Faces of Success

2010 Faces of Success Honorees

Daniel Cruz

I grew up in the worst neighborhood in South Phoenix, one filled with drugs and violence and gangs.

I never joined a gang, but I didn't really need to.  I got everything I needed and wanted on the streets.   I had a reputation.  People respected me.  They were afraid of me.  I may be small, but that didn't matter.  

My parents didn't know what I was doing on the streets.  I was different at home.  I had good parents, but home and school were different than it was on the street.

I was living 2 lives.

I started doing it all around 12 or 13.  People started to recognize me for what I was doing.  I got their respect.  I got their fear.

As I got older, some of my brothers knew the lifestyle I was living.  They'd see me hanging with people who were older.  They knew I was negotiating with them.

They were worried about my youngest brother because they were afraid they'd follow in my footsteps.

My parents told me I can't hang out with those people.  But I didn't listen.  I was trapped in that life.  I couldn't break the cycle.

I had a close call in 2004 when I was hanging out with friends in their apartment.  It was actually a dope house and they were doing a transaction.  I wasn't involved, but that didn't mean anything when the SWAT team came through the door.  They found drugs – marijuana, meth, crack cocaine and weapons.

There were five charges against me, but I was bonded the next day.  My three friends went to Mexico.  I went to trial but beat the case because I had never been busted before.  Some people couldn't believe I got away.

But what I didn't know was that after the trial detectives would start surveilling me.   

One day I was getting money from a guy who owed me. I was being watched and was arrested on armed robbery charges.   I was found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison.

To be honest, it was a blessing that somebody stopped me.  I wanted to pay for what I'd done, but I didn't know how.

I just couldn't break the cycle.  I was trapped in that life and didn't know how to get out of it.   But if I didn't get busted, I'd probably be dead.

When I was on the streets, I had no respect for nobody.  But I also lost my family's respect. 

When I was locked up, it was amazing that my family was still there to back me up.  No money in the world is worth my family.  That made me stop.

I decided to serve my time, not get in trouble and change my life when I got out.

Two months out of prison, I couldn't find a job.  I started researching programs and came on AWEE.  Even though the name is women, they were working with men.

I came in and met Jeanelle.  First we did my resume.  She sent me jobs.  She never let go of me.  She showed me love and one day she called and said she heard about an apprenticeship.

She told me to go to Gateway Community College and take this test.  I said what test?   I haven't studied or anything? She said don't ask questions, just go take the test.

She said she knew I would do good so I took the test and passed it.  Then I interviewed with a committee and passed that test.  I got accepted to Gateway.  I'm working on a sheet metal apprenticeship. 

I'm currently in my second year at Gateway and I'm working on my journeyman's card.

AWEE helped me turn my life around.  They showed me I could have a brighter future.   I'm living my new beginning today.

I'm doing great and it shows that even though fall down, you can get back up and change your life around.

Dede Gaisthea

When I came to  AWEE 14 years ago, I looking for some direction in my life.

When I was 19 my mom was diagnosed with leukemia. My 3 sisters and 2 brothers were working at the time and my younger sister was still in school.  I had graduated from high school and was available to care for her.

After she passed away, I attended Colorado State for two years, but I didn't really have any direction or goal. I did well in the social activities, but not academically.   I came back to Phoenix and got into a relationship and that was my new purpose.  And then my dad got sick and he became my purpose.

When he passed away, I was in my 20s and had lost both parents. 

I come from a very strong family.  My mom was Hopi and my dad Laguna from New Mexico who faced many difficulties raising a family of eight.  I am first generation off the reservation and our culture is very important to us. Tradition is handed down through our parents.

After they died, I lost direction. 

There were days after that when I just couldn't get out of bed.  I was depressed.  One day I realized, the rest of my family had moved on, but I didn't.

I needed help.  I didn't know where to go.

I called a couple of places to see if I could get some assistance.  One place referred me to AWEE.

When I called, they told me about their job-training program. I had worked parttime in retail, but never held a fulltime job. I had never done a professional interview or had a resume. 

I borrowed my sister's car to go to AWEE, but I just didn't know if I would fit.   I found out I was stronger than I thought.  I was with people whose situations were more extreme than mine, but we all needed to be empowered.

At my first meeting, I kept thinking that I didn't belong there.  But I stayed.  Everyone goes through emotional hardships.  I wasn't alone.  We all need some help once in a while.

I went through the job training program. And they recommended a place for an interview right down the block from  AWEE.

I had never heard of the Maricopa Association of Governments.  I didn't know what they did, but  AWEE said it was a great organization and I would do well there.

The job was in the copy room.  Although I wanted something beyond my experience, I needed a job.   I was wearing a suit AWEE gave me.   My first suit.

MAG hired me.  I've been with them for 12 years.

MAG gave me the opportunity to move up and take new positions.  They had enough faith in me to hire me in the copy room and today I'm the Human Services Transportation Planner.

When I see Marie Sullivan, she always asks how I am doing.  It's amazing that she would still think of me and be proud of me.  I'm so thankful for them. 

The road hasn't been easy.

Through a miracle, AWEE knew I would fit in with MAG even if I didn't know who they were.  They encouraged me and had faith in me and they are part of my family who supported me.

 AWEE showed me there could be a brighter future.  I am living it every day.

Kirk Opperman

When I came to Phoenix, I couldn't get a job.  They were out there, but I couldn't get past the first phone call for an interview.  The reason was simple: a conviction for DUI and felony flight in Tombstone, where I grew up.

In March 2007, I had been out partying, having a good time and drinking.  When the police tried to stop me, I drove away, in excess of 90 miles an hour with them right behind me. 

I thought they were my escort home….

I knew most of the cops in town, but this was a new guy.

I was lucky.  I only served 10 days.  Usually a DUI with felony flight means 5 to 10 years in prison because of the nature of the crime and public endangerment.  I got 3 years probation and hefty fines.

But those 10 days in jail were horrible.  You're sitting in a cold, damp cell in Bisbee in solitary confinement.  I was wrong and I got caught, but I knew I never wanted to go back there again.

Sitting in that cell turned my life around.  I haven't had a drink since that night. 

I came to Phoenix, but I couldn't even get my foot in the door.  The first thing that comes up in a job interview is the felony record.  They tell you they can't hire anyone with a felony record.  They don't look at you or what happened or how remorseful you were.

They just can't hire you.  I kept trying to find a job. 

I was on the Internet putting together 20 to 30 applications a day and going to another 5 to 10 places a day.  But there's only so much you can do when you're riding a bus.

I tried that for months.

Not being able to get a job, not even getting a chance at most places, really affected me. 

I went from being a manager at a bar and grill in Tombstone to having no money and relying on my girlfriend for support.  But she was also supporting herself and four daughters.

I got depressed.   There were days I didn't get off the couch.  What's the point when no one will hire you. Finally my probation officer told me about AWEE.  I'd never heard of it. 

Now I'll never forget it.

I came to  AWEE and met Jeanelle.  The first thing we worked on was my resume.  I had written it myself and it was 4 to 5 pages long.   We got it down to one page.  It's amazing how many responses I got back after that, but it still all came back to that felony.

Then I went through classes to help me learn how to talk about the felony.  I learned how to explain what I had done afterwards. That it had been three years since it happened and I hadn't touched alcohol since then.

I was able to talk about being in an AWEE program and what that meant.

In July 2009 I interviewed at KFC.  They never hire anyone with a felony, but when they heard my story, they hired me.  I still work for them part-time when they need a hand.

In August, I decided to go back to school to pursue my passion:  cooking.  I had cooked in restaurants since I was 13 and I wanted to become a chef.

I went to the Le Cordon Bleu school in Scottsdale, told them about my situation and they were OK with it.  My plan is then to go for my Bachelor's Degree in Culinary Arts.  If I can achieve that, I'll be among only 7 percent of chefs in the world with a Bachelor's Degree.

Now I'm also working as a catering chef for the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium, creating meals for 20,000 of my closest friends.  I was able to get a job there because my felony was traffic related and not for a criminal or drug offense.

Finding AWEE has been such a blessing for me.    They've been here for me when I needed them and are behind me all the time.

AWEE helped me create my brighter future, and I am truly grateful.

Tracy Lea

I was living the good life.

For 17 years, I was a top-rated radio personality in Phoenix.  I had earned an MBA from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University and, most importantly, I had a son who loved me.

And then it all went dark.

I lost my job after a management change at the radio station.  When you lose a job like that, one that is so high-profile, it's a more public fall.  Not only was it the loss of my career, but a loss of my identity.  My adult life had always been linked to that persona.  I had a lot of anger.

After a period of time, I was at the lowest of lows.  I couldn't even get off the couch to look for a job.  I was very hopeless.  Trapped. 

When you get to that point when the inner voice that defines you is silent and won't define you anymore, that's a difficult place to be.

And then it got worse.

I couldn't find a job and ended up working part-time at a friend's sports bar.  After one very upsetting evening when I got into a fight with friends, I drank too much and made a poor decision.
I drove.  Even though I was just trying to get to my mother's house to sleep it off, I drove.  And I was stopped.

I was convicted of misdemeanor DUI and sentenced to 15 days.   But when I got to the facility, something happened.  I was supposed to be in a work-release program but they plunked me in Estrella.

There I was with women waiting to transfer to the prison system.  There were a lot of drug users and violent offenders and I'm in this terrible place with felons. 

I started thinking about getting out of where I was, not just Estrella but where I was in my life.    And then, in this horrific place, one of the women looked at me and said, "you'll be back."  and I said no, never.

That was a turning point.  A serendipitous moment.  I recognized that if something doesn't change and change now, that there was a possibility that I could end up here again.

Those were very chilling words for me.  I made a horrible mistake and if I had a chance, if I could establish a different path altogether, I could rebuild my life. 

And that's when something clicked.  I knew I had to retool everything. I knew it would be hard, but I also knew that nothing worth doing is going to be easy.

When I got out, I was told about a women's resource center.  I wanted to go, but was still feeling really down.  I had no confidence and it was scary to go by myself.

I finally built up the courage and when I got there, a person from AWEE came and spoke to the group.  Her words offered so much hope; hope that I hadn't had in such a long time. 

And I knew that I needed to get hope back into my life.

I met Peri at AWEE. She looked over my resume and my credentials. But I had put myself at such a low point, I had no confidence.

Peri wouldn't let me go on that way.  She kept saying I was capable and had so much to offer and AWEE would get me going.  I was surrounded by such positive people, the right people, people going in my direction.  I felt so encouraged.

I felt the relevance again that I had all my life.   AWEE and Peri took me by the hand. She was instrumental in helping me get a job at Brookline College as business program director. 

Then I got part-time work as a traffic reporter and producer for KTAR and Sirius Radio Las Vegas through Metro Networks.

And then I pursued a dream.  At 39, I joined the Navy.  Most of the recruits were in their 20s and I'm outdoing them in pushups and running. 

Today, I'm on military leave from Brookline and the radio station studying avionics at the home of the Blue Angels in Pensacola, Florida.

I just turned 40 and have been given another chance. 

On base, I get approached by young girls who I mentor to stay on the right path.  I'm that good example.  The Navy took me in knowing my background, but AWEE gave me the skills and direction I needed to tell my story the way it needed to be told.

Part of my mission now is to pay it forward.  I'm so grateful.   AWEE helped me create my brighter future.   I'm living it today and looking forward to tomorrow.