When Andrew King was released from jail in 2009, with nowhere to live, he was ordered to live under a bridge on East Washington Street. After a month of worrying about how to find food and how to survive on the streets, a series of good fortune happened. First, Marion County Community Correction’s Officer Christy Smeehuyzen wanted to help Andrew. As a veteran, Andrew qualified for housing at Volunteers of America where Christy helped him secure a bed at their facility. Next, as a returning citizen, Andrew qualified for a transitional job at RecycleForce where he received training, steady employment, and an opportunity to restart his life.
Fast forward nine years.
Andrew is now the Director of Inventory and Quality Control for RecycleForce where he plays a key role in both the operations and client support efforts of our organization. Andrew’s experiences and dedication to his roles and responsibilities have molded him into the kind of leader we need at RecycleForce. As a former client, Andrew serves as a role-model to the hundreds of men and women who have accessed our services. As a leader, Mr. King has helped us figure out how to recycle all the E-Waste that come into our plant
Recently, Andrew attended a Rivoli Community meeting where community leaders talked about the problems with illegal dumping under the 9th Street bridge. Lisa Boyles who is leading the 9th Street bridge mural installation, which is next door to RecycleForce’s future facility location. After the meeting, Andrew visited the dumping site and realized that a lot of the discarded materials could be recycled. There were some metals, plastics and a discarded CRT TV. So, on one of the hottest days of the year, Andrew and Randy McDonald, a RecycleForce employee, decided to use one of the organization’s trucks to help the community clean up the 9th Street bridge.
“I thought this is the stuff we can handle,” Andrew said. “It got me to thinking about my time living under a bridge back in 2009, and how folks had helped me, and now this was a chance to help others”.
Define “giving back”…
A young veteran is ordered to live under a bridge, no food, and exposed to the elements. He is given a chance to set a new course for his life, and soon becomes a leading figure at the very organization that gave him that chance. Then, when given the opportunity to serve his neighbors he acts without hesitation to clean up a location in his community that resembles the very location where he was left to fend for himself.
