Goodwill team member makes huge strides in just a year
For Manatee County resident and Goodwill Manasota team member Vivian Moore, there have been numerous twists and turns, and ups and downs, over the course of her years. However, for the past year, things have only been going in one direction: up.
Vivian was born and raised near Fort Benning, Ga. She dropped out of school in the ninth grade. During her second marriage, she was motivated to revisit her education when her children were young.
“[My younger daughter] was 3 years old. I went to pick her up from daycare and she was using a computer,” Vivian said. “I didn’t want my little girl to come home and say, ‘Mom, I need help with this math problem,’ and look like I’m stupid. I realized I needed to go back to school and get my GED and maybe even some college.”
Vivian earned her GED from Meadows College of Business in Columbus, Ga. After her second divorce, she moved to South Florida to be closer to family members living there. Unfortunately, her third husband was abusive and a drug addict – he got her hooked on drugs, beat her, and stole her paychecks.
“He was beating me up to take my paycheck because he didn’t want to pay the rent, and he was not working,” Vivian said. “I gave [my paychecks] to his mom to pay the rent; when he got violent, the women’s shelter stepped in and helped me.”
Friends from Jacksonville came to Vivian’s rescue, moving her there; she stayed there for about 30 years. But these friends were involved in criminal activities and Vivian got caught up. She was arrested in 2010 for dealing in stolen goods; she was given probation that time. At one point she did drug rehab in a Jacksonville jail for eight months but fell back off the wagon. She ended up in Manatee County through a work release program. She got arrested a handful of years ago for drug trafficking and, realizing she needed to learn some hard lessons, plead guilty and received a three-year sentence.
While in prison, Vivian went through AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) and began to think about getting back to work. She remembered that, back when she got into trouble in 2010, there was a Goodwill representative speaking to the court on behalf of someone else but they also offered their help to Vivian.
“She said, ‘Anytime you ever need help from Goodwill, we’re here.’ I never forgot that.”
A friend connected her with a GoodPartner Coach at Goodwill Manasota’s Corporate Campus in Bradenton. Vivian secured an interview and started working there just over a year ago, as part of a residential work release program called Bradenton Bridges. Through this program and her job at Goodwill, she was able to pay her rent as well as bank some money for future housing expenses. In June of 2025, Vivian was fully free after serving two-and-a-half years in prison and successfully participating in the Bradenton Bridges program.
She gets teary-eyed as she affirms, “Goodwill is my family – they’ve done a lot for me. They showed me I can go out into the community and live normally, as a whole person. Goodwill showed me that I can have a great life. They have also taught me values and integrity.”
Vivian credits Goodwill with providing her the values and self-worth to keep her life on a positive track. The organization has also provided opportunities to bolster her job skills. She achieved her Safety Star status after three months and became a Role Model Worker after just six or seven months on the job. Now she’s taking advantage of Goodwill’s Ed2Go program, taking communications skills classes. She received a Dell computer thanks to the STUG (Sarasota Technology Users Group)/Goodwill collaboration and plans to take more digital literacy courses.
“I definitely want to move up in the organization,” Vivian said. “I’m growing and my life is moving on – I’d like my paycheck and career prospects to grow with me!”
Her one-year goal is to have her driver’s license restored. In the future, she’d love to have a remote job that enables her to travel to visit family members she hasn’t seen in a while.
Vivian finds her justice-involved co-workers to be the most honest, thoughtful, and kind people. “I believe people are inherently good … I’ve seen first-hand how the experience makes us more willing to be open and honest.”
She encourages anyone who is overcoming difficult circumstances to consider a job at Goodwill.
“At Goodwill, they believe in second chances – if someone is truly looking for a second chance, then Goodwill is where they need to be,” she said. “They’ll help shape and mold whatever it is you need from them. They will be there for you.”
