Having The Opportunity
"I think that it was fate."
Roy's success story starts off in an unlikely
place: getting off an elevator on the wrong floor."I
saw the TCR! door and I saw people going in," recounts Roy.
One of the TCR! participants he approached explained,
"It's like a school." At the time, Roy was taking work through
temporary agencies when he could and moving between homeless shelters
and friends' houses. "I was having
a pretty hard time," he remembers. "I
guess my life could have taken a turn in either direction, going
up or going down, and I think that I recognized it."
From his first day at TCR!, Roy's goal was to
go to college. More than ten years prior, a criminal conviction
had interrupted his studies at a junior college. "I
had always felt that if I had the opportunity I would go back to
school and further my education," he said.
TCR! provided Roy with the academic and personal skills that were
crucial to his obtaining a steady job and preparing himself for
his return to college. At any given point during his studies at
TCR!, he was working at least three - and sometimes four - different
jobs. He was eventually able to move into his own apartment and
buy a car. On May 9, 2005, he began his final placement position
as a counselor at Mental Health Resources.
"It was a total
deviation from the direction that I thought my life would take,"
Roy says, attributing that shift to his personal growth at TCR!.
"What I've learned is that for me,
it's more important to give…to use my experiences to help others."
Roy is currently working toward his Master's degree in organizational
leadership at Bethel University and is working to become a Licensed
Alcohol and Drug Counselor. In March 2008, he became a Manager at
Twin Cities RISE!. On a more personal note, Roy recently became
a homeowner in North Minneapolis.
Roy's success has inspired his five children.
"Because of what I've done, they've
all decided that they should continue their education. My son, who
was also involved in a life of crime and is an ex-offender, decided
that if I could go straight and make it, then he could too."
Roy continues to recognize the success in his
life as directly attributable to Personal Empowerment and the belief
in his own abilities that stem from it. Quoting Maya Angelou, he
says, "I have learned that I still
have a lot to learn." His learning extends into his job at
TCR! where the participants reinforce Personal Empowerment teachings
by reminding Roy of his worth. Roy has not yet adjusted to "hearing
tough men tell him they appreciate and love him," but Empowerment
is all about growth.
Reflecting on his experience at TCR!, Roy says
that self-esteem is the most important thing he learned. "I
just felt that I didn't have any real worth," he remembers.
"But it's our little mantra: 'I am
lovable. I am valuable. I am important. Everything that I've done
seems to come from establishing those core values." |
