Joseph has a mega-watt smile that lights up the room. And he flashes that engaging grin often while discussing his recent training with Goodwill’s Warehouse and Logistics program. But it wasn’t too long ago that Joseph had a difficult time mustering the attitude he shares today. In fact, he was at the lowest point in his life after a three-year search for employment.
“I arrived with my family from Nairobi, Kenya,” says this soft-spoken gentleman. “I had a college degree and a career as a social worker that had to do with changing and improving people’s lives”. Joseph had no idea then that one day he would be the beneficiary of services he’d worked to provide for others back in Africa.
Exhausting his hard-earned savings, he was living in a local rescue mission when a Goodwill poster caught his eye. Joseph went straight to an information session and soon after started Warehouse training. “The instructors are wonderful,” he says. “When you come through that main door, you gain a sense of confidence. And by the time you leave, you have what you need. The program made me relevant.”
Joseph was soon hired in part-time positions at the Tacoma News Tribune and Cordel Entry Systems.
“I have already encouraged another person to take the training with Goodwill. I told him this is the best place you can ever go. And whoever came up with this program did a wonderful job. It is God sent.”