LTLC is proud to announce that starting in October and each month after we will be showcasing client success stories. We here at LTLC are proud of our clients and everything they do to make a positive impact in their lives. During the summer of 2014 a gentleman named Terry Pruitt arrived at the Lowell Transitional Living Shelter seeking assistance due to his housing falling thru at the last minute and finding himself on the streets of Lowell. Immediately upon entering LTLC, Terry was eager to get his shelter intake done and get busy finding a job, housing and getting back on his feet towards independence and self-sufficiency. When staff first met with Terry, they commented on how he was polite, chatty and upbeat. One of the questions asked in the course of the intake was his educational background. He informed staff that he had a P.H.D. in Pastoral Counseling, which staff then why he was no longer working in the field. He explained, sadly, that he had been working for a large evangelical Christian church in Kentucky, living on their property and doing pastoral counseling. The church was very conservative and when Terry “came out” he was immediately fired due to his lifestyle, losing his job and his housing all at the same time. The memory was clearly still painful. To lighten the mood and give him some hope one of the case management staff said, “You’re in Massachusetts now. We don’t care about that.” He smiled, somewhat unbelievingly, and they continued with the intake. At the end of the meeting, Terry was ready and eager to continue his job search. He would report in to staff from time to time and soon had a job at a local upscale pizza restaurant. LTLC staff decided to visit Terry at his new and were amazed when they overhead nearby customers (who appeared to be regulars) comment on the job Terry was doing. Specifically “I don’t know where they found this guy but they better not let him go.” A week or so later Terry informed staff that his boss had asked for more input with regards to service at the restaurant. The owner apparently had a second store, which was currently undergoing renovations. At the time of relaunch he asked that Terry provide the staff training for the store due to his strong work ethic and experience. Within a few weeks, he had found himself an apartment and moved in. Terry eventually began to equip his apartment and even got a living room set from one of the LTLC staff who was in the process of replacing their furniture. Throughout this whole experience, Terry continued to be upbeat and optimistic, working hard to put his life back together. He would come back to LTLC, bringing wonderful homemade baked goods for the staff and news of how he was doing. On his last visit, Terry announced he had taken a second job, and showed us a flyer for a local ice cream and sweets shop that said “new manager.” We congratulated him, assuming that was his new position. He quickly corrected us, saying, with a big grin, “ I bought it!” We at the Lowell Transitional Living Center congratulate Terry on all his success and consider his story a true success on every level.
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 16:41:21 +0000
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