In the way Kristina talks about her story, you can hear confidence and hope for the future. But, it wasn’t always that way. “I made my life about my husband and kids, and when that got taken away from me, I didn’t know who I was or what I was supposed to be or do.”
Kristina was in a low place, not wanting to admit her marriage was over and unsure how to respond to her son’s questions. She felt hopeless and suicidal. She ended up at a family shelter where her case manager referred her to Goodwill. “It took someone telling me that I was worth it. That Anthony [her son] was worth it.”
“When I went to Goodwill, I put in my head that I was going to excel at whatever I put myself into and that’s exactly what I did.” She graduated from the Warehouse, Transportation & Logistics program at the top of the class!
Garuba says something about how she was in class. “Her scores placed her at the top of all three offerings of the program. She worked really hard to succeed.”
After graduation, Kristina was on TANF (Temporary Aid to Needy Families) and was referred to the WorkFirst Program where she gained customer service experience at Northwest Furniture Bank and now has a job at T. J. Maxx in Puyallup. “There’s room for growth here, I really like my job.”
She’s proud of her story and hopes to be a motivational speaker in the future. “I want to share my story with others – tell them that when they feel like they’re in that dark place, there’s hope for them. They’ll find that thing that will propel them out and through this point.”
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making a financial gift today. Thank you!