My Story: Travis McCausland

Travis McCausland is a Recognition Programs Associate at the Randolph Air Force Base in Texas.  He found his new position through the Goodwill Veterans Resource and Career Center at Goodwill of San Antonio (TX).

I got out of the army; I was medically retired after 11 years and my family and I moved back here. I got a civilian job for three years, and then I was let go.

It was a dark day for us, a dark time. We weren’t sure how we were going to buy groceries the next week. It was at a point in my life where I wasn’t sure what I wanted. My self-confidence had really dwindled. My family and I, we were really uncertain as far as the path we were taking.

We ended up just walking into the Goodwill store and realized there was a career center next to it for veterans. I went in and from the start, everyone was just so friendly. I filled out the necessary paperwork and they really helped me in what I needed to do to get the job. I ended up working for awards and recognitions on Randolph Air Force Base, which was exactly where I wanted to be.

My wife also went through the Good Careers Academy. They helped her go to school and become a certified nursing assistant, which was huge. It gave us back our self-worth. We were lost as a family and Goodwill helping me get a job on top of helping her to get a job was just phenomenal, and having three kids [ages] 15, 13 and 11, it was important that they see that never giving up. Goodwill was there to keep us on that path.

Loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage are the army values and Goodwill instills those. I see those [values] in Goodwill employees and all the work that they do in helping veterans.