We’re big on stories here at LIFT so I want to share with you a message I received over an email exchange with my fellow colleague, Dar Veverka, VP of Technology here at LIFT. I believe this a true testament of the lasting impact LIFT has on its Members. See below.
I was over at the DC Perry School site this morning doing some work. I finished up and thought oh, it’s a nice day, I’ll just walk back to the National Office. So off I go, down New York Ave. Walking past a construction site, a construction worker on lunch break calls out, “Excuse me miss, do you work with them?”, as he’s pointing at my bright blue LIFT t-shirt. I tell him I do – I say I’m a LIFT staff member. I ask him if he knows about LIFT or if there is something we could help him with.
“Oh no, you all already helped me. You helped me find a job. Not this job – a different one. That helped me get a better job, this job. I just wanted to say thank you and tell you that you do good work. LIFT really helped me out.”
I spoke to the man for a bit – his name is Mr. Wright. I asked him which Advocate had helped him and it was LIFT-DC’s Darien, who also works as an intern here in the National Office a couple of days a week. Darien helped Mr. Wright land a job last summer. Mr. Wright is doing well. He really wanted Darien to know what a help he was and to pass on the thanks to him. I encouraged him to stop on by the Perry School office if he has other goals he’d like to work on. We’re always here. He said he might just do that.
It’s incredibly reaffirming to LIFT’s holistic approach to setting the foundations for our Members so they can chart their own path onto stable ground. I hope this story starts your day off right because reading this has made my day.