|
Giving Back
|
 |
 A few years ago we featured a guest named Rosendo in our monthly e-newsletter, whose story can be read here. We got a chance to catch up with Rosendo this month and find out where his life has gone since we last talked to him.
Shortly
after leaving Breakthrough, Rosendo returned home to Texas to take care
of his ailing grandmother. Before leaving, he had been encouraged by a
local dentist who helped him to train as a dental assistant. While
living in Texas with his grandmother, he was finally able to take those
classes and obtained his certificate.
Last December, Rosendo
returned to Chicago to once again find himself homeless. He came back
to Breakthrough and took employment readiness classes taught by Kevin
Sellers, our new Employment Coordinator.
Rosendo found a job as
a full-time Certified Dental Assistant at a clinic downtown and moved
into his own apartment. He volunteers on the weekends at another
dental clinic that offers free check-ups and cleanings to the homeless
and low-income families.
“Every two weeks," says Rosendo, "we
close down the office for half a day and help those who need it. I
wanted to help others, because dental work is expensive.”
“Rosendo
has impacted my life tremendously,” says Kevin. “He helped me to open
up the doors to everyone else in the program. When they saw what he
was able to do, people looked at Rosendo and admired him – they saw the
progression that he had here; he came here, stayed here, got a job and
he moved into an apartment.”
Rosendo is thankful for the
opportunities that Breakthrough has provided him, and sees in his
future a life of service to others.
“Today people look at me and
say, ‘Wow, you don’t look like you were homeless.’ I just thank God
that there are programs like Breakthrough that can help me, and where I
can come back and help others, where I can tell people what
Breakthrough has done for me.” |
|
|
