On Saturday, we met with Dennis, gave him the tools to Dress Well, Speak Well and Show Up Early, spent 5 hours teaching him the basic skills of an Electrician’s Helper, and arranged for him to interview with an electrical contractor.   All in one day.

It is now Monday, September 8th.  The electrical contractor just called to tell us that Dennis got the job!  Work begins tomorrow morning at 8am.  If Dennis performs well, and we have every expectation that he will, he will not be sent back to upstate prison!

We needed to help Dennis secure a job in 11 days.  He did it in 2.  Are we happy, even a little bit proud?  Heck yeah!

When we met Josh last week, we did a very primitive test to see if he was dyslexic. We wrote down simple words and asked him to state the letters in order. He got them all right, so we knew he wasn’t dyslexic. Then we asked him to sound out the letters. He didn’t, however, get all of the sounds right. We concluded that he wasn’t learning-disabled at all, he simply had never learned to read. We ordered Hooked on Phonics Master Reader from Amazon for $150. It arrived on Monday. And Josh began using it on Tuesday morning (yesterday). He used it for 5 hours straight. Then we asked him if he thought the program would work. He responded: “It already has.” Not really understanding this response, we asked him to show us what he meant. He pulled out a one-page story, and read the whole thing out loud to us, perfectly!

We don’t shed tears here very often. Yesterday we did.

When we met Kendrick, we asked him what his goals were. His first was to get out of his current living situation. Together we worked out the steps necessary for him to move. One week later, he had reconnected with his aunt and was living with her. The house was over two hours away from Manhattan, but the freedom to look for a job improved his life immediately.

Kendrick’s next goal was to get a job. After practicing our principles of dressing well, speaking well and showing up early for two weeks straight, Kendrick got a job interview as a warehouse stockboy at Century 21. He went on the interview, and got the job!

Kendrick’s next goal was to get a driver’s license. He had never driven a car before, so we arranged for him a 5-hour behind-the-wheel driving class. The recommended length of training for a brand-new driver is 30 hours . But that is 6 times as costly. Kendrick took the 5 hour course, soaked up every bit of knowledge he could, and then took the DMV road test. He passed!!

Kendrick next set his sights on a Commercial Driving License (CDL), as bus and truck drivers can make well above minimum wage. Kendrick is currently studying to pass the CDL permit test. Once he does, he will begin the CDL training program. Given Kendrick’s recent track record of success, we have no doubt that he will achieve this goal as well.