For over two years Don, a manager at Bank of America in Baltimore (I guess I should say Bank of America Merrill Lynch), has been coming once a month to lead a financial education class for the men in our program. He recruited Bill, also of BoA, to come along and help on a couple of occasions and Bill got really excited about supporting the men of Helping Up Mission regroup their lives. Bill recruited Robert (from BoA, too) and now all three come at different times to work on financial issues with our men.
Last month Bill decided that the best way to support our men in addressing their financial issues was to help them find a job. The first and best thing he figured he could do about that was to bring down a group of managers from Bank of America to do some mock interviews with our men to prepare them for real job interviews. He began recruiting.
So, last Friday, nine managers from Bank of America came to Helping Up Mission spent the morning at Helping Up Mission. They met with some 40 guys to do mock interviews. We got our resumes together and put on our interview clothes and sat down for 30 minutes of interaction. I don’t know if the BoA guys were nervous, but I can sure tell you a lot of our guys were!
But it all turned out pretty well. Guys came back to tell me thanks and what a meaningful experience it was for them. The Bank of America managers seemed to feel pretty good about the activity, as well. In fact, there was general enthusiasm on their part to do it again in the near future.
And I have to say that the whole thing was perfectly planned and orchestrated by God, because this week about a dozen of the men who did mock interviews have real interviews lined up with an employer interested in hiring each one. God is so good!
Sounds to me like Bill was listening to the Almighty. And thanks Don for these years of faithful service. And thanks Bank of America Merrill Lynch managers for investing in the lives of men who need a little help getting started again.
Sincerely,
Pastor Gary Byers
Spiritual Life Director
PS A few weeks ago I asked you to remember Larry in prayer. He is still struggling in the midst of radiation treatments for brain cancer. Larry did the very first one-on-one financial counseling with our guys. Thank you, too, Larry. Be assured that you continue to be in our prayers.