Gregory: “I have to reinvent myself”

Gregory has overcome a lot to be where he is today. Now he’s focused on leveraging his experience to build a stable future for himself and his family.

Ever since childhood, one word has defined how Gregory interacts with others and presents himself to the world: respect. 

“I was always respectful of everybody,” he says. “Always. I did it because it was what I learned in the home: ‘Be respectful. Nobody owes you nothing. If someone does something for you, [you say] thank you.’” 

From the moment you meet him and are greeted by his warm smile, you understand how deeply this sense of respect is instilled. But that doesn’t mean Gregory hasn’t overcome his share of trials to be where he is today. 

Gregory was born in Florida but spent most of his formative years living in Queens with his mother. She worked hard to provide for them on a single income, pulling 12-hour shifts to keep up with expenses. 

Growing up Haitian, Gregory felt like his identity made him different than his peers. 

“English is my second language; Creole is my first language,” he explains. “So you have to learn something different, you know? You have one language at school and another language at home. I was going through the phase of fitting in with other people, because they don’t even know what a Haitian is.” 

At an early age, Gregory was getting into trouble: fighting with neighborhood kids and occasionally stealing from them. His mom reacted by sending him back down to Florida to live with his father.  

This period didn’t last long. When he was 11, Gregory joined a gang. His behavior wasn’t tolerated by his father, whose main form of discipline was physical abuse. Fearing for Gregory’s safety, his mother quickly had him move back to New York. 

Back in Queens, it bothered Gregory that he couldn’t afford new clothes and shoes each school year like his friends and classmates. Although he was grateful to have a comfortable place to live with his mom, he yearned to be able to make money of his own. 

“It's frustrating because throughout my whole junior high school, throughout my whole elementary, I'm watching other kids getting new sneakers, getting new clothes,” he recalls. “So you feel some type of way because you got friends going: ‘Oh yeah, I'm about to go get these new sneakers. I'm about to get the Super Nintendo. I'm about to get the Sega.’ And I’m like, ‘Damn bro, I can't. I can't get that.’” 

When he was 14, a neighbor in his apartment building approached Gregory to ask if he’d ever considered selling drugs. Gregory accepted the offer, and after that, things would never be the same. 

“My life changed dramatically—instantly,” he says. 

Suddenly he was able to independently purchase all the things he’d wanted. He could buy gifts for his girlfriend, front restaurant bills for his friends, and enjoy all the luxuries that were once so far out of reach. It didn’t take long for Gregory to become accustomed to the perks of the lifestyle. 

For the next several years, Gregory was involved in a variety of criminal activities, doing whatever he could to make a life for himself and his family. Even with stints separated from this world he came to know, like the period when he moved back to Florida to work in construction and installing hurricane shutters, his wide network of acquaintances always drew him back in. 

2006 was when Gregory’s life took a turn for the worse. In two separate instances months apart, his cousin and close friend were murdered. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of guilt, and these losses drove him to start using substances. 

“I feel like it’s my fault,” he says. “That’s when my life went all the way down.” 

From then on, Gregory was constantly on the move, living in many different cities across the country and looking for ways to sustain himself. He served time for fraud, possession, and violating parole in multiple facilities across the U.S., and was eventually incarcerated in Washington State. Finally, with a 2022 release date looming in front of him, he decided it was time to make a change in his life for good. 

“I came here and I told myself, even in prison: ‘I have to reinvent myself,’” he says. “And this is where we get to now. I’m empowered. You know, it's so much of a blessing to come somewhere where people want you to win.” 

Gregory started as a manufacturing specialist at Pallet earlier this year, enrolling in the first class of our Career Launch PAD. When he graduates from the program and moves on, he plans to move to Seattle, get a union job, and save up to buy a house. His vision for his future is clear, and he’s focused on making it a reality. 

“I wanna be able to be happy with life,” he says. “I wake up in the morning, I got a purpose. And right now, it feels like a purpose because this job doesn't only help me, it helps my family too.” 

By giving his all and cultivating community with his cohort, it took Gregory no time to find his place at Pallet. Beyond working on the manufacturing floor, he’s also joined the deployment crew and helped assemble shelters on multiple village sites. We are all grateful that he landed here on our team. 

Riffing on Jay-Z, Gregory quips: “You are who you are when you got there. This place opened doors for me, and I’m blessed to be here.” 

Gregory's Progress Update: January 2025

When Gregory enrolled in Pallet’s Career Launch PAD four months ago, he didn’t expect being comfortable with heights could be a job qualification. But as him and his cohort know, experience and progress change your perspective.

When Gregory and his classmates learned about scaffolding as a trade and what it takes to break into the industry, his attention was captured. He learned how positions are in high demand and the opportunities to work overtime.

“I want to be in the construction trades, but I want to make good money because I have goals outside of just working construction,” he explains. “I want to do other things in my life. It's a stepping stone just like working here is a stepping stone, and it worked to my benefit because that's the only job that I would want to do is construction. So to get into CITC and network with other construction fields and different trades, it makes it better for me. It's life-changing, to be honest.”

Gregory entered the program with the idea of pursuing plumbing or HVAC work, but he says the wide variety of disciplines offered and the diverse course work opened his eyes to other possibilities.

“In a short period of time we've learned so much,” he says. “You get so much information. But I believe, especially if you want to get into the construction trades, it will definitely help you in the future.”

In addition to learning new hands-on skills and applied math curriculum, Gregory says the combination of the pre-apprenticeship program and working at Pallet has taught him the importance of collaboration. It’s made him proud to improve his communication skills with different teammates in the workplace.

“For me, it's the teamwork,” he says. “When we can get together and work together with nobody arguing and fussing. It's a good thing because it makes you comfortable to work with different people.”

Even with his ever-positive outlook, Gregory says stepping back into a classroom setting in addition to building shelters on Pallet’s production floor was overwhelming at first. After a while, though, he got used to the routine and began feeling more confident.

“I was unsure about school, because I haven't been in school since 2020 when I got my GED in prison,” he says. “In the beginning, with the homework and stuff like that, I'm like, ‘Yeah, this is too much, man, because you remind me of being in high school and why I dropped out.’ But, damn, man, I can't do the same thing because this is for my future. It got better with time, and then it made me more excited to go to school.”

Gregory’s plans for the future and goals of improving his relationships with family are keeping him focused and on track. 

“Life is better because I'm working, I'm going to school, and I have a good relationship with my family,” he shares. “Staying consistent with that. I can go get my own place, I can go get a car, which I should be getting in a couple of months. Just doing what I have to do to succeed in life. That's the main thing is moving forward, because we know what we did in our past.”

With scaffolding on the mind, we’re eager to see what new heights Gregory will reach as he nears graduation.

Gregory's Progress Update: March 2025

Three months after we last caught up, Gregory is aware of how much work he and his classmates have completed and how much he’s learned on such a tight timeline, and cognizant that graduation from CITC is fast approaching. 

He summed it up when recalling the previous day in class: “We're in class for approximately a little over seven hours—and come to find out, we were learning something that will take four months to learn in one day.” 

For Gregory, a recent highlight in their CITC classes was a construction and carpentry project where the class built doghouses from scratch. He says there was a lot of reading and detailed coursework that went into the planning stages, but bringing the project to life was gratifying. 

“Understanding how to put it together makes you feel more confident in your work because you’re really knocking the hammer to the nail,” he says. “You’re doing it yourself, and you’re watching it come alive little by little.” 

Outside of work, Gregory is focused on maintaining his relationship with his girlfriend. He says it’s built on a mutual commitment to helping each other progress, and finds the support he receives and gives to be a significant part of his life. 

“We’re building a relationship to move forward in life,” he shares. “We motivate each other, we support each other. You can have your ups and downs, but regardless of that fact, I’m willing and she’s willing to fight for it. She asks me about my day, what I can do better, how I can better communicate with people. And I do the same for her.” 

Another thing he’s concentrated on is saving money to buy a car and studying for his driver’s test. He says it’s an important step in gaining more independence but that he’s still conscious of being economical with his choices. 

“I have the goal of the money I want to save for the car, and to get it with extra money in the bank,” he says. “So I'm not going to put all my money into this and not have nothing in the bank, because you never know what tomorrow holds.” 

Gregory still intends to pursue scaffolding as a career, saying that the amount of opportunities available makes it a reliable line of work. And while he’s eager to see what the future holds beyond graduation, above all, he’s hopeful that his fellow Launch PAD classmates will find career paths that work for them. 

“To me, what we're doing here is different from the past that we've lived,” he explains. “Some of us come from dark places, prison, whatever the case is. But this place was able to make a change, and it definitely made a change for me, because I wanted to do construction out of the gate, but I had the opportunity of coming in here. I just hope that everybody who's in this program and CITC is able to find a way before that time comes.” 

Meet the other three featured participants in Pallet’s Career Launch PAD and read their stories.