We can not tackle what’s before us without those who are behind us. Our biggest asset is our people, our story, our journey.
The great Vince Lombardi once said “Individual commitment to a group effort—that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” Will Green, Production Manager at Phoenix Mecano has not only been inspired by these legendary words of wisdom, he has adopted it into his leadership role as the Production Manager. In speaking with him recently he remained thankful for the wonderful crew he has on his team and specifically brought up a stand out member of his team- a gentleman that Green says “just has something inside of him, a passion and a drive to do better, be better for himself and his team every single day.” Triston Walters is a machinist with Phoenix Mecano and was recommended through our partnership with Frederick County Workforce Services. This inspiring journey of perseverance and dedication happened when Triston enlisted in the Workforce Services program and this is his amazing comeback story.
When I first connected to FCWS
I was in the process of putting my life back together after a long painful struggle with addiction. I had grown to loathe the year 2020 in the same way the rest of the world had, due to the covid pandemic. While I watched the world unfold along with all the related tragedies that followed, I internalized the pain of the world making it into my own personal struggle to overcome. Because of this I was left starting 2021 in a very different way than most. I had lost almost everything I had built my life around and not because I had covid; it was quite frankly due to my personal struggles with addiction and simply just trying to get by during the retched pandemic. I had lost everything including transportation, steady income or employment and had literally become homeless (just to name a few things). I had almost even lost my hope. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I knew it was time for me to get help.
How The Resilient Frederick County Program Has Helped Me
I was living at The Ranch recovery facility and looking to transition to what they called sober living. From there I gained employment at a staffing agency but knew I needed to further my career beyond any temporary assignments in order to be self-sufficient. I was still facing a good bit of barriers during this time with securing any future housing, solid transportation, and having the updated work skills needed to gain entry into any decent place to work and maintain my life as a father to my son. I kept reminding myself that I was taking the proper steps in my recovery and just needed to be patient, which is something I used to have a lot of difficulty handling without my support system in place. As I furthered down this road of recovery I decided I needed to get myself treatment through in-patient rehabilitation and counseling. It was through this journey, I found Frederick County Workforce Services (FCWS) and learned about the assistance they provide for those in need of a hand-up (not a handout) and little push in the right direction. It was only then that I was introduced to Phoenix Mecano, Inc.; a manufacturing company here in Frederick. I was then fortunate enough to gain employment in their huge headquarters in Frederick as one of Phoenix Mecano’s machine operators.
