Green Opportunities, Mission partner for employment

​For the first time, each graduate is leaving the program with a job

ASHEVILLE - The first job Stephen Barnard says he aspired to was that of a "thug." Barnard, 28, was raised by his grandmother in Montford. His father was in and out of prison and his mother struggled with addiction.

As a teenager, he was drawn to the young men he saw selling drugs on the streets of his neighborhood. He liked their cars, their clothes, their jewelry and their wealth. "I didn't want to work for nothing," said Barnard. "I wanted the easy money."

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