She Gave Up Everything for A New Life In America

Judith Andrade came to the United States in 2000 from Cochabamba , Bolivia . She came to America because she believed the country would offer her numerous opportunities to improve her quality of life. Little did she know that the opportunities would be hard to obtain. Given that she had limited English skills, Judith faced numerous obstacles when seeking employment. She often had to take odd cleaning jobs to support herself. While working as a housecleaner or custodian is an honorable profession, it might surprise you to learn that Judith holds Masters Degrees in both Accounting and Education from the Universidad Mayor de San Simon. She also taught computer-programming classes at the university while completing her studies. In her native country, Judith was employed as a high school teacher by the Ministry of the President of Bolivia before leaving it all behind to come to America and start all over again.

A year after arriving in the United States, and having little luck trying to improve her situation, Judith was introduced to Goodwill of Greater Washington. She believed that her circumstances might improve if she had an organization like Goodwill to assist her. Fortunately, she came to the right place. Goodwill hired Judith as a production associate, hanging clothes at its Glebe Road production facility in Arlington , VA. She consistently exceeded her production quotas and was able to complete multiple tasks in a quick and efficient manner. Ron Zwolak, Operations Manager of the Glebe facility, states that Judith was one of the most dependable and hardest working associates that he has ever had the privilege to work with.

In May of this year, Judith was offered a position in Shopgoodwill.com, Goodwill of Greater Washington's on-line auction website. At first, she was somewhat reluctant to take on this task because of her limited English. However, after much coaxing, she accepted the position and Shopgoodwill has soared to new heights. Sales of merchandise have increased 70% since Judith came onboard with Shopgoodwill. Sales to date have exceeded $27,360.00, all of which goes directly towards fulfilling the Goodwill mission. Judith has a positive attitude and a work ethic that is second to none. When asked what drives her to work so hard, Judith states that “it's the mission”. She wants to contribute as much as she can because Goodwill is here to help people with disabilities and disadvantages get jobs. “In order to do that Goodwill needs money and Shopgoodwill provides a means for the organization to do just that” she says.

Today, Judith is working on improving her English and wants to be able to help give those people with backgrounds similar to hers the same opportunities that she was given by Goodwill. The mission of Goodwill is what drives her and she truly exemplifies that mission.

Judith didn't let her pride stand in the way of fulfilling her dream of coming to America and making a better life for herself. She is now well on her way, thanks to tremendous dedication, hard work and a little help from Goodwill of Greater Washington.