My Story: Damarya Williams

Damarya Williams is a young woman who was destined for greatness. That’s until she found herself in legal trouble. Like many, she was overcome with peer pressure and succumbed to some unfavorable actions. Damarya paid for her mistakes and started to focus on making things right. When she was assigned to a pre-trial intervention case worker, she heard about the LifeLaunch program at Goodwill Industries of Upstate/Midlands South Carolina (Greenville).

In January 2023, Damarya enrolled in LifeLaunch, a program designed for those impacted by the justice system. Within a month, Damarya received a job working at a plastic company as a quality control inspector. This was exactly what Damarya needed to enter the working world again, but there was more to come. She had aspirations to get her Commercial Driver’s License (CDL).

Damarya used additional services provided by Goodwill to strengthen her résumé, obtain new digital skills and get on track with financial planning. She dedicated her time to learning all these things in addition to taking her CDL courses and hands-on training.

By the time April came around, Damarya officially received her CDL job training certification. As a result of her hard work and Goodwill’s assistance, Damarya’s quality of life has increased tremendously over the course of just four months.

Damarya compared herself to a seed. She felt life was burying her, but she decided to grow instead.

Contact your local Goodwill to learn more about similar programs available in your area.