We met Phillip shortly after his wife and three children immigrated to the United States. Phillip had a master’s degree in finance and previous work experience managing a bank in his native country. When arriving here he experienced a delay in getting the necessary work documentation. He and his family were struggling with the drastic change in their environment and adapting to life in a new country and culture.  

While Phillip was working through the system to obtain work documentation, he was providing much of the care for his three children. He was very successful back in his native country and was now adjusting to a completely new environment, new way of life, and not having the tools/resources to provide for his family.

Phillip applied for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and exactly a week later was connected and attending his first Growing Personal Skills workshop with Career Path Services. The topic of that first class was 'Coping with Change.' Phillip made an immediate connection with his GPS instructor, Rita Barrow. " Phillip stood out from the beginning; his drive to move forward and provide for his family was so sincere, it was impossible to not immediately get in his corner," shared Rita. Over the span of the next few months Phillip was a very dependable participant in the 2-hour weekly workshop. Rita would often have side conversations before and after workshops with Phillip, encouraging him to continue moving forward and stay positive in his journey to self-sufficiency.

Once Phillip secured the necessary documentation to work, Rita discussed the Community Jobs program to help him meet his employment goals. She connected him with her co-worker Marla, who quickly determined that an Internship with the neighboring DSHS office, Rainier, would be a good fit, and he was able to start. It did not take long before he was excelling in his internship and he was interested in transitioning from an internship to a permanent position. Working with Marla the began to apply for positions with DSHS. Phillip moved through the application process and was selected for the final round of interviews, unfortunately he was not selected. Though this was disappointing, he knew he was close and kept applying. He once again made it to the final round of interviews with DSHS, this time with the same office he was interning with, Rainier. The day before the final round of interviews he called the CPS Program Manager for interview tips, the PM asked how quickly Phillip could get to the CPS office in Federal Way, Phillip immediately hopped on a bus in Renton and 90 minutes later was at the Career Path office putting together a game plan with the Career Path team for his final interview. He put in the work and was well prepared for the interview.  A week later Phillip left an emotional message at the CPS office stating he was offered the position and how grateful he was for the constant encouragement from Career Path.

Phillip is currently working as a financial worker, leveraging his past work experience and personal story to help those seeking services in South Seattle.