As one of our facilitators, Gina has a passion for helping others reach self-sufficiency – and that goes beyond her day job.

Gina has been writing poems since she was 10 years old, and she had her first collection of poems, titled, “When Prayer and Poetry Collide,” published on February 6. She said all her pieces share a common theme: Positivity.

Gina said her work as a facilitator relates to her poetry. She got the idea for the book the same month she started with us.

“I want to be able to help people,” Gina said. “Being that I’m only one person, I can only be in one place. But books can go everywhere.”

Two of her poems are on display in downtown Louisville. One is on 4th Street and another as part of a mural at the Kroger on 28th and Broadway. For each piece, her entries were selected over hundreds of others. She’s currently working on her next two books: A self-help book and a children’s novel.

“A lot of the pieces are about transitioning to better,” she said, “to being better, to striving to be a better person in hopes of helping somebody else become better.”

If you’d like to support Gina, join her and other members of our Goodwill family at her book release this Saturday at 2722 Crittendon Drive in Louisville. The release begins at 3 p.m.

Learn more about the event here: When Prayer and Poetry Collide book release

You can purchase her book on Amazon and soon on her own website, www.GinaMarieSpeaks.com. If you’re local, DM us to set up a drop-off.

Here’s an example of her work. This is the poem on 4th Street in Louisville: