Jay's Success Story

“Bridge House saved my life! I am off the streets and have graduated from Ready to Work.”  “I now have a great job at Whole Foods.”

Three years ago Jay was in a very different situation.

When he was living paycheck to paycheck, one thing went wrong and it turned his life upside down.

“I made a mistake, one mistake and I ended up on the street.” Jay said. “When I lost my job at King Soopers I wasn’t able to pay my rent, so I ended up homeless.” Jay was fired from King Soopers for insubordination.  He had one bad day at work and it changed his whole life.  “I am a hard worker I didn’t understand how this could happen to me.”  Too proud to ask his family for help after he lost his apartment he started camping around Boulder. Newly homeless, Jay was unfamiliar with the services available to him.

“I didn’t know about Bridge House or the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless. I had $10 to my name and once that was gone I had no money for food. After four days, I was starving.” During the day Jay would walk all over Boulder. One day he met another homeless individual who noticed that Jay was looking ill and told him about Bridge House and the meals that we served.

Jay came to Bridge House for breakfast, lunch and Community Table for dinner every day. He started to feel a little hopeful until the September flood came. His camp site was flooded with water up to his knees, all his possessions were ruined.  With only the clothes on his back, Jay came to Bridge House looking for help. Alma, the greeter at Bridge House, helped him out with a shower, some warm dry clothes and told him to make an appointment with a case manager.  When Jay saw a case manager he was able to get his prescriptions refilled that he lost and bus passes to get to a job interview.  The case manager also introduced him to Tim our employment specialist, and Ready to Work case manager.  Jay signed up for Ready to Work and that day he was set up for the internship program.  Soon, Jay was working on the crew. “It felt good to do something instead of just sitting around. Working gave me hope for my future.”

“Chad, the Ready to Work supervisor, and the whole Ready to Work team were really supportive. They went above and beyond for me. They were there for me for my failures and successes.”  Now housed Jay is working hard to find a mainstream job and is close to graduating from Ready to Work.  This is how our employment program works. With a crew member’s motivation and staff support people like Jay are able to get their life back, on track, and off the streets.

 

 

 

 

Posted in