PHOENIX — Many of us go to Goodwill to find something for a good deal and give it a new life.
Well, the well-known resale shop aims to do that for people through a program to get their high school diploma, and, once accepted, the program is completely free.
Pomp and Circumstance, the cap and gown, and diplomas were all traditional at a Friday graduation ceremony on the Grand Canyon University Campus.
However, the journey to get on the stage for the six graduates was anything but conventional.
Paola Flores lived a lot of life before she got her high school diploma.
She got married in her twenties, had four kids, who are all now grown, and then she sought to finish her high school education.
”I didn’t want to settle for a GED. I wanted my diploma,” she said.
She was able to do that at Goodwill’s Excel Center.
Her high school credits from decades ago still transferred over.
She says the school gave her gas cards to drive all the way from Avondale to the Papago Campus on McDowell Road in the East Valley to attend class.
She was even able to get a workforce development certification in the medical field so she can be a voice for those in need of a patient advocate.
”I love it when I get to help people that have that language barrier, that only speak Spanish. Because I can finally make use of being bilingual,” said Flores.
Six people walked across the stage on Friday, marking the second-ever graduating class for the Goodwill Excel Center for the Phoenix area.
The first had just one graduate.
Starting in October, a second satellite campus will open in the West Valley at 83rd and Northern avenues.
Applications at the Papago campus are now open for August’s cohort.
Bobby Ghisolfo with Goodwill says there are more than a million adults in Arizona who don’t have their high school diploma. Having one can translate to earning thousands of dollars more in one’s career.
”It’s not only to serve the individual, but it’s to serve the family, to serve the community, and to have a generational impact for years to come,” he said.
The journey to this point for Flores wasn’t easy.
All four of her kids got diplomas before she did, so she raised the bar and made sure she was on the honor roll.
In Spanish, her graduation cap reads: "what doesn’t kill me - feeds me."
Upon seeing her family right after she crossed the state, there wasn’t a dry eye among them as the pride of the moment led to tears of joy.
Flores put in the work first for her, but at this moment – it was for her family.
With all four kids and her husband wrapped in a family hug, Flores said, “you can do anything you want. I want to be an example for you guys.”