Years ago, Vickie came to Goodwill to complete her GED. But she never finished. Her dependence on drugs and alcohol kept her from completing anything. By 2013, she found herself divorced, homeless and depressed.
Vickie’s daughter had been accepted into the state’s College Bound program, which offers college scholarships to low income students who fulfill the pledge of maintaining a 3.5 GPA or higher through middle school and high school. But Vickie’s daughter had begun to struggle. “She started flunking gym. Who flunks gym?”
When Vickie confronted her, her daughter said, “Well, Mom, you never finish anything you do. So what’s the difference?”
That struck a nerve. Vickie made a deal that if her daughter got her grade up, she would go back to school too. “Do you know what she did? She transferred out of gym into guitar. She’s a sneaky little something!” Vickie laughs.
Vickie kept her promise. “My daughter asked me when I was the happiest. I told her it was when I was going to school at Goodwill.” So Vickie returned to Goodwill and enrolled in the Warehouse, Transportation & Logistics program. She has done well in her courses and will graduate in the spring.
“I’m homeless. Even if I don’t have a place to sleep at night, I come to school the next day. I need to get my certification so I can get a job to take care of my daughter. She works so hard to keep her scholarship—I have to stay on track so she will stay on track. When I’m at Goodwill, I’m on track.”
Vickie has received three job offers, including one from a Goodwill store. “I want to stay with Goodwill. I tell everyone ‘every day is a good day at Goodwill’. It’s the truth.”