#PowerOfAJob: From a dark time to a bright future
Sometimes all it takes is people believing in a person’s strength and abilities to help them rise above the dire straits of living on the streets, with no hope or prospects, to being gainfully employed, enjoying life again, and rediscovering the responsible and promising member of the community inside themselves. That is what Deanna found when she sought help from the supportive, helpful and caring staff at WorkSource Clallam County.
Please enjoy this inspirational story:
Hi, my name is Deanna Long. I live in Port Angeles, Washington.
I got my prayers answered when I moved up here five years ago with my two small daughters. I was a single mom, hard-working, and I thought I had it all. I had two cars, a house, two jobs, a college degree, and I was working on a bachelor’s degree. I was really loving my life, but due to some personal struggles and some grief that I’ve never gotten over from earlier in my life, I went downhill.
Living in Washington state and not knowing a soul, I started reaching out to some resources. I was living in Forks, Washington, and when I moved to Port Angeles, I noticed the WorkSource office. I started coming here and meeting with people. And even though I was at my lowest and going through the hardest time of my life, the WorkSource staff were always very caring, thoughtful, nonjudgmental, and focused on helping me persevere to find a job. They just stood by my side, as I was really going through a hard time.
That was four years ago, when I first started coming here, and here I am today with a full-time job at the local Red Lion Hotel. It is just wonderful! I check-in guests from all over the world, and I get to use my skills and my natural talents of loving people, greeting people and making them feel good — all in the job that I do now.
During the last four years, while I was unemployed, I went through some really hard times. I was living homeless on the streets of Port Angeles and being picked up by police and accused of things that I didn’t do. Things got so out of hand and the pattern just kept spiraling. I was in and out of jail for a lot of things that I didn’t even do, but I had no way to fight it and I didn’t have a home or a job or the empowerment to rise above that situation.
But recently, in the last year, I’ve found the inner strength and a lot of that has been through my spirituality, finding God here in Washington state. I’ve been able to start repaying my student loans, work full time, attend counseling groups and be a part of the community like I never have before. I have a good home, a vehicle in my name and I pay my bills on time every month, and I have goals and a vision for my life that I refuse to let go of now.
I have the value system back that I knew was always deep inside of me, but I didn’t really know how to find or how to utilize. I must say that the people at this WorkSource Clallam office — Terri, Radd, Brandino, Scher and all the rest — have been just so wonderful and they helped me to stay positive, stay persevering and not give up — following my vision and following my dreams.
Thank you, WorkSource. Thank you.
As partners in Washington’s WorkSource system and the American Job Center Network, the Employment Security Department helps people — unemployed or not — find new jobs and learn new skills. We help them experience the life-changing Power of a Job. We also work with businesses to help them find employees because we know they are Powered by Jobs.
