Job Seeker Success Stories

My New Job Helps Me Create Success Stories for Others

My New Job Helps Me Create Success Stories for Others

Photo of Lisa S. Lisa S. has made an impressive career out of fixing things and using her hands. It’s her passion. 

And it began at an early age.

When I was 10 or so, I’d go to the auto shop with my brother who was a mechanic. He taught me about all the different parts of the car and how to use every tool. And then, as I got older, I’d go with my godbrother to do contract renovation work on houses. He can build a house from the ground up. So through him I started learning about framing, construction work, and over time that led to a career in facilities maintenance.

Lisa also happens to have a heart of gold, and cares deeply about helping people. She found a way to combine her passions and for many years, worked in facilities maintenance at a shelter for people experiencing homelessness.

Unfortunately, she lost her job. That’s when she reached out to TERRA’s Kirkland branch for support. 

I was upfront with TERRA about what I was looking for. I needed something close to home, in my pay range, and my number one deal-breaker was flexibility with the start time because I have two kids. Every job I had applied to or was in consideration for at that point did not have a flexible schedule. I even asked during interviews whether the start time was negotiable—they never were. It was frustrating. 

Then Sharon Gower, Recruiter, left me a voicemail about this Facilities Maintenance role. It sounded interesting, so I called her back and she showed me the job posting. And in the first line, it read ‘Do you want a job with a flexible start time?’ I was like, “Oh my god!” And it was a maintenance role? And with a non-profit that provides housing?

I was immediately sold. 

She set me up with an interview, but it was really more of a walk-through of the units in the shelter. I knew they wanted to hire me because I felt comfortable with the environment. 

They did hire me, and things have been great! Really great, actually. 

I’ve been promoted to Facilities Manager since I started this job, which was only three months ago! 

Overall, I’m much happier. My kids have noticed this especially because my son was like, “You’re not tired anymore!” At my last job, when I got home from work I had to take a nap immediately before I started dinner or helped with homework. 

And now, I have enough time to make my lunch every single day. I’d be lucky if I had that kind of time in my last role. 

But the best part of my job is talking to the clients who live there. Just for them to say that they’re having a good day is a win for me. Because they’re at a homeless shelter—it’s not exactly a happy place to be for them.  

And I like giving a hand to everyone. In fact, there’s a young resident here who came up to me about a month ago and asked, “Can you give me something to do? I want to help.”

So I gave him a set of gloves and he would help me with minor odd jobs. Since the day he reached out to me, he did anything he could to help with my workload. And eventually, the organization recognized his work ethic and gave him a job doing similar work, which turned out to be a huge step forward for him.

Now, he’s been hired as a Para-Mentor for the other residents and he’s enrolled in school. He has thanked me so much and told me how nice I was to him and that I gave him the push to go back to school. 

Helping this client and watching him succeed was definitely an unexpected bonus from my job. But it makes me feel good knowing I can make this kind of impact through my work.

Congratulations, Lisa! 

You’re a remarkable person. We’re so happy we were able to connect you with a job where you can truly shine. 

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