Iesha finds a path of purpose

Your support helped her journey towards healing and a new life.

Iesha was used to walking through life alone. Her father and mother had left her early on to be raised by her single, working grandmother. Her grandmother certainly did the best she could, but Iesha found herself living in long stretches of solitude as a young child.

She began to embrace the loneliness—the quiet hours at the kitchen table doing homework. She was never much for people anyway, as she’d grown to harbor a bit of social anxiety.

Iesha’s strict grandmother taught her to have good ethics and strong morals. “I was very grateful to have my grandmother raise me. But it was difficult being the only one in the house,” Iesha painfully reveals.

As she moved to adulthood, Iesha was struggling with her mental illness. She would change from job to job…city to city…looking for a support system, but never really finding it. She often felt an emptiness inside, but there wasn’t space to deal with the roots of her emotional pain.

When the inner turmoil became too heavy, Iesha would look for something new to fill the void. “That’s what brought me to Atlanta,” she shares. “I just figured big city, big opportunities. I literally packed up all things in a rental car, and I said, ‘I’m moving on. I want to start over.’”

“I felt broken.”

Once in the city, Iesha found a temporary place to live, but it wasn’t a long-term solution. “That’s when I began looking for shelters,” explains Iesha.

When she came across Atlanta Mission, something compelled her to take a chance and try it out. “I was very nervous when I first arrived,” she shares. “But I felt broken and my life was all over the place.”

Upon arriving at Atlanta Mission, Iesha experienced something she’d never had before. “It was a family. Me, and the other ladies here, would have conversations together. We’d pray for each other, and we’d do everything together because we had so much fun,” she says.

Feeling Safe

For the first time in her life, Iesha could let her guard down. She felt safe enough to share her story. Through counseling and classes, the protective walls she built around her heart began crumbling, and Iesha started to feel more open and alive.

That’s when Iesha decided to take a risk and join Atlanta Mission’s vocational program, Next Steps. “The classes and counseling helped me emotionally, and Next Steps helped me professionally. I needed both because I was struggling in both, and I wasn’t really steady in any of my jobs,” she shares.

Next Steps provided Iesha with six weeks of intensive job training where she received a range of services like résumé and cover letter writing, job search strategies, and mock interviews.

Building Confidence

“When I first went in, I said, ‘You’re not going to put us with the team, are you? Because I like working by myself.’” Iesha found that the training program not only built her confidence, but also helped her learn the joy in working with others.

“It helped my heart to change and now I consider myself a better team player,” she explains. Iesha credits the Lord’s healing and the incredible Next Steps instructors for the transformation she’s seen in life.

Today, Iesha looks towards her future with hope. She’s empowered to pursue her career goals knowing she has the strength to overcome challenges. Most importantly, she knows she’s not alone, but she has a caring community, cheering for her success every step of the way.

Your giving is putting people to work in our community

“It has been a pleasure working with the Marriott as a Next Steps Employment Partner. When connecting clients to employment at Marriott, I have confidence that they’ll have a great experience and are in good hands.” – Kathleen Da Silva, Atlanta Mission’s Corporate Account Manager

Next Steps was created beginning
in 2019 in partnership with
Cara, a leading Chicago-based workforce development
enterprise.

Today, at companies like
Marriott, Next Steps clients are
placed in front desk positions,
maintenance, housekeeping, or as event coordinators.

As a proven model, Next Steps is
achieving one-year job retention
rates of 89% at a livable
rate of pay.

Kevin’s Shoes Tell a Story

I slipped into depression, and it caused me not to go to work. I didn’t really want be around anybody because I didn’t know who to talk to.

I had holes in my shoes because I couldn’t buy any shoes for a while. These are the only pair of shoes I had, and I walked in them for at least a year. Really, these shoes are symbolic because they show the physical evidence of where I’ve come from.

Next Steps has been life-changing for me. It helped me get my confidence back. Now you see me in suits and nice shoes, but my old shoes are a reminder that there’s a story behind each of us. At the last job interview I went to, I was the only one even dressed up.

This is truly the best program in the nation. You do so well at the interviews you end up having many options on the table. It’s very humbling to come this far. If anyone would be willing to donate, this is a worthy cause.