For the first four years of employment here, I often wondered what was my purpose at Celanese? Why was I placed here? I knew there had to be a reason, but I just couldn’t pinpoint it. I knew there was a plan, but it was not my plan.        

I can still remember the phone call with the Celanese recruiter who had found my resume on Indeed.com, asking me if I had heard of Celanese. I eagerly responded, I did, since I had often seen the big orange C every day on my way to work driving on the LBJ Freeway. In fact, my job at that time was right across the street! However, it never dawned on me to apply here during my job search.

Nevertheless, I was very excited to start working at such a large, global corporation on August 2, 2010. Working for this company is like a dream come true. I am able to fulfill not only my professional needs, but my community needs simultaneously, and I have become very involved with the various charitable organizations we support because I have been a recipient of such services.

Prior to my employment at Celanese, circumstances beyond my control took my family to Interfaith Ministries which provided child care services through Vogel Alcove, a recent recipient of funding from The Celanese Foundation. My son, who is now nine years old, took his first steps at Vogel Alcove, where we were beneficiaries of their services for more than 15 months. I am very grateful for what they have done for the early years of my son’s life. Their commitment to the communities they serve to provide families with a foundation for success has resonated with me throughout my career.

Going through this program has taught me valuable lessons and has changed my outlook on life. My mission, then and still remains, is to give of my time and resources to improve the world and to try to bring a smile to someone’s face.

I have recently returned to Vogel for a visit as a site committee member on The Celanese Foundation.  I learned  that the location of the agency has changed and they have tripled in size: from a small building on Akard street to a three story building on Gano street in downtown Dallas. The new facility now has new furniture and teaching equipment, more certified teachers and classrooms to house kids from six weeks to five years of age. In addition, the administrative staff is on-site, as opposed to being 40 minutes away in North Dallas. In speaking with the director of Corporate Relationships, I was informed that the funding they received from Celanese was able to provide meals and a safe learning environment during the summer for school age children at the public schools, who attended Vogel Alcove’s first summer camp.

From that visit, which was bittersweet, I saw that Vogel Alcove also had improved its services. Clients no longer have to leave the child care facility once they have exited the sheltered program but can continue to receive services at Vogel until they are self-sufficient. This change could not have occurred without funding from companies like Celanese.

It gives me great honor to represent  Celanese’s value of Improving the World, which is also my personal value. What a privilege it is to work hand in hand with a company that strives to make an impact in our community. I am grateful to Celanese for its continued  support of the initiatives of Vogel Alcove; and I am thankful to God for affording me this experience. I am proud to have been a beneficiary of Vogel’s services, but I am even more proud to be an employee of Celanese.