Man Finds A Store Of Confidence Program Graduate Earns Achiever Of The Year Award From Goodwill International

The good deal Mike Estrada found at Goodwill Industries changed his life.

He passed over the used shoes and couches at the Fourth Street store in Coeur d’Alene, but picked up an extra-large dose of confidence. As a result, Estrada, 40, learned last week that he’ll receive Goodwill Industries International’s Achiever of the Year award June 27 in Indianapolis.

Estrada, a Coeur d’Alene resident, was chosen from all the people worldwide who have completed Goodwill rehabilitation programs and are now at work.

“Two years ago, I never dreamed I would be doing things like this,” Estrada said, on a break from training as a financial manager. “Within a week of being here, I truly felt they were concerned for people, they wanted to help.”

Goodwill International bestowed 11 awards throughout the world this year. Goodwill Industries of the Inland Northwest won nine. The Inland Northwest branch includes 11 stores in Eastern Washington and North Idaho.

Jim Hose, director of human services for the Inland Northwest branch, smiled as he explained the awards his organization won.

“I like to think we have a great rehabilitation program,” he said.

Few graduates would applaud louder for that rehabilitation program than Estrada.

Stiffened into robotic movements by a lifetime of rheumatoid arthritis, Estrada was sent to Goodwill in November 1993.

He had dropped out of high school to become a baker, but quit six years later when he couldn’t bend anymore. Two hip replacements permanently disabled him, so he stayed home with his two young sons.

He went back to work after his youngest son told Estrada he wanted to stay home just like Dad when he grew up.

“That’s not what I wanted him to think life is like,” Estrada said.

He worked as a cashier and bartender until he broke his femur in a fall a few years ago. Crippled again, Estrada collected Social Security disability benefits while he recuperated.

At the same time, Social Security launched a program to put disabled people back to work. Estrada’s name was picked and he was sent to Goodwill, which contracts with the federal agency.

“I thought, ‘A second-hand store, is that where I want to go?”’ Estrada said, squinting with skepticism.

Paula Swearingen, the Coeur d’Alene store’s human resources manager, evaluated Estrada’s capabilities over 20 days. She suggested clerical work for the depressed man, who couldn’t lift more than 10 pounds or sit or stand for any length of time.

Again, Estrada was skeptical. He worried about his lack of education and experience. But he learned quickly and exhibited topnotch people skills, Swearingen said.

Eventually, Swearingen persuaded Estrada to test for his high school equivalency diploma. He passed easily. With growing confidence, Estrada decided to train as an employment specialist, someone who helps graduates of Goodwill’s training programs adjust to new jobs.

But his body wouldn’t let him move around various job sites. He had to give up the idea.

That’s when Hose decided Coeur d’Alene was ready to start a financial management program. Other Goodwills manage money for people too disabled to do it on their own or until they can learn to do it.

“If Mike wasn’t available, we wouldn’t have done it,” Hose said.

Estrada is training now in Spokane, where the organization manages personal accounts for 200 disabled people. He’ll work in Coeur d’Alene after his training.

“I feel real good about myself and I owe it to Goodwill,” Estrada said. “I was pretty down and out and now I have confidence and believe I can do things I’ve never done.”

The Inland Northwest branch also won recognition for its rehabilitation services, promotion of its programs and efforts to comply with federal laws. Dorothy Woodbridge, a shoe pricer at the Goodwill store in Lewiston, was honored as the organization’s top graduate working at a Goodwill.