My Story: Nancy Ramos-Sanchez

When Nancy Ramos-Sanchez was 16, she and her family went to Mexico on a summer vacation. She spent most of that summer with a boy she met there and decided that she would run away with him right before her family was due to return to the states.  As her family left for Texas, Nancy stayed behind, and eventually married her boyfriend. It wasn’t long before Nancy became pregnant with her first child. At that point, Nancy returned to the United States as young wife and mother but soon thereafter went through a divorce. She couldn’t return back to her parents due to turmoil within the household and that left her alone and needing to provide for her young daughter as a single parent. She worked for a while to support her daughter, but they were all dead-end jobs because she lacked her High School Diploma. Nancy eventually remarried and was soon pregnant with her second child.  While her new husband struggled to take care of their family, she stayed home with the kids because of the high cost of daycare.

It was while she was staying home with her two children that one of her friends told her about a program flyer she found at a local laundromat. The flyer was for Goodwill Fort Worth’s Education and Employment Program (E²) and they both decided to do the program together to earn their High School Equivalency Certificate.  Nancy has not looked back since!

Nancy started as a dock worker in E², working part-time while working on her High School Equivalency. E² allows participants to gain their high school equivalency while being offered paid work experience at Goodwill Fort Worth at the same time. The program specifically targets youth in Tarrant County who are out of school, aged 16-24, and that are experiencing barriers to employment and education.

After Nancy graduated from E², due to her great work ethic, the Director of Transportation offered her a full-time position as a dock worker. After two months, Nancy excelled at all assigned tasks and this effort was noticed by the transportation manager. At that time she was promoted to dock lead. This is Nancy’s current role and she continues to exceed expectations all while also enrolled at Tarrant County College where she is again furthering her education. Nancy continues to speak words of encouragement to E² Program participants and every day serves as an example of what hard work and perseverance can lead to.

NOTE: As originally posted on Goodwill Industries of  Fort Worth, Inc.