The Little Engine That Can
Hats off to the 51 women and men who graduated from either the Family Self-Sufficiency or Homeownership programs in 2019! We celebrated their successes at a graduation dinner Dec. 3.
“The hardest part is to start,” recalled Shunteia Goldman, who shared her story from the podium at the event. Four years ago Shuntei worked in the kitchen at Cook Children’s. Wanting to do more for her two children, the single mother enrolled in the FSS program and applied for a higher-paying job in Cook’s neo-intensive care unit. She landed the position, then began taking classes at Tarrant County College, knowing that a college degree would increase her earning potential even further.
“You know what they say: God qualifies you, and all you have to do is put your foot forward and move,” Shunteia said. She kept at it, working full-time, helping her children with their homework at night and squeezing in her classes at TCC. She enrolled in the Homeownership program, saving enough to buy her first home in 2018. Fast forward to 2019, another remarkable year for Shunteia. She graduated from TCC, landed an even higher-paying job in Cook Children’s Human Resources Department and finished both the FSS and Homeownership programs.
She shared some advice for those who want to improve their lives. “Apply yourself, and keep moving forward and don’t give up,” she said. “Because there’s a lot of people in the world who will tell you ‘You can’t do this,’ or ‘You don’t deserve that,’ or ‘You’ll never make it.”
“I just kept pushing, trusted in God, had the faith and kept going.”
Twenty-one individuals purchased homes through the Homeownership program in 2019, and 13 of the homes were brand-new construction. Thirty graduated from the FSS program.
Are you ready for a bold new start in 2020? Visit www.fwhs.org/homeownership/ and www.fwhs.org/family-self-sufficiency/ and call 817-333-3653 for more information.
