Goodwill Program:  Life Skills

“This program changed my life for the best, showing me that I could do anything I put my mind to.”

Parish is a single parent of two young children. After working a series of dead-end jobs, she decided she needed to make a change in her life.

“When I looked into the eyes of my children, I knew it was up to me and only me to support them,” said Parish, who was born and raised in Charlotte. “I sat and prayed for help.”

Parish found out about Goodwill’s Life Skills program through her DSS Work First counselor. Overcoming the trials of being a single parent presented challenges, but she wasn’t about to let that stop her from completing the class.

“I knew I had to finish the class for not only my children, but for myself,” said Parish. “I deserved better and decided I would no longer settle for less. This program changed my life for the best, showing me I could do anything I put my mind to.”

Parish graduated from the Life Skills program without missing a day.

“Everything they taught us I now use in my daily life,” she said. “Our instructor, Wanda Weeks, really cares about her students! What she is teaching comes from her heart.”

Parish’s next step involved participating in Goodwill’s work experience program where she worked at Spencer Childcare. Now she plans to enroll in the Early Childhood course at CPCC and eventually own her own childcare center.

Parish credits the Life Skills program for helping her look at life in a whole different way.

“It gave me faith, it gave me peace, but most of all, it gave me hope,” she said. “Thanks to Goodwill, can’t is no longer in my vocabulary.”