"It's a computer world and that's what you need to go for nowadays. I want to learn how to access the Internet. I need all of the basic computer skills. It's scary at times," Deborah Ufele said.
It can be scary when a word like Word has new meaning, when PowerPoint leaves you feeling powerless.
Ufele's daughters conquered their fear of computers at Goodwill's Global Learning Center.
"My two daughters were students, and both of them have been very successful in getting employment through this program," Ufele said.
The program is not new, but the place where it happens just got a new look -- new computers, new furniture, new everything.
The job training program is paid for through the sale of donated items at Goodwill stores. The Goodwill president says it is a leg up, not a hand out.
"Goodwill is out of the business of saving you. Goodwill is in the business of giving you an opportunity. It's your job, and when you're ready, and when you want it to happen, then it will become a reality," Dennis McLain, president of Goodwill of Eastern North Carolina said.
Count Gwen McKay as one who is ready to change her reality.
"I live in the Arc shelter, which is a homeless shelter for single women. And I wanted to do something different other than restaurants So I came up here," McKay said.
McKay and Ufele, and others, are finding that the road to opportunity is not a toll road.
• Credits
Copyright 2023 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
