{"id":773316,"date":"2012-02-06T14:12:21","date_gmt":"2012-02-06T14:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/blog\/general\/richard-lecount\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T12:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T12:46:09","slug":"richard-lecount","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/blog\/impact-spotlight\/richard-lecount\/","title":{"rendered":"My Story: Richard LeCount"},"content":{"rendered":"\n



<\/code>I was abandoned by my mother, and my father was killed when I was one. My grandparents raised me. My problems started early; I was expelled in the 4th grade, a pattern that continued. In high school, I started using marijuana and harder drugs. I was in and out of juvenile centers and jails for years.

<\/code>I hung out with the wrong crowd, was fired from every job and had no concern for my family. I was a career criminal. At 22, I met a meth cook who taught me everything he knew. We traveled together until we had a falling out over a large amount of methamphetamine. I was shot at from a balcony. The bullet missed my head and hit my shoe. I escaped with my life but went on with my lifestyle.

<\/code>At 25, I was sent to a boot camp for ten months. When I got out, I went back to my lifestyle. I was arrested again. There was no shortcut this time. I was given a 30 year sentence, and was looking at years.

<\/code>When I got out of prison, I didn\u2019t want to go back to my old life. My family got me enrolled at Goodwill Industries of Michiana. My first day on the job, I put together boxes. The next day, my boss informed me that I set a record for the most done. I quickly gained the respect of my supervisors. I asked for a more challenging job and was put in the computer department. In a short amount of time I reorganized the area, and they were impressed.

<\/code>After a couple of months of being in the program, I applied for a drive-thru job in the Niles store. I was denied at first, but kept inquiring, and was eventually hired. At first it was difficult. My boss was hard on me, but it was my fault. Finally, I learned to control my mouth. My boss, \u201cthe tyrant,\u201d actually became one of my closest friends.

<\/code>Then, the industrial services coordinator position became available. After what I think was the only good interview I have ever done, I was given the job. My ideas and opinions are respected, and I work for my heroes! I could not be happier at the progress I have made with my life in the two years I have been out of prison.

<\/code>I have now been sober for seven years. When I was released from parole, my parole officer shook my hand and told me I did a great job. I have made amends with my family, and we are close. I am proof that you can rebuild a severely damaged life.

<\/code>Hear more stories<\/a> from people like Richard \u00bb<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Richard LeCount was raised by his grandparents after his mother abandoned him and his father died when he was one. He started using drugs early and became involved in a cycle of substance abuse and incarceration. After deciding to better his life, he got connected with Goodwill Industries of Michiana, where he impressed his supervisors and was gradually given more responsibilities. Today, he is holding down steady employment, has been sober for seven years and has made amends with his family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":767395,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[61,53,54,57],"class_list":["post-773316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-impact-spotlight","tag-goodwill-employees","tag-job-placement","tag-job-readiness","tag-people-with-criminal-backgrounds"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=773316"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":774407,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773316\/revisions\/774407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/767395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=773316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=773316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=773316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}