tinker with things, but I was interested in learning the correct way to do things,” she explained.
Jordan found out about Goodwill from a friend and enrolled in the tuition-free Construction Basics and HVAC training programs, marking the beginning of her career shift. She continued to work at Target full-time while taking classes in the evenings.
“In the HVAC course, I read the whole textbook, cover to cover,” she emphasized. “I can’t say I did that for any classes throughout grade school or college. It was challenging, but it was worth it, for sure. The value of it is incredible.”
While taking courses, Goodwill participants are matched with a Career Navigator who helps them with their resume, interview skills and more.
“My Career Navigator was Keitha, and she was really great,” Jordan explained. “She was very helpful and encouraging. Even after I got the job, she continued to follow up and just check in and see how I was doing.”
After taking courses, Jordan found a job as a maintenance technician at Marsh Properties, performing maintenance at four different apartment complexes in Charlotte. In her job, she uses the skills she learned while taking courses.
“I went on my first service call to an apartment where the resident’s thermostat wasn’t working,” she shared. “I was able to fix it by myself, which was a good feeling.”
Tuition-free courses like the ones Jordan took are made possible by donations and shopping at Goodwill’s retail stores and drop-off locations and financial donations from donors. The funding helped Jordan start her construction career without incurring any debt.
“The Goodwill program is definitely the reason that I started exploring this. I didn’t have to worry about paying for school or going into debt,” she said. “It was the biggest factor in me taking the classes.”
As Jordan continues to grow in her new role, she is excited for the future. “This is what I want to do as a career,” she said. “I can see myself staying and continuing to work and learn for 20 years.”
If you would like to help fund tuition-free courses that help people like Jordan on their pathway to prosperity, drop off your gently used donations at one of our 36 retail stores or donation locations, or make a financial donation.
“I just can’t say enough about how great this program is, what a great job it’s doing, and what an awesome impact it is making for the community and for Charlotte and the surrounding areas,” Cynthia Bey said.
Cynthia has found a new career path following retirement from Corporate America.
“I’m not used to sitting around in the house. I’m used to getting up, leaving and going,” Cynthia explained of how she was initially feeling during retirement.
Referred by a friend who told her that Goodwill had career training programs, Cynthia first began her journey by taking a Microsoft Excel training course previously offered by the nonprofit. A month after completing that course, she enrolled in BankWork$, an eight-week intensive workforce services program delivered by Goodwill that gives people the skills, access and coaching needed to succeed and grow in banking careers.
“I’ve always wanted to get into the banking industry. It always fascinated me how the bank really makes a difference. It’s like a staple in the community,” Cynthia said.
Cynthia was able to learn a lot in a short amount of time from instructor, Chicarra Jones, who even shared real-life experiences of when she worked in the banking industry.
With the course being in Charlotte, the nation’s second-largest banking city, participants also regularly learn from industry representatives from local banks like Bank of America, Wells Fargo and TD Bank. This hands-on training had led to the success of the program.
Today, Cynthia is working as an Associate Personal Banker with Wells Fargo. She’s one of five participants hired by the financial institution from Goodwill Industries of Southern Piedmont’s BankWork$ program.
“I enjoy helping people,” Cynthia said. “I’ve always enjoyed helping people, which was one reason I thought if I go into the banking industry and in a position like this, that I could be there in the community again to be able to help those that need help,” she added.
When taking one of Goodwill’s tuition-free training programs, participants are assigned an Employer Engagement Specialist and Career Navigator who help them with resumes, interviews and more.
“When I first started, I had this long resume, about four pages. She helped me to break that down to two pages so people could see my qualifications and what I’ve done,” Cynthia explained when speaking of her Career Navigator, Angela Mercer.
With her help, Cynthia landed the role with Wells Fargo just one month after graduation.
Training programs like the one Cynthia took are available free of charge to the community, thanks to shopping and donating at Goodwill’s 36 retail locations and more than 40 donation sites, in addition to corporate, community and philanthropic donations.
“People probably don’t realize what their donations are doing or what it permits other people to do, because I’ve donated to Goodwill, plenty of times. I’ve gone in and purchased from Goodwill, but I never really knew or thought about how my donations are helping someone or making opportunities available for others,” Cynthia said.
Cynthia encourages others to support Goodwill, because she knows too well how the nonprofit can help people on their pathway to prosperity. She has two sons who also benefitted from the training programs offered at Goodwill. Most recently, her son Rodney graduated from the fifth cohort of BankWork$ and now works at Fifth Third Bank.
“It’s just awesome! Everyone that I spoke with was very professional, nice and kind. They were great and gracious and really make you want to go there. They’re really trying to help you help yourself,” Cynthia emphasized.
If you would like to help fund Goodwill’s programs and services that we offer to the community free of charge – like the ones that helped Cynthia on her pathway to prosperity – consider dropping off your gently used donations at one of our locations or making a financial contribution.
Rodney Bey II is following in his mother, Cynthia Bey’s, footsteps after graduating from Goodwill’s BankWork$ training program. Cynthia, who participated and graduated from Cohort 3, encouraged her son to apply.
“She was telling me about the program and thought it was something that I would be really good at, because she knows that I have a background in finance, and I am really good with numbers,” Rodney said. “She made it sound really appealing to me because I was in an area where I was looking to change my industry.”
Rodney has always had an interest in the finance industry. In high school he was a part of the Academy of Finance, and even went to college for accounting, but never completed his degree.
For about nine years, Rodney gained a foothold in the accounting industry and worked in billing departments managing accounts receivable, accounts payable, business-to-business collections and more. But today he’s working in the banking industry.
“I am a Personal Banker 1. I’m working at Fifth Third Bank,” Rodney exclaimed. “I really like it here. It’s a really good training program they have set in place, and a lot of good, nice, helpful people.”
Reaching his goal did not come without a challenge. Originally, Rodney was hoping to be a part of BankWork$ Cohort 4, but unfortunately, he was not accepted. But that didn’t deter him – he was motivated to gain stability in his career.
“Even though I have been doing accounting for about nine years, I didn’t really have a career because I was doing a lot of temp work, getting jobs through temp agencies,” Rodney said.
In Goodwill’s tuition-free BankWork$ training program, participants learn about the financial services workplace, bank regulations, bank products, cash handling, processing customer transactions, and more.
“I always sing praises about the BankWork$ program because I feel like without that, I wouldn’t have been as prepared to be here in this position, and I wouldn’t have been exposed to as many bankers,” Rodney explained about the training program, which incorporates industry professionals into the classroom curriculum. “Everything that I’ve learned in BankWork$, I’m seeing it in this training, and it really helped me to be prepared for this – have the correct mindset that you need to be in this industry.”
When taking one of Goodwill’s tuition-free training programs, participants are assigned an Employer Engagement Specialist and Career Navigator who help them with resumes, interviews, and more. Thanks to the help of Rodney’s Career Navigator, he was able to successfully hone his interviewing skills, which ultimately helped him land his current role.
“They have a particular line of questioning that they ask, and you have to give a lot more examples of things that you’ve done when you do banking,” Rodney explained of the interview process.
Training programs like the one Rodney took are available free of charge to the community, thanks to shopping and donating at Goodwill’s 36 retail locations and more than 40 donation sites, in addition to corporate, community, and philanthropic donations.
Rodney encourages people to enroll in Goodwill training programs. He said, “If this is something that you really want to do, if you’re really at a point in your life where you really want to make a change and you’re ready to do the work, then Goodwill is definitely a good place to make that happen. They have a lot of different programs to set you up to be an industry professional.”
If you would like to help fund Goodwill’s programs and services that we offer to the community free of charge – like the ones that helped Rodney on his pathway to prosperity – consider dropping off your gently used donations at one of our retail locations or making a financial contribution.
Tanesha Green moved to Charlotte from Arkansas in search of better opportunities. She knew Charlotte was booming with construction projects, so she jumped at the opportunity to learn the trades.
“I searched free construction classes, and I came across Goodwill,” she explained. “I was a helper with my stepdad’s business since I was 12, remodeling houses, and I helped build different buses like a podcast and a party bus.”
After finding out about Goodwill’s tuition-free training courses in Construction Basics and Electrical, Tanesha signed up.
While taking the classes, Tanesha was also facing a personal battle: she was homeless. When taking tuition-free training courses from Goodwill, all participants get access to wraparound services, like one-on-one career coaching. Verona Hendrix, a Career Navigator at Goodwill, worked with Tanesha not only to find her a good job, but also to find available resources.
“Verona was helpful throughout my entire process,” she emphasized. “She helped me with my resume and sent me numerous jobs. She sent me vouchers to make sure I had clothing for job interviews, and helped me get into the entryway program, which provided resources for when I was homeless. I also want to thank Chris Sullivan, who helped me with tools and more.”
“We practiced our interviews, our pitches and our essential skills. Those lessons that were provided by Goodwill really pushed us and helped us to prepare for interviews and jobs fairs,” she explained.
Tanesha was able to secure a job working as a Service Technician at a local apartment company, where she now lives. She was also able to get an apartment there with a 40% discount on rent.
“The inspiration is bigger,” Tanesha said, when asked about how her life has changed since taking classes with Goodwill. “[I have] the confidence to go into different rooms and to know that I know the information. There’s still a lot to learn, but there’s a lot that Goodwill prepared us for.”
“Never give up. If you ever need help, search within yourself. Remember that failure only happens when you stop trying.”
If you would like to help fund tuition-free courses that help people like Tanesha on their pathway to prosperity, drop off your gently used donations at one of our 36 retail stores or donation locations, or make a financial donation.