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Center helps man get first job in 10 years

Posted at 6:00 PM, Mar 08, 2016
and last updated 2016-03-08 18:00:09-05
With a new and beautiful day comes a new start for Kevin Lawson Sr.
 
Tuesday was day one in his new position as a security officer.
 
"Oh yeah I feel real confident about taking it on right now because this is what I want," Lawson said. 
 
Lawson said it has been ten long years without a job. He was working, but says the demands of taking care of two growing boys, one of them with special needs, became too much and he needed to stay at home. 
 
He was able to get by with help of Social Security, but ran into trouble paying the bills last month.
 
"I was about to be homeless," he told ABC2. 
 
He walked around the corner from Gilmor Homes to the Penn North Kids Safe Zone and Family Resource Center.
 
His kids have been going there since it opened in June 2015 and he has been a volunteer. He sat down with Ericka Alston, the center's director.
 
"She asked me about all the jobs I worked before I got into this predicament," he said.
 
They worked on a resume, enrolled him in a parenting class and did drug testing and a background check.
 
Alston didn't keep those discussions or Kevin's quick progress to herself. She took them home to her fiance. Edward Buck Jr., a PChange Security Regional Manager, whom she knew was looking for new officers. 
 
"PChange is for positive change and positive change is for our clients, for our employees and for the community. ... If you're in a position to give an individual a chance or a second chance ... try to do that. There is so much hate out here, that we need individuals to step up to the plate and look at their heart and try to give them a chance to get back on their feet," Buck said. 
 
While Tuesday was Lawson's first day, Buck told ABC2 to check on him in a year. 
 
"We want for him to not only be an officer, maybe a supervisor one day and a manager. So I hope and pray that he uses this opportunity to be better," Buck said. 
 
Buck said he believes there are many people in the situation Lawson found himself in. He said he hopes to partner up officially with the Kids Safe Zone and Family Resource Center to help even more. 

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