This summer will be the first in recent memory that 22-year-old Robert will not spend in jail, thanks in part to Hope for the Inner City’s Jobs for Life program.
Time for a Change
Robert hasn’t held a job since he was 16, when he worked for McDonald’s. After being in and out of jail on charges of selling illicit substances, he realized that, as the father of a 3-year-old boy, it was time he got his life in order.
Vincent Boozer, an acquaintance and Hope for the Inner City’s director of program services, told Robert about the newly expanded Jobs for Life program, and that it could be just the thing for him. Robert recognized it as an opportunity for change, and he excitedly applied for the seven-week biblically based job program.
Nurtured with Love
Once in the program, Robert was impressed with the speakers and their genuine care for the people in the class. “I didn’t know that there were people who cared about the project folks,” he said. And it was this caring that God used as encouragement for him to complete the program. Robert graduated on March 25.
Bill Holland, Hope for the Inner City’s director of economic development, said he was impressed and pleased with Robert’s progress during the seven weeks, particularly noting Robert’s increased attentiveness and efforts to be punctual. This forming of a daily schedule will be a great service to Robert at his new job at a convenience store in East Chattanooga, Holland said.
Jobs for Life has also shown Robert the power of prayer, and the necessity of a daily walk with Jesus Christ. Before enrolling in the program, Robert’s spiritual walk was at best weak, but now he says that he prays regularly, looking to the Lord continually for help and guidance. Apparently, his family has noticed a change in him as well.
Big Plans for the Future
Since his graduation, Robert is in the process of being enrolled in a chef school downtown. He has always wanted to be a chef—his specialty is spaghetti.
He has also enrolled in Hope for the Inner City’s adult literacy program in his quest to earn a GED high school diploma equivalency.
With a new prospective career goal, a renewed commitment to support himself and his son, and a restored relationship with the Lord, Robert is showing signs of true transformation as a student, worker and father.
