Meet Our Team: The Faces Behind Goodwill Acadiana

Our team members work very hard every day to ensure our customers and our community have a great experience at our stores and donation centers. They all have their own responsibilities, and they all have different stories!

Meet Franchesca

Franchesca is one of our dedicated board members trying to uplift our youth! She is the Senior Managing Attorney for the Children in Need of Care (CINC) Unit at Acadiana Legal Service Corporation, where she works tirelessly to reunite families and help them thrive.

Her impact spreads far and wide! She represents the Louisiana State Bar Association on the Louisiana Children's Trust Fund Board, and she's served on multiple nonprofit Boards, including Faith House of Acadiana, The Family Tree, and Girl Scouts of Louisiana - Pines to the Gulf.

"I love most serving alongside amazing Board Members and Goodwill staff who all share a common goal of wanting to do good for the community. The camaraderie is incomparable!"

We're grateful for Fran's continued leadership and service to our community to fulfill our mission to reduce poverty, restore independence, and transform lives in Acadiana!

Meet Michael

After graduating from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Michael said "I wasn't sure what I was going to do, and Goodwill helped out."

He joined our Goodwill family 4 years ago and has worked all over, starting in our janitorial services at South Louisiana Community College, then as a night shift donor attendant at our Carencro store, and now as a Program Participant at GoodPrints, our mission-integrated print shop where he found his purpose!

He loves the structure that Goodwill provides, saying "I love the overall job environment. It's clean, orderly, safe, and efficient." And he loves the people too. "We're a team! Teamwork makes the dream work - that's what I was told."

His favorite thing about Goodwill: "It gives me something worthwhile to do"

Mike also finds pride in being a part of our Faces campaign, saying "You see my face on trucks all over town. Donors doors. Signs. I'm the poster boy of Goodwill!"

His message to others: "Goodwill makes a difference, and over here, you can be the difference."

When you donate and shop at Goodwill Acadiana, you support local people like Michael!

Meet Kristi

Kristi left everything twice while fleeing domestic violence, even while recently having a baby the second time. Both times, she received a helping hand from Goodwill's crisis assistance services.

"I was able to get the help I needed when I was in crisis."

She was unemployed after a car accident that sadly resulted in the loss of her friend, and that's when Goodwill turned from a place for short-term assistance to a stable job where she could better support herself.

Since working at Goodwill, she's been able to overcome her hurdles and feel better about herself, saying that her life "changed in all the right ways. This is the first place I've worked where I feel really supported by the whole team!"

When asked about her favorite part of working at Goodwill, she said "The people. Not just the people I work with - the customers too."

Her message to others: "Give back to your community. It's not just an act of service. It makes you a part of the community."

Through her many challenges and triumphs, she's an exceptional example of a woman who persevered through it all!

Their Impact

Franchesca, Michael, and Kristi have different roles and different stories, but they all share one goal - helping our neighbors in Acadiana thrive.

From the boardroom to the print ship to our stores, our team shows what it looks like when a community takes care of its own. When you donate or shop at Goodwill Acadiana, you support people like them and the mission we work toward every day. Visit your nearest store or donation center to help write the next one!