Algie’s Cara investment pays dividends
Algie made our Great Wall this year after a year at the Union League Club – and he says investing in Cara is what turned his life around.
A solid foundation
After his father died at a young age, Algie’s mother instilled in him the importance of getting an education and a job, but without the right opportunities Algie turned to streets and found himself sliding into a place he’d never wanted to be.
“I started slipping through the cracks and after a run in with the law, my judge offered to send me to Restoration Ministries. It’s a spiritual base program, basically dealing with drug issues and living conditions. I did a total of 18 months there, but after a year, you’re able to go out and seek employment. And one of the program directors there he told me go to Cara.”
The essence of who I was
“Cara put me in the frame of mind that you have to work for anything that you want to get in life. I had a chance to really get back to the essence of who I was.
“Cara just got me back to basics on the things I need to do to seek meaningful employment. They let me know that time is of the essence. That we have no more time to be wasting.” Now after achieving a year at the Union League Club and being recognized on Cara’s Great Wall, Algie is thriving!
“I’m moving on in my job. I’m getting great reviews. There’s been a few hiccups here and there, but my goal is to ultimately move on to a supervisory or management position.
“I’ve never had a driver’s license – that was a big goal of mine – and I obtained that. And I just got an apartment – I’m staying in my own apartment for the first time in my life!
“Invest your time in Cara.”
“If you find yourself sliding into that same cycle of in and out or just a sense of hopelessness, invest your time in programs like Cara. If I had someone told me about Cara, you know, years ago, I think there’s a lot of time that I could have saved.
“Cara gave me a new outlook, and a new perspective on life. And don’t get me wrong, things do get hard. But I’ve got a lot of the keys to the things that I need to succeed. It is still a struggle, but to me is a struggle worth going through!”
This season, your support of Cara Collective is critical to furthering our mission of eradicating poverty and increasing access, equity, and opportunity. Please consider making a financial gift this #GivingTuesday to support job seekers like Algie. Thank you for your support!
