A local man finds success in a life-changing training program
During his seven years in prison, Jose Avila got used to the doors that were locking him in. When his time was served, he wasn’t prepared for the doors that were locking him out.
Discovering firsthand the barriers that stand between an ex-convict and a career, Avila was struggling to build a future until he found his way to the Butte County Career Technical Education program.
Avila used the training and connections he received in the program’s welding course to land a job that he sees as the first step toward a career.
“(Instructor Shane Gower) made me stay positive and he pushed me through when things were tough. There should be more people like this in the world.”
Jose Avila, Graduate of Butte County Career Technical Education
“It’s minimum wage, but it’s just the thing I need to get more experience and move to a better job,” he says. “I learn every day.”
During his sentence, Avila got plenty of work experience doing carpentry, welding, working a forklift and backhoe, and tending to calves on a farm. All along, he figured he was doing what was needed to prepare for life on the outside.
Instead, Avila found his criminal record to be a locked door.
“But you can’t be shut down because one person says you can’t do something,” he says. “Because of one rejection, I can’t go back to being the old me.”
The new Avila found the program he needed and, more important, the friend he needed in welding instructor Shane Gower.
“You keep things to yourself (in prison) because you’ve got to survive,” Avila says. “You kind of close yourself off. But (Gower) became a real friend. I opened up to him like I hadn’t before. I actually cried in front of him. I never thought I could do that.”
There is one thing Avila never doubted he could do.
“I’m a hard worker,” he says. “I don’t mind working long hours. And I’ve always liked building things.”
Avila says he is feeling good about the future. It just took finding the right path and, in Gower, the right guide to help him negotiate it.
“He made me stay positive and he pushed me through when things were tough,” Avila says. “There should be more people like this in the world.”
For more information, visit butteglennadulted.org.
Written by Matt Jocks
| Regions | Classes |
|---|---|
| Northern California | Careers in Manufacturing-Construction |
