Goodwill Program:  Occupational Skillls Training for Careers in Banking/Call Center Customer Service 

"Goodwill has helped me feel like a productive member of society again."

With twinkling eyes and a sunny disposition, Merry represents her name well.  The eighth of nine children, Merry was one of the last children in Charlotte to contract polio.  Just as the energetic toddler was learning to run, she was unable to walk.  Through the dedication of her mother, Merry progressed to crutches and describes her childhood as happy and normal in every way.

“There wasn’t anything I didn’t do.  I became an excellent swimmer and active in school and the NAACP.  I even went on a hiking trip with my science class. And all along the way, my mother was my greatest cheerleader and motivator."

After graduation, Merry became a wife and mother, with a career as a customer service representative in the medical field. Then, a divorce and the onset of serious orthopedic conditions from the polio presented new challenges. A complicated surgical procedure on her neck made her unable to work for months.  However, Mary fought back and finally was able to look for work. 

Merry recalls her joy when she finally received a job offer after a year of jobseeking. Merry had one more interview and decided to keep the appointment. On her way to the second interview, Merry was involved in a car accident that would once again take away her independence and ability to care for her family. Again she faced surgery and months of rehabilitation, as well as life in a wheelchair. As the pain subsided, Merry desperately wanted to be physically and financially independent.  

“My children and mother were the ones who motivated me to get on with my life,” Merry recalls. She became proficient in driving a car with her handicap and using her wheelchair. Financial independence was Merry’s next goal. However, it had been over four years since she’d worked. Technology had changed in the customer service field and she needed additional training.

Merry’s counselor at the NC Division of Vocational Rehabilitation suggested Goodwill’s occupational skills training program for careers in banking and call center customer service.  Merry was accepted into the 9-week program and began her classes in June 2006. 

“At first, the hardest thing was getting everybody ready to leave the house early in the morning.  I hadn’t had to do that in years.  But in no time, we had a schedule.  Having to coordinate different schedules has been excellent practice for when I finally go to work,” Merry said.

At Goodwill, Merry not only updated her call center skills, she added new ones that included ten key, key boarding, Microsoft Word and Excel and proof encoding.  Merry also enjoyed the camaraderie of working with her classmates toward a common goal.

In August, 2006 Merry was chosen as her class representative to speak at graduation.  As Merry came to the front, no one clapped louder than her long-time cheerleader, motivator and mother.  Merry spoke eloquently to the more than 100 people in the room, telling how Goodwill changed her life. 

“It’s given me skills I didn’t have.  It’s boosted my self-confidence by leaps and bounds and it’s made me feel once again like a productive member of society,” she said with tears coming from her twinkling eyes