When Brenda was 12, her mother was killed in an automobile accident. For the next two years, Brenda rarely spoke.
âI didnât want to say nothing to nobody,â she recalled. âMy mom was my world.â
It was just one difficult episode in what many people might consider a hard-knocks life.
Brenda was born without eyesight. Her mother, a textile factory worker in Sparta, Tenn., had been her closest friend, guide and protector. When Brenda had to move more than an hour away as a young girl to attend a school for the blind in Nashville, both she and her mother were distraught. But Brendaâs mother had taught her the importance of education, and Brenda adapted.
Later, Brenda had to adapt to life without her mother. She struggled for a few years in school but eventually graduated, an achievement she credits to her motherâs lasting influence.
After school, Brenda raised a son. She was nearly 40 before she took her first job with a nonprofit in Nashville that employed visually impaired people to make everyday necessities â such as mops and eyewear-straps â for the military. She blossomed, having finally found a place she felt she belonged. She remained there for a decade. But when work orders at the organization slowed, Brenda was laid off.
The loss of income forced Brenda to adjust her finances and move into a low-income apartment, but what she missed most was going to work.
âI missed just being around other people and getting out of the house â having something to do each day,â she explained.
Brenda was unemployed for a year. Through the stateâs Vocational Rehabilitation Services program, she applied with several employers, but none called her. Then in 2010, she tried Goodwill Career Solutions. Brenda entered into Goodwillâs Transitional Program and was assigned a job coach who trained her to work as a garment hanger in Goodwillâs downtown Nashville processing warehouse.
Using only her sense of touch, she learned to quickly hang many different kinds of clothes in different sizes â from womenâs blouses to childrenâs shirts to menâs jeans â on several types of hangers.
Brendaâs co-worker Aleshia Batey said though Brenda learned quickly, in the beginning she was overly sensitive and got her feelings hurt easily. Over time, her confidence has grown, and she now feels at home.
âItâs amazing to see the things she can do and how far she has come,â Batey said.
Brenda says Goodwill has given her a support network and daily reasons to smile.
On a recent morning, as she sat at her work station hanging clothes, Brenda cracked several jokes, including, âWhy did the boy put ice in his fatherâs bed? Because he wanted a cold pop.â She drew laughs from everyone around her.
âWhere else could I go and find the understanding of people Iâve found here?â Brenda asked. âGoodwill gave me a chance, when a lot of places wouldnât. They made me realize there were more things I could do. They taught me to not let my disability cause me to be disabled, if that makes any sense.â
Looking back, Brenda feels she has made meaningful progress in her life.
âI think my mom would be proud,â she said.
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