My life\u2019s journey has been shaped by hardship, poor choices, and painful consequences, yet also by growth, redemption, and hope. At ten, a reckless dare led to a break-in that spiraled into years within juvenile facilities, each one a harsh lesson in consequence and missed opportunities. Without a stable support system\u2014an absent father, a strained relationship with my mother, and a brother too young to guide me\u2014I fell into old patterns upon release, dabbling in drugs and rebellion despite excelling academically enough to graduate high school with honors. Work
offered a degree of independence, but it also exposed me to cocaine, beginning a destructive cycle that lasted for decades. By 2023, incarcerated once more, I encountered a turning point through the HBI Pact program, which rekindled my interest in construction and introduced me to the support systems offered by the NRMR Workforce Development Board, including WORC and Pathway Home 5. Released in 2025 to Dorcas House and feeling abandoned, I was pulled back from the edge by a timely call from Dee, my NRMR WDB navigator, who provided not only encouragement but essentials like clothes, a phone, and a computer, alongside access to foundational training for life and work skills. Now, at 51, with renewed clarity and determination, I am committed to building a future in construction and giving back to the community that believed in my second chance\u2014my story is not ending but just beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Terry was enrolled in the WORC and Pathway Home 5 grants. We were able to support him with a laptop, uniforms, food assistance, training tuition, books, foundational training, drug screening for employment, and other supportive services.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Released in 2025 to Dorcas House and feeling abandoned, I was pulled back from the edge by a timely call from Dee, my NRMR WDB navigator, who provided not only encouragement but essentials like clothes, a phone, and a computer, alongside access to foundational training for life and work skills. Now, at 51, with renewed clarity and determination, I am committed to building a future in construction and giving back to the community that believed in my second chance\u2014my story is not ending but just beginning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[12],"class_list":["post-784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-success-stories","tag-feature"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpdev.billychandler.com\/nrmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpdev.billychandler.com\/nrmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpdev.billychandler.com\/nrmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpdev.billychandler.com\/nrmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpdev.billychandler.com\/nrmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=784"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/wpdev.billychandler.com\/nrmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":888,"href":"https:\/\/wpdev.billychandler.com\/nrmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784\/revisions\/888"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpdev.billychandler.com\/nrmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpdev.billychandler.com\/nrmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpdev.billychandler.com\/nrmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpdev.billychandler.com\/nrmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}