Profile of Success - Gail

This is the second of a four-part series honoring AWEE's Faces of Success. Part Two features Gail Rossi, a recent AWEE participant who has changed her life through accomplishments in the world of work.

Violence, drug addition, homelessness, prison and despair. This was the world Gail Rossi inhabited from the time she was 22 years old until she was nearly 50. "Growing up, I was taught that I was worthless unless I found a man to take care of me," she says. "So when men hurt me, I'd just turn to drugs. I never learned to care about myself."

At 31, Gail left her abusive boyfriend and became a single mother, leaving her infant son with her mother as she began a series of abusive relationships and crime-fueled drug binges. During the next two decades, she entered numerous rehab programs, relapsing 15 times in as many years. "I realize now that I really didn't want to heal. I wanted to be numb."

Instead, Gail wound up living on the street and was arrested more than 50 times. The low point came in 2005, when she was sent to prison for 18 months. That's when she learned about AWEE. Gail enrolled in AWEE's Paths to Living Free program three months after her April 2007 release.

AWEE stood by her every step of the way, making sure she received transportation assistance, clothes to wear to interviews, help with updating her resume and improving her interviewing skills, and ongoing career and personal mentoring. Soon, she found herself going on three or more interviews a day. In July 2007, Gail landed a new job as a legal assistant earning $40,000 at a local law firm. She's already earned a significant raise.

"Everyone at AWEE has been so kind and supportive. They gave me the confidence I needed to go out and rebuild my life,” she says. “I'm now able to support myself and contribute to my son's college education. I'm also taking college classes three nights a week so I can earn my degree. I'm so grateful for this second chance at a life I can be proud of. Thank God I found AWEE."

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Each year, AWEE serves over 6,000 individuals like Gail - for free. Without support from Corporations, foundations and individuals like you, these opportunities cannot happen.

Give the gift of hope, inspiration, dignity. Make a contribution today to empower women like Gail.

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