Behind the rows of used items waiting for new life at a Goodwill store in Aurora is a room full of people hoping to start a new life.
"I've drank myself out of a few jobs," Mark Petersen said.
Petersen is a recovering alcoholic looking to turn things around through a new program in Denver called Bankwork$ offered by Goodwill Industries of Denver.
"It's kind of an occupational makeover for me," Petersen said.
Working in the restaurant industry for years, Petersen wanted to find a stable career. Bankwork$ offers free job training to people with different barriers to employment. Some are new to the country. Some are from low income backgrounds. Some are recovering from substance abuse like Petersen.
"The one thing that they have in common is that they are looking for a career that will offer stabilities for their families and opportunities for growth," Candice Sporhase, said.
Sporhase is the Bankwork$ program coordinator for Goodwill. She is holding classes from 9 a.m.to 4 p.m. three days a week for two months to teach Petersen and 23 other people selected for this program. They are learning how to work as a bank teller, customer service representative, or a personal banker in addition to interpersonal skills.
"The reason we spend eight weeks together is that we can start to develop these healthy habits," Sporhase said.
Petersen says he feels fortunate that he was selected out of a pool of 130 people to participate in the program that is offered for free. The costs to run the program are paid for by the banks themselves.
"They're providing me with tools. I wouldn't begin to know how to go about applying for a job in banking and this is offering me an opportunity to change careers," Petersen said.
Sporhase says not only is this program good for the trainees, it is a need for local banks.
"In the Denver metro area, there are 494 open entry-level positions with 50 different banks," Sporhase said. "It's a win-win situation and it's an investment that (banks are) really making in their workforce and it allows them the opportunity to serve the community."
Bankwork$ is a national program that started in 2006 in Los Angeles. It has placed bank workers in six cities before Denver including Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, Houston, Phoenix, and Portland. Bank of America, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo have invested millions of dollars into Bankwork$.
Goodwill Industries of Denver is the local partner presenting the program. Sporhase says the another session will start next year and Goodwill hopes to expand it.
"I want the shoppers that are here to really see that by their donations and by the dollars that they spend here in the store; they're going right back into the community," Sporhase said.
After the program ends in October, Bankwork$ will try to find jobs for people like Petersen.
"I can't believe I'm being given this opportunity at no cost out of my own pocket," Petersen said. "It's a chance for me to start over and start new and build a new life."
