Program Participant Stories

Lawrenceville native Tony Ekeweme is a graduate of Central Gwinnett High School and Georgia State University. An industrious young man, he worked at Georgia State during college and when he…

Gainesville resident Alexa Resendiz came to Goodwill’s Oakwood Career Center in August 2021, just a few months before her 19th birthday. She had completed high school in July and was…

Cobb County native Octavious Williams had long been interested in fitness, earning an exercise physiology degree from Valdosta State University. He planned to become a clinical exercise physiologist, but after…

SNAP referral Deja Trotter came to Goodwill in September 2019 because she was determined to become a welder. During her initial days in training, while she was assisting with administrative…

Originally from Colombia, Javier Gongora immigrated to Georgia in December 2019. He came to Goodwill’s Athens Career Center in February 2020, interested in the welding program. With 10 years of…

When the odds seemed stacked against her, Lyric McGhee found solace in the living room of her sister’s apartment – specifically, the couch. “I had to sleep on the couch…

Thirty-three-year-old Akin Odebiyi was born and bred in New Jersey. He graduated Thomas Edison State College with a degree in information technology and began his career, never thinking he would…

Gainesville’s Nathan Oliver joined the Marines right out of high school. He served for about six years, which included a combat tour in Iraq. When he returned to civilian life,…

Twenty-two-year-old Aleese Ingram, a lifelong resident of Snellville, has always had a passion for sports. Her father played baseball at the University of Georgia (UGA) and her uncle was a…

Although her educational background is in the arts, April Dean Hunter always had a passion for science fiction and artificial intelligence, especially for what the latter makes possible. During her…