Thank You TERRA for Treating Me Like a Person and Keeping Me Steadily Employed

By Jezabel Southard

Posted on January 27, 2017

   Ray and his adorable daughter, Rose Mary.

Ray Evans has not had an easy life. He has experienced a lot of heartache and has had to overcome many challenges.

But no matter the obstacles, Ray remains positive and determined, and focuses on his daughter, Rose Mary, when things get tough.

When he found himself unemployed, he knew he needed to find a job, any job – fast.

“I was down on my luck, and then I heard about TERRA,” Ray said.

He walked in to TERRA’s Mesa office and scheduled an interview with Mary Taporco, Recruiting Coordinator.

Mary shared, “Ray really impressed me with his tenure and extensive warehouse experience. He also had a contagious positive attitude. He was very open to new opportunities and eager to get to work right away.”

She continued, “His flexibility helped us find work for him fast. Within a week we had him working. We were able to place him on various odd jobs for moving companies, until we were able to find him steady employment with one company in particular.”

The client said this about Ray, “Ray is always there. He is a hard worker with a great attitude. He’s really positive. He does whatever you ask without complaining. He keeps busy and keeps projects moving forward. You can put him anywhere and they’re happy to have him.”

Of course, Ray is incredibly happy, too. “I love everything about the job. I love the groups I work with. I just love that I have a job.”

Now, we are incredibly pleased that we were able to help Ray and that he enjoys what he is doing. And normally, this is where our stories usually end. But we wanted to give you a little more insight into Ray’s life and share some more detail about why he is so special and why his story is so great.

Ray’s only way to get to work was bicycle. And he would ride his bike every day to work. It took him roughly an hour each way.

One day, while on his way to work, Ray’s bike got a flat tire. He tried to make his way to the gas station – and got another flat tire. Now both tires, front and back, were flat.

His first thought was, how am I going to call Melissa?

You see, Ray didn’t have a phone, but knew he needed to check in with Melissa McCoy, Area Manager, and let her know that he was not going to make it to work.

He saw a man walking a dog and decided to see if he would be kind enough to lend him his phone.

“Hello,” Ray started.

The gentleman cracked a joke. “You know you’re supposed to ride a bike, not carry it.”

Then Ray told the man his story. Informed him that he needed to call his boss.

The man let Ray use his phone. He even gave him a ride to the nearest gas station. And they ended up having a 10-minute conversation.

What Ray didn’t realize was that he had inspired this stranger. So much so that the man reached out to TERRA and gave Melissa a $200 check to give to Ray. To encourage him and help ease a little of his burden.

Melissa and the entire Mesa team were moved by this act of kindness. Melissa decided to surprise Ray and deliver the check to him in person.

Ray said, “My boss came over to tell me that Melissa was downstairs to see me. I was nervous. Normally, when someone wants to see you, it’s to fire you. I went to the lobby and she gave me an envelope. This is a pink slip, I thought. But when I opened it, I saw a check. I was like, whoa! Where’s this from? Then I saw there was a note and it was from Mr. Walter Baines, the man I had met that day.”

The note read:

Raymond,
Thank you for stopping to talk with me and share a bit of your life.
I was impressed by how you are endeavoring to make good use of what the Lord has provided. The attached is just a little encouragement to trust in Him while continuing to do what you can.

Melissa (L) surprising Ray (R) at work with a check for $200.

“No one has ever done something like that for me before,” he said with great emotion.

He went on to talk about his experience working the Mesa team. “Michelle coached me on how to present myself for my interview. Mary believed in me. Melissa was there for me…I think the people at TERRA are…it’s hard to put into words.”

Ray added, “I’ve worked with other agencies before, but TERRA is the first place that actually took the time and cared. TERRA has treated me good. They treated me like a person.”

Thank you, Ray, for the kind words and thank you for being such an amazing employee. We wish you continued success!

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Categories: Success Stories

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