A New Opportunity for LifeWorks!

2016 Fall Newsletter

In this issue
A New Opportunity
for LifeWorks!

Client Stories
Marvin Williams

New Substance Use Prevention and Treatment Services

Feeling the Love

(Week)

Emergency Appeal
Wheels to Work

Lifeworks! state of the art classroom

CCTs LifeWorks! program opened in

its new location at the Goodwill
Opportunity Campus (GOC) this
summer. LifeWorks! provides people
with criminal records with a variety
of tools necessary to reach their
professional and personal goals. Program offerings include an employment readiness workshop, networking
opportunities, case management,
career development, transportation assistance, and referrals.
As the program has grown, so have
its space needs. For 18 months, Plaza
Presbyterian Church has generously
provided temporary space for the
program as CCT scouted for a new
permanent location. With the announcement of plans to build the
GOC, CCT jumped at the chance to
partner with the well-known organization and get in on the ground floor
of an exciting new concept in supportive services.
The GOC, located on the corner of
Wilkinson Boulevard and Boyer
Street in Charlotte, is a 160,000
square foot facility aimed at providing a seamless continuum of support
to disadvantaged job seekers all in
one location. The facility houses a job
resource center, private interview
rooms, testing and assessment

accommodations, a mock retail training store, youth center, child care

facility, full-service kitchen, cafe,
community conference center, and a
number of classrooms and computer
labs. It also houses a Goodwill highend GW store and a Goodwill Outlet
Store, financial services, and health
and wellness services. The facility
opened to the public June 30th.
LifeWorks! clients are now able to
easily access the many other services
located in the campus, as well as having state of the art classrooms
equipped with flat screen monitors
for LifeWorks! classes.
Additionally, the campus has brand
new computers available for public
use so clients can conduct online job
searches, type resumes, and check
email in the same location. Erik
Ortega, Program Manager, says that
one of the best things about being at
the GOC is the ease of the referral
process. With so many services under one roof, communication becomes easier and referrals happen
more organically.
All of this improves the client experience as they
are able to easily go from one appointment to the next in the same
building without having to contend
with time and travel challenges.

The new Goodwill Opportunity Campus on Wilkinson Blvd is a 160,000 square foot facility aimed at providing a seamless continuum of support to disadvantaged job seekers all in one location.

Client Stories Marvin Williams, Former LifeWorks! Client

Marvin Williams carries with him a
letter he wrote to himself. The letter
says I want to be like my mom who
was a law abiding citizen, who was a
good woman, one who would help
someone. Williams says, When
struggles come, that letter reminds
me that I am worthy, that I am now
that law-abiding citizen.
Williams wrote that letter as a
promise to himself in 2015, when he
entered CCTs LifeWorks! program
after 11 years of incarceration. Every
participant writes a letter to him or
herself at the beginning of the program, and a couple of weeks after
graduation, LifeWorks! mails each
person their letter as a reminder of
who they want to be. For Williams,
the letter has been a powerful tool for
staying on track.

The LifeWorks! program

made me realize there were
things I still needed to
change, and it made me
rethink some things and
make better decisions.

~ Marvin Williams

Williams admits that he was skeptical

of the LifeWorks! program at first.
After his release from prison, he felt
hed learned enough to be employable, and he didnt necessarily need
additional help. But transition was
hard, and another program that was
helping him recommended LifeWorks! Williams says that despite his
skepticism, he realized on day one of
the program he could get a lot out of
it. Not only did the program help him
polish his resume and interviewing
skills and link him up with needed
services and referrals, but it also
helped him learn to live life on lifes
terms, and recalled to me my values
and helped me set attainable goals.
Most importantly, he says the program made him realize there were
things I still needed to change, and it
made me rethink some things and
make better decisions.
Boosted by the confidence he gained
in the LifeWorks! program, and already equipped with a strong work
ethic, Williams was able to find
employment quickly as a line cook.
Within a years time he was promoted
twice, first to key employee and then
to sous chef. Now, Marvin Williams
still works at the same restaurant,
volunteers regularly for Ashes to
Beauty, and is engaged to married.
He attributes his success to a combination of his desire and willingness to
change and to all the people who
helped him along the way and saw
him for him instead of for his past
mistakes.

Marvin Williams, LifeWorks! Graduate, speaks at Annual Spring Fling event.

New Services Starting Soon

CCT is grateful for a new
grant from the Mecklenburg County ABC Board.
The one year grant will
allow us to begin providing substance use and
trauma treatment services to CCT
clients, to hire two new part time
EKWIP facilitators, and to expand
prevention services we provide to
children.
Many of our clients have experienced
multiple traumas and struggle with
substance use problems. Dealing with
these issues is a vital part of successful reentry. We will soon begin a new
treatment program with our LifeWorks! clients and residents at the
Center for Women called Seeking
Safety. Seeking Safety is a group or
individual therapeutic curriculum
aimed at treating the combined effects of
trauma and substance use
together.
Research has shown that
a combined approach like that is used
in the Seeking Safety model, is more
effective than addressing trauma and
substance use separately.
The grant also allows CCT to expand
our drug prevention services we provide to children through our Families
Doing Time program. With the funds,
CCT is hiring two new part time
EKWIP facilitators, increasing the
programs capacity and allowing additional prevention
efforts, alongside the many other benefits the program offers.

Page 2

Feeling the Love (Week)

Each year, Elevation Church embarks
on a weeklong community service
mission called Love Week. Thousands of volunteers fan out across
the city to complete service projects
with more than 100 organizations.
This year, some Elevation Church
members devoted time and resources
to CCT throughout Love Week.
At our administrative offices, volunteers painted storage sheds and refreshed landscaping. At our LifeWorks! program, volunteers conducted mock job interviews for a dozen
clients, helping them practice for the
real thing. Their efforts have resulted
in job leads. At our Center for Women, volunteers worked with residents
to create beautiful pieces of jewelry.

Page 3
This year, resident Marys four
daughters, ages 14-19, attended the
event resulting in what staff and volunteers
describe as an incredibly
touching reunion. Three of Marys
daughters traveled 14 hours from
Wisconsin to see their mother for the
first time in 7 years. The fourth
daughter traveled from Tennessee
and the girls had not seen each other
in as many years. Tears flowed as the
family joined together.

Our staff and clients

are humbled
by the work and dedication
that Elevation volunteers
put into the week.
From the bottom of our

The week culminated in a big event

called Family Day at our Center for
Women in conjunction with our Families Doing Time program. Family
Day creates a festival-like atmosphere where the families of our residents can come have a fun day with
mom. It's a great event for helping
restore bonds and a sense of normalcy for children with incarcerated
mothers.

hearts, thank you!

Mary, a CCT resident, is reunited

with her daughters on Family Day.

Mary says the reunion almost didnt

happen. For months, shed been putting money aside to pay for her
daughters travel and lodging for the
event, but when unexpected expenses
arose, the plans were in jeopardy.
Luckily, generous donors and volunteers at one of CCTs partner agencies, Changed Choices, stepped up,
financing most of the trip and providing lodging for the girls. Mary could
not be more grateful, stating
everyone as a whole has worked together to make this reunion happen,
and I just want to thank everybody,
CCT, Elevation, Prices Chicken Coop,
Changed Choices, Families Doing
Time, everybody.

Love Week volunteers spruce up CCTs exterior.

This years Love Week at CCT was

absolutely wonderful. From the much
needed fixing up at our administrative offices, to beautiful jewelry, to
incredibly helpful mock interviews, to
Family Day, our staff and clients are
humbled by the work and dedication
that Elevation volunteers put into the
week. From the bottom of our hearts,
thank you!

Emergency Appeal Wheels to Work

Page 4

For people who are starting over, a bus pass can break the bank and lack of
transportation can be a major barrier to finding and keeping a job. Our Wheels to
Work program provides bus passes to our LifeWorks! and Center for Women
clients to use to get to work until they can afford them on their own. In order to
fully fund the program for the fiscal year, we need to raise $25,000. There are
ways you can help!
Raise funds at your office, place of worship, or school using our Bus Banks.
Call or email our Development Director, Kristin Windley, for more information:
(704) 494-0001 ext. 19, Development@centerforcommunitytransitions.org
Donate online www.centerforcommunitytransitions.org/donate-now.php or mail
a check made payable to Center for Community Transitions with the memo
Wheels to Work to PO Box 33533, Charlotte, NC 28233.

Our Mission
The Center for Community
Transitions is a non-profit
organization with a mission to
strengthen our community by
helping people with criminal
records and their families find a
healthier and more productive
way of living.
Our work provides employment
and transition services; supports alternatives to incarceration; and restores and strengthens family bonds.

Connect on Social Media

www.facebook.com/charlottecct
twitter.com/CCTCharlotte
www.linkedin.com/company/the-center-for-community-transitions

www.centerforcommunitytransitions.org Administration: (704) 494-0001 Lifeworks!: (704) 374-0762