“Goodwill opened the doors for me.”

Tom was justice-involved by age 11. After serving three separate sentences, he didn’t know where to turn because he had never been employed.  

That’s where Goodwill came in. Two days after his release, he was introduced to its job-readiness training and was later hired as an employment specialist. He now serves as a reentry facilitator, which allows him provide second chances to individuals who experienced similar challenges as he did.

“If you have four decades of criminal living behind you, it’s easy to fall back into an old habit,” he said. “Just sharing how you did it gives people hope that they can do it as well. So, Goodwill changed the course of my life and the course of many other peoples’ lives as well.”