Derek entered our CES Program in July of 2009. As a recent high school graduate, Derek worked at a variety of our job sites. These sites include New Haven Moving Equipment, Advisors, ThermoSpas, Wesco and our Goodwill stores. After four short months of building his vocational skills Derek settled into the New Haven Goodwill store. He continues to work hard and remains a member of the crew to this day!

When he’s not busy working, Derek is a driven and athletic person. He has competed in the Special Olympics under the track and field and swimming categories and took home a medal for swimming. During the evenings Derek attends night school where is he studying math and time.

Derek is a shy individual who has made incredible progress towards becoming more confident. He is proud of his skills as a clothing hanger at the New Haven store and his effort has yielded major results. He has gone from hanging under 100 garments per day to an incredible 200 in just one shift! Derek has also added tagging to his skill set and is seeing his potential become a reality. We look forward to seeing what new goals Derek can accomplish!