Employment And Family Support A Chance For Change

“I am happy to be a ‘citizen of life’ now. Pioneer Human Services believed in me and hired me on after prison. I was tired of hustling on the streets. That was in my past.” Keith

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Keith was one of 10 children and came from a very loving and close knit family in Virginia. All nine of his sisters and brothers studied hard in their youth and went on to college and careers. However, Keith did not like school – he liked basketball and the streets. Eventually, he fell in with the wrong crowd.

Incarceration
Flash forward, his friend moved to western Washington and talked Keith and his wife into following him. Once in Washington, Keith got set-up with an employment agency as he still did not have a criminal record and worked various jobs. Things were going pretty well but Keith’s wife got very homesick and moved back east. Once again, Keith got involved with the wrong crowd and started to get into trouble. After one fateful event, he ended up serving time in prison.

When Keith was released, he now had a record and found that his past got in the way as he tried to secure work. Despite a stint at running a legal medical marijuana business, he was sucked into the illegal drug trade again and was arrested two more times due to fighting and assault charges. Keith ended up in Walla Walla Penitentiary. “When I called my mother to tell her where I was, she said that I better take advantage of every educational opportunity in prison that was offered to prepare myself for release,” Keith commented.

While Keith was incarcerated at Walla Walla, he studied and received his Associates Degree and CNC machining certificate. He shared, “I wanted to change and get my life on the right track after release. At this point I knew that an education and stable employment pointed me in that direction.”

Introduction to Pioneer
Upon his release, Keith was sent to a former work release that Pioneer Human Services operated. He was concerned about his next steps and a Pioneer employee informed him about the job-readiness training program that was operating in Seattle. He took the bus up to Seattle every day and engaged in the program.

“The instructor was an angel. She was kind and really worked on building up your self-confidence and interviewing skills. In that class, I realized that Pioneer wanted everyone to succeed and provided us with all the options, resources and tools we needed to navigate the barriers out there,” Keith said.

In the mock interviews, Keith engaged in an actual interview with a Pioneer recruiter. He was thinking that he might be hired in at Pioneer Industries’ aerospace manufacturing plants as he had his CNC machining certificate, but instead, he was offered a position in Pioneer’s Facilities division.

Keith stated, “I wanted to work for an organization like Pioneer. I needed a second chance. I took the job as a maintenance tech and I love it.” He continued, “The first year I was not given a van to drive so the supervisor picked me up each day for work at an agreed upon meeting spot. He wanted me to succeed and be part of this team.”

Family Man
Keith now lives with his first wife and son’s biological mother who moved out here several years back. He also has a great relationship with his son and loves to spoil his two granddaughters that he absolutely adores. Family is important to him and his sisters and brothers make it a point to get together once a year to have a vacation and see each other in-person – rather than just talking on the phone.

Keith concluded, “Your family is very important and so are your co-workers in your career. We spend a lot of time at work and there is a real camaraderie with the people on my team – they look out for you. I have been doing well in life over the past eight years and look forward to getting up and going to work. I want to thank Pioneer for providing me with a chance for change.”