Sarah Ford | May 12, 2015
Goodwill Industries Success Story: Archie Gibbs
My life journey is as long as the yellow brick road. I left home at the age of 12 to go to foster care when my mother’s boyfriend abused me and my seven brothers and sisters. I lost hearing in my left ear and I am partially deaf in my right ear. Living in and out of foster care taught me a lot and showed me a lot of responsibility.
My first job was at Krystal’s restaurant from October 1992 through January 1993 as a cook and custodian. Then in June of 1993 to September of 1996, I worked at Central Park restaurant where I cooked hamburgers, prepared sandwiches, maintained and documented inventory, shut everything down and locked up.
I took a year off of work to focus on school in 1997. The foster care system was crazy and without the support of parents, I started college, but had to withdraw due to a lack of money for personal items and transportation. I walked just about everywhere in Macon trying to find another job, and that’s when I came to Goodwill Industries of Middle Georgia and the CSRA (Macon) in March 1998.
I met with the Goodwill’s staff and started out at the career center in downtown Macon as a materials handler and sorter.
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