Julio (he/him) walks with a cane due to nerve damage in his leg. That would normally have disqualified him from working in a kitchen, but FareStart Intake & Enrollment Manager Glen (he/him) worked closely with a Department of Correction’s Correctional Industries Community & Employment Navigator to find a spot for Julio in FareStart’s job training program.
“Julio demonstrated that personal agency that we look for in our students,” Glen said. “He had the tenacity, the upbeat and positive attitude, the agency of respect and the ability to take responsibility for his past and future that was needed to succeed.”
Julio’s Time at FareStart
“I came to FareStart with a purpose,” Julio said. “It was part of my plan and it unfolded and it just kept unfolding.” After spending the last 15 years at the Coyote Ridge Corrections Center, Julio was approved for work release and started FareStart’s Food Pathways Program earlier this year.
“FareStart taught me all the skills I needed to know,” says Julio. “The first month of the program is the most important. You have to really accept what you’re hearing. I relearned and remembered things that I already knew, like self-worth, planning, budgeting, resume-building, computer skills. The workforce, after being away for 15 years, this is all new to me. Without that initial push from the classroom part of the program, I wouldn’t have the strength to do what I’m doing now.”
“But the one thing that inspired me the most and has kept me going is gratitude. I wake up grateful for my experiences to come, and the experiences that I’ve had and the path that I’m on.”
Aiming Higher
Julio’s plan was to start out as a dishwasher to break into the restaurant industry and eventually work his way up to prep cook, cook and eventually line cook. But FareStart encouraged him to shoot higher. “There are a lot of things that we can do for people, but the most important thing is helping them realize that there’s a lot that they can do for themselves,” said Glen.
With the encouragement and coaching of FareStart employment specialists, case managers and trainers, Julio applied for and got a job at Ethan Stowell Restaurants (ESR) Commissary Kitchen as a Pastry Cook. He arranged to work one day a week while he was completing FareStart’s four-month job training program, and now he is working full-time at the commissary – four 10 hour days/week making tiramisu, cookies, focaccia, pizza dough and more for all the ESR restaurants. He takes a bus and then walks a mile each way with a cane to get to work, but he focuses on the upside. “It’s a dream,” he says. “It’s demanding work. But I just kept pushing and I’m getting better at it. As I walk, I’m getting healthier. I’m looking better. I feel better. My little aches and pains go away because of the exercise every day. It’s just so many little things adding up to one big happiness.”
Feeling Grateful
For Julio, there’s no question about giving it his all, walking the extra mile. “Every day I get up and I go and I do this, and I try to get better at it. It is just part of being grateful. I feel like I owe myself and the people who helped me more than just giving it 50%. It is not even a question. I had so much positive feedback and encouragement to continue doing what I’m doing. There was no way not to do it.”
“I honestly feel that my fortune is a little more than I deserve. But I strive to deserve it every day. I don’t know if I’m just lucky. I know I’m putting in the work, but I think it’s a combination of just opening the doors and letting fortune come to you. But it’s a little overwhelming where I’m at because I came from prison. It’s a dark place and there’s no hope.”
A Bright Future
Julio will be fully released from his prison sentence in January 2025. He is currently working with the VA to obtain housing and to receive mental health counseling for a traumatic injury that he sustained during his time in the military. “I am a veteran but never wanted to go to the VA for help or anything. FareStart let me settle down my heart and let my mind rest, so I can remember a lot of the important stuff that I learned through my life or was closed off to. They encouraged me to open up and seek help. And it is helping. I’m actually in mental health now, and I’m talking to a psychologist and psychiatrist and everybody else. And I never would have before without people who I considered friends telling me that I should do that instead of holding resentments or fears.”
“I used to consider myself a zero as a human being. I was at the very bottom that you could possibly be,” Julio recollected. “I feel like I’ve climbed that ladder, but not alone. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel now. There’s more than a light. There’s a tunnel with a bright beacon at the end that I can work for. And things are happening. I know that in my life, the opportunities will keep coming. I’ve learned how to keep my eyes open for them and to listen to advice from good people.”
