My Story: Martha Lugo

Martha Lugo is a graduate of Goodwill of San Antonio’s (TX) Good Career Academy. Prior to joining the program she was a Class B truck driver, but lacked the confidence to obtain a Class A license. Below she shares the experience, which led her to Goodwill and on a path toward home ownership.

I’ve been driving with my Class B for over 10 years. I started off driving for the school districts and moved on to charter buses like Greyhound and Coach USA. For years I told everyone, that’s where I draw the line, I’ll never do that [obtain a Class A license] because that seemed above me. I could never do that.

At the Goodwill Academy off of I-35, they connected me with Isabel Lopez. I went and met with her. She is the catalyst that made me finally say yes to the whole thing. I told her the experience that I had; I was thinking that I wasn’t sure if I could do it. That’s when she brought in the instructor, Carlos. He was wonderful; very hands-on and encouraging. Between the two of them, I am here today.

I wanted to do it so that I could purchase a home. I’m 52 years old, and I want to have a place of my own. I figured the next step in my Commercial Driver License (CDL) would be to advance to a Class A. That would give me the income that I need to be able to follow through with buying a home.

If Goodwill Academy and Goodwill were not here for me, I would still be working at my old job. When you’re thinking ahead, you need that help and you need someone to encourage you and to not look at where you’re coming from, but to look where you’re going to.

You can also watch Martha share her story here.