Standing in front of an Aurora Ready to Work house meeting sharing her message to a room of trainees, “It works. As long as you want it, and you’re determined, You can go so far.”

Twelve months ago Terrica was a shell of her current self. A crack cocaine user while in and out of jail for nearly a decade, time in Denver Women’s Prison, continued use after release and a collection of misdemeanors, she learned about Ready to Work from her older brother. 

She applied on a Friday in June of 2023, but since applications aren’t processed on Fridays, she went back to the streets until she was hit and dragged by a car a month later while sitting on a curb. Released from the hospital after several weeks, she landed at the Colorado Coalition for recuperative care, but couldn’t stay long term. 

“Apparently it was time to get my life together and wash my hands of that lifestyle,” she said. Then she remembered Ready to Work, “I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, but it had to be something better than me just standing on a corner, or trying to get high. It was somewhere safe for me to be— where I needed to be.” 

She entered in September, and a year later graduated with a job in the textiles department at a local Goodwill running racks and providing customer service where she admits to drowning in cool stuff and “shops” all day. 

A second job at a family shelter in Aurora, and a third on the horizon at Englewood’s Ready to Work house as a housing manager keeps her busy. 

When asked which part of Ready to Work’s approach of paid employment, housing, and support was pivotal to her success, she wasted no time in answering, “Once I started working, had an active routine, and some kind of income— setting me up for success. It’s easy to get into sober living and go to groups all day and do activities. But actually getting into the community, and help the neighborhoods (on the outdoor landscape crews), being motivated was a big help for me. And it shows— I’m still clean and sober and have my own place and working two or three jobs.

She returns to the RTW house to visit and encourage the residents there, “Don’t give up. As long as they’re here you have help. Don’t use it and abuse it. Make it useful. They’re (the staff) not here for a paycheck, they really care. They’ve been where we’ve been, and they’re experienced.

Now I have a home and have everything I want. Everything I need.”