Gerald’s girlfriend left for work with one request: Put the dresser together before she got home.
Gerald looked at the box, the instruction booklet and the bags of screws.
“You know I can’t put this together.”
By the time she returned, only a couple of screws had made it into the furniture.
Looking back, Gerald realizes the problem wasn’t the dresser.
“It was me thinking I can’t do it because I’ve never done it.”
For 13 years, Gerald worked as an in-home support provider, caring for people who could no longer care for themselves. He found purpose in helping others but eventually felt stuck.
“I never saw myself growing,” he said. “I got tired of doing the same thing every single day.”
Gerald’s mother encouraged him to enroll in Hope through Housing’s free CORE Academy property maintenance program. CORE Academy, launched in 2022 by the Hope through Housing Foundation, provides free job training for residents of low-income communities in property maintenance, property management, hospitality and other high-demand fields.
“Workforce development is about much more than preparing someone for a job,” said Alyssa Cotter, executive director of Hope through Housing. “It’s about creating pathways to long-term careers while helping people discover abilities they didn’t know they had. By investing in training, mentorship and real employment opportunities, we’re strengthening families, helping employers meet workforce needs and building stronger communities.”
Gerald enrolled in the program, learning drywall, plumbing, electrical work and HVAC – skills he once thought were out of reach.
“It definitely gave me the confidence to say, ‘I can do this,'” he said. “It’s not that hard. Just read, pay attention, focus. You got it.”
That confidence quickly followed him home, and Gerald decided finally to tackle the dresser project.
This time, he finished it himself.
“When I did it, I said, ‘Oh yeah, I can do this. I can do this stuff,” he said.
Soon afterward, he repaired his car for the first time by replacing a broken thermostat. When a closet door recently broke, he fixed that, too.
Before CORE Academy, Gerald said he would have called someone else.
Now, he reaches for his toolbox.
“It feels wonderful,” he said. “I feel accomplished. I feel like I know something.”
Gerald’s work ethic and willingness to learn caught the attention of instructor Jeremy Williams.
“As I got to know Gerald, his strengths, character and potential became clear,” Williams said. “He put in the hard work. I simply helped guide him in the right direction.”
After graduation, Williams connected Gerald with a maintenance position at the historic d’Ellena Winery & Vineyard. Gerald wasn’t the first CORE Academy graduate to find an opportunity there.
Kyle enrolled in the property maintenance program to learn practical skills, especially electrical work, so he could maintain his new home. Instead, he discovered an entirely new career. Williams connected Kyle with the winery, where he now serves as operations manager, overseeing daily operations while supporting electrical work, facility repairs and winery production.
“Some days I’m running wiring. Some days I’m working with the wine,” Kyle said. “No two days are the same.”
For Gerald, the opportunity exceeded anything he imagined when he first walked into a CORE Academy classroom.
“I did not expect to be here,” Gerald said. “Now that I have this job, I feel like I could do anything.”
His days begin with a walk around the property before shifting into maintenance projects and winery operations. His favorite part is helping bottle wine. Recently, he experienced the entire winemaking process, from harvesting grapes to filling bottles.
“I love it,” Gerald said. “I call my sister every day and tell her everything I’m doing.”
