Tommy Wilson

Tommy was barely making ends meet as a musician, working part-time jobs that were unfulfilling and unsustainable. He did not know where to go or what to do, but he knew that something needed to change. When he received the HIM postcard in the mail, he decided to take a leap of faith and join the program. He mentioned it to his family, and was surprised to find out that both of his older siblings were planning on attending as well!

Throughout the course of the class, Tommy admits that “Hope Inspired Ministries taught me the value of pushing myself out of my comfort zone in a way nothing else had. Just like a rubber band being stretched further and further with each pull, I saw myself growing in confidence, in work ethic, in leadership, and in Christ”. This growth revealed what he wanted to pursue for a career, and now works for the YMCA Shades Valley Branch, a nonprofit that he truly believes is making a difference. He is excited to be a part of that impact by interacting with every individual that walks in their doors as a front desk worker.

Stephen Wilson

Throughout his life, Stephen struggled with being himself and tried to “be everything for everyone”. While it seemed like life was great on the outside, he was riddled with overwhelming shame on the inside. This shame led him to a life of constant change, moving from relationship to relationship and job to job out of fear that someone may look deeper than the surface-level to find imperfection in his life. After a stint of unemployment, he also saw the HIM postcard and while he was unsure of what it would do to help his situation, he figured that it could potentially give him insight for potential next steps.

Stephen has served with nonprofit organizations in the past, and initially found it weird to be on the receiving end of a nonprofit’s services as a HIM student. “It was a humbling experience in many ways,” he said, “not only going from servant to being served, but I also knew there was no way that I would get the help that I needed if I wasn’t willing to own up to my failures and let down my facade of imperfection.” When staff and other students shared their life maps, it gave him the confidence that he could reveal the messy imperfections of his life within the safe space of HIM. He found this process to be healing, and not as “crippling” as he originally thought.

His experience at HIM showed him that he wanted to work with people in some capacity. He now works as a teller at America’s First Federal Credit Union, where he has the ability to assist the community and provide encouragement to individuals.

Kara Lemonds

Before starting HIM, Kara was only working one day a week. Depression and feelings of hopelessness due to physical ailments kept her at her family’s home with most of the time. After receiving the postcard in the mail, Kara came to the HIM office with her mother for a tour and left convinced that joining the program would be a good opportunity for her.

Now a graduate, she said “My experience at HIM has been nothing but good, and it brought me out of the shell that I felt stuck in”. Kara is now employed as an office administrator Hill’s Janitorial Services, working with the company’s janitorial staff of over 200 people in her first-ever full-time office role. She is using the skills that she learned through HIM to assist with customer relations and payroll.

Thank You CAWACO RC&D!

All three siblings learned about HIM and were convinced to become graduates of the program thanks to our students recruitment postcards. The life transformation of these graduates, and many more, would not have been possible without CAWACO RC&D, who funds the student recruitment postcard initiative in Birmingham.

The post Student Stories: Tommy Wilson, Stephen Wilson, and Kara Lemonds appeared first on Hope Inspired Ministries.

She met HIM Executive Director John Bowman in early 2021. He told her about the HIM program, and Latasha decided to join the class in Hayneville to turn her life around and care for her family. As a student she learned soft skills, employment skills, and how to care for her mind, body, and soul. After starting the class as a quiet, reserved person, she became what staff called “the life of the class” seemingly out of the blue. As a result, Latasha earned Class 2021-3’s Overcomer Award.

Latasha completed her internship with Priester’s Pecans, and was offered a full-time position once she completed the internship. She still works there today to provide for her family.

The post Student Stories: Latasha Gallahan appeared first on Hope Inspired Ministries.

Picking Up the Pieces

As the second oldest of four siblings, Yolanda was left to care for her disabled youngest sister LaRuth after both of her parents passed away. She lost her job as a result, and she felt like she had hit rock bottom.

For a while, she said, “My daily routine consisted of taking care of the needs of my baby sister. After doing that, though, some days I would just eat and go back to bed. Some days I would not even take care of my hygiene. I didn’t want to talk to friends or family, and I isolated myself.” Nevertheless, her children and sister Tamara would try to encourage her to do something and make something more for herself.

“Doing Something” Through HIM

One day, Yolanda was running errands with her son when she passed by a sign that read “Free Job Training”. She told her son that he needed to call and enroll in the program for himself, not knowing that she was the one who truly needed it. She received an informational mailer from Hope Inspired Ministries a few weeks later, and held onto it. When she drove by the HIM Birmingham office, she decided to make the call to enroll in the upcoming program.

Although she was both scared and excited about coming to the class, Yolanda said that she learned a lot. She said, “The most important part of the class each day for me was devotion. We were given the book The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. The book touched on how to reconnect our relationship and fellowship with God, family, friends, and associates.” She earned Student of the Week during the second week of class for her commitment to growth, being encouraging to her classmates, and taking ownership. That commitment was further proven when she was awarded with the Perfect Attendance award at graduation.

Now, she is working at Regus, a corporate office space provider, as an administrative assistant. She said, “I thank God for the opportunity to be in the HIM program and for the HIM program itself.”

The post Student Stories: Yolanda Paige appeared first on Hope Inspired Ministries.

Broken Past

Laneisha came from a domestic violence past and that included several broken relationships. She has given birth to 10 beautiful children, but was not healthy due to her broken past and current addictions. She did not have custody of any of her children due to her lifestyle. Her struggles began at an early age of 14 years old when she gave birth to her first child but also found herself trapped in an abusive relationship. This abusive relationship continued and she did not leave this abuse for several years because it was all she knew. When she did leave she only found the cycle repeat itself with another broken relationship. To add to her struggles, she witnessed a close loved one die from a drug overdose, which can leave lasting scars.

A New Hope

Laneisha began to write a new chapter in her life on January 2, 2022, as she started the Hope Inspired Ministries Class 2022.1. The biggest lessons that she said she learned were how to be honest, basic life skills, anger management, resume building, how to save money, communication skills, and respect for herself and others. At the conclusion of her class, she interned with Waffle House and was eventually hired!

She said all of the skills she learned play a huge role in her everyday encounters with customers. On several occasions at work, she has faced difficult customers who were clearly having a bad day. She used her newly-learned communication skills and would find herself offering them encouragement. She has found that her encouragement has the power to change their day and set their life back on track! 

Laneisha is now one year clean and sober, a shift supervisor at Waffle House, and received full custody of her youngest child on December 8th. It’s never too late to get your life straight and be the person you were called to be – Laniesha was called to be a great mother!

The post Student Stories: Laneisha Edwards appeared first on Hope Inspired Ministries.

Luckily, God had some of our team members out in the community recruiting students for our next class at just the right time in Jeffery’s life! While in his state of hopelessness, he ran into some of our career coaches who were out in the community recruiting students for our next class. They were at a frequented convenience store in the community delivering hope by giving out information on our next class. Jeffery was impressed that someone came out to his community to recruit him to their program.

He signed up on the spot in the convenience store parking lot and his new story in life began! While in Hope Inspired Ministries he learned to Trust God and keep going no matter the issue, we called it “Trusting the Process”. He also learned good communication skills which have extremely helped him in his current job at Food Outlet. He lacked the communication skills needed to excel on a job, but he is now able to make a positive impact through his employment interactions.

Jeffrey said he loves his new HIM family so much that he is helping others now by recruiting them to join HIM, he said “I am spreading the word about HIM”. He has clearly seen a change in his own life, but truly values others who have seen the positive change. His mother said, “He’s a whole lot better now after going through the HIM Program.”

Transportation is a continued barrier in Jeffery’s life as he continues to work on getting his driver’s license. But in HIM fashion of eliminating barriers, a generous donation allowed him to have his very own wheels through a bicycle. He is now able to ride to work even when public transportation is not running, which turned into a six-mile round trip walk. Keep living your God-given purpose, Jeffery, and the sky is the limit!

The post Student Stories: Jeffrey Yearby appeared first on Hope Inspired Ministries.