The Post & Courier
GREENVILLE — Joey Goodrich is halfway through the retraining and reentry program, and the Boston native already is thinking about staying here after he finishes later this year.
He came to Soteria Community Development Corp. with some vocational experience as a plasterer. Now he’s reclaiming wood from construction sites and transforming it into furniture. He’s learning to use his hands in new ways, along with other valuable skills: how to run a business, understand basic finance, manage government bureaucracy, collaborate with others.
About three years ago, Goodrich lost everything: his family, his job, his autonomy. He fell in with the wrong people, he said. He agreed to cash a forged check for somebody and split the proceeds. He got caught and sentenced to prison, where he spent 2½ years coping with his claustrophobia.
“It made me appreciate things so much more,” he said.
He decided to reach out for help. He wrote letters of inquiry to 13 organizations, but only one responded: Soteria.