Changing the Direction of Lives through Education, Training, and Employment

It was a graduation unlike any other. Held in the small construction classroom adjacent to its training workshop, the ceremony hosted happy students, proud relatives, babes in arms and Construction Course instructors, all shoulder to shoulder on benches and folding chairs.

Dean of the Construction program Tim Kahn, a man with a perennial twinkle in his eye and a heart without judgment, pointed out a sign on the wall with Goodwill's mission: Changing lives through education, training and employment. "Every time I look at that," he said, "I think, it needs a tweak. It should say, 'Changing the direction of lives through education, training and employment.'" The students nodded, knowing that, through their hard work to adopt new skills and perhaps some new ideas and values, their lives would be going in a new direction.

Class lead instructor Anthony Fanning asked each student to tell something they learned from the four-week course. Answers ranged from skills training to enlightenment:

Quietly: "I learned a little more integrity. A little more perseverance. A little more determination."

With humility: "I ain't never graduated from nothin'! I started out coming and

made my way to the end."

John: " I learned how to build sheds and do roofing."

A rich baritone: "I learned about counting your blessings."

Stefan: "I learned you get out of something what you put into it."

From Dismas House: "The main thing I learned was there's opportunity out there."

Reggie: "I learned people still care. That it takes everybody to build one project."

From Nigeria: "So thankful for this opportunity. It's a blessing for my family."

Michelle: "I learned forklift, painting—and what's that thing I did to the windows? Oh, yeah, caulk!"

Tom: "I learned it's important to take my time and to be on time."

A Welcome Home Ministries referral: "I never done nothin' before this. Now my motivation is through the roof!"

Ashley: "You have to not only accept change, but embrace it."

Tisha: "Everybody in the class helped me learn! I'm a woman and I thought I couldn't learn, but I did. We all got big love and heart from Tim. Every day, he gave us great inspiration. Everything he shared with us, I take with me in my heart."

Juana: "I know that, with the knowledge we leave with, doors are going to open for all of us."

The transformation from an old life to a new one can be tough. Old habits die hard. But it begins in those four weeks. Strangers become classmates, then friends and supporters. Instructors become mentors and father figures. Hearing "I'm proud of you" was never sweeter. Self-images evolved from "No way I can do this," to "Looks like I can learn!"

It's more than a curriculum on a page. It's compelling camaraderie, showing up for someone else, the idea of a life you didn't dare imagine, the possibility of hope and the courage to let it lift you. It's the faith to walk out the Goodwill door believing that other doors will open.

By Beth Alexander, VP Development

Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee