DETROIT (WXYZ) – A new home and a job – this is a sequel to taking action for you!
This summer, we introduced you to a Detroit guy who was trapped in a second-floor apartment. After becoming paralyzed, not only did he lose his dream of becoming a police officer, but he also lost the ability to do many things that most of us take for granted because he didn’t live in a wheelchair-accessible home and couldn’t handle it. afford to move.
When his story aired on 7 Action News, a recruiter saw it and it caused a domino effect that changed his life, in just six months!
“Not often do people or applicants get a call from a recruiter saying, ‘I’ve seen your story on the news, do you want a job?’ I am so yes! I’ve been looking for a job for a long time, ”says Charles Blackwell with a broad smile.
When we first met Blackwell in June, he lived in his childhood home in Detroit. We showed you the long staircase that stood between him and his future.
Shortly after high school, Blackwell joined the Army National Guard with plans to become a Detroit police officer.
But before boot camp training began, disaster struck. He was shot in the back in a drive-by shooting that left him paralyzed from the waist down. After many terrifying months in the hospital, his mother took him home to their duplex on the second floor, at the top of those long stairs. Then she was killed by a driver.
Blackwell was trapped on the second floor. He could only leave for critical doctor’s appointments and had to pay EMTs to carry him down every time. It cost him thousands of dollars to go to a doctor’s appointment.
While trapped on the second floor, Blackwell earned multiple degrees online and applied for numerous jobs, but no one would hire him remotely.
After my story aired in June, the phone rang, with an outside job, he said.
“It surprised me because I feel like the position at Rocket Mortage is the perfect position! And the position I’ve been looking for for the past seven years, ”said Blackwell.
After a month-long job interview, he joined Rocket Mortage in August. He has already gained company-wide recognition for his work, earning what they call a ‘Cav’s Coin’.
With a regular salary and a growing GoFundMe account, Charles was able to take another big step.
On Thursday he moved to a new house, one without stairs.
“It’s all wheelchair accessible,” he said. “I can roll in freely. I can roll out my place freely. It feels great! ”
He says he is grateful to everyone who shared his story, who donated, who spoke encouraging words, and to the recruiter who took a chance on him.
“In the year 2020, during a pandemic, who could have imagined that I would overturn the goals I was looking for,” said Blackwell.
Now that he doesn’t have to pay thousands of dollars to get in and out his front door, he can plan for the future.
“I would like to do more physical therapy, learn to drive a manual car and buy a car so that I can just drive and go places,” he says.
Blackwell still has many medical bills that he is being caught up with and when he moves out of his childhood home, he starts with a clean slate!
If you want to send him a home heating gift, there are a few things he will need – here is his Amazon Wish List