2021-Annual-Report-FINAL-Single-Pages - Flipbook - Page 43
literacy, work readiness and construction
skills training classes. He visited job
sites, earned three construction-industry
certifications and did service projects
on the weekends. After the 40 days, he
felt equipped with the right job skills
and certifications and found full-time
employment. With a steady paycheck
and a new mindset, he was able to
work toward buying a car with cash and
building up his savings so he would have
an emergency fund.
“The little things that matter,
which most people don’t
think about: They helped me
get my license, insurance.
I got a great job. I got eight
raises in one year. Those
people are like a family now.
If something goes on, I call
these guys before I call my
family now.”
He said he used to tell his friends in
the program about this pain inside, that
he’d be driving down the street and
would cry uncontrollably. A friend in the
program told him that once he started
accomplishing his goals, that pain would
start to go away.
a man. I usually get them every other
weekend and I try to get them during the
week, pick them up, take them to school.
Just try to spend more time with them.”
He went back to church and worked on
building a relationship with his mom. He
said he even went to people in his life who
he had wronged and made amends.
“I feel good about myself inside, outside.
I changed my whole image. I changed the
way I talk; I changed the way I walk. And,
you know, it just feels good inside.”
He says that couldn’t have happened
without the support and the
friendships he made. They changed
his entire mindset.
“As a young man, you’re eventually going
to have to change your way of thinking. If
you put yourself around positive people,
you start to think different; you start to
talk different; you start to walk different,”
he said. “4:13 Strong is important
because a lot of programs don’t work.
This one does. It’s not a program where
you just go in and after six months
you don’t hear from these guys again.
I graduated in 2016, and I’m still best
friends with these guys. It’s bigger than
just a program.”
And it did. He began to rekindle his
relationship with his kids.
“I missed so much time when they were
little—and you can’t get that time back.
The only thing you can do is just move
forward and do better as a father, as
Read more stories at
unitedwaygreaternashville.org/
united-we-win.
2 0 2 0 A N N U A L R E P O RT
PA G E 4 1
