Robert “Bob” May is a veteran of the U.S. armed services and spent a decade homeless, living on riverbanks and wandering along railroad tracks. A divorce had triggered severe depression. He also stopped taking medication for his bi-polar disorder and began drinking heavily and abusing drugs. One day in 1995, a local organization for American veterans with disabilities discovered May living under a bridge and referred him to the Goodwill Serving Eastern Nebraska and Southwest Iowa in Omaha. He was initially hired as a custodian and, today, works as an equipment repair technician. As part of Goodwill’s commercial services program with NISH/AbilityOne, he restores and repairs a wide array of janitorial equipment at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.

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Alcohol abuse and violence were a part of Candy Nunez-Jura’s childhood. She and her younger sisters would hide in the family car to escape from her father’s abuse. At age 18, Candy became pregnant and got married. Her new husband was also abusive. After several years and the birth of her second child, Candy left her abusive husband and had a difficult time finding a job and supporting her family as a single mother. She suffers from dyslexia, therefore, never learned to read or write and struggled with severe arthritis in her hands.

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