Closing the gap with Duke Credit Union

After a twenty-two-year career in banking, Ginger Murphy left the workforce to care for her aging mother and newborn nephew.  Once her nephew was old enough to attend school, Ginger began to search for jobs, intent on obtaining another position in the banking industry. She recalls, “I was nervous and skeptical I would find something because I had been out of the workforce for five years.” Determined to overcome this obstacle to employment, Ginger attended StepUp Durham’s 32-hour Employment Readiness Workshop in April of 2016, equipping her with the skills and resources to achieve her employment goals.  Reflecting on her experiences at StepUp, Ginger recalls, “StepUp taught me how to phrase my experiences when talking with potential employers in order to merge my five-year employment gap.  The workshop also taught me great interviewing techniques, which helped me feel more confident as I prepared to step back into the workforce.”
 
Three months after graduating StepUp’s workshop, Ginger obtained a customer service position at Duke Credit Union in July of 2016.  As she approaches her two-year anniversary of graduating StepUp and starting at the Credit Union, Ginger celebrates the life goals which she has been able to achieve since her first day on the job.  “One of my goals,” she explains, “was to get a vehicle when I started working.  And I was able to do that this past July!”  Of her time in this position, Ginger shares, “I love that every employee with the Duke Credit Union works at the same location.  From the CEO to the newest entry-level employee, we’re like a very close-knit family.”  And it is this sense of kinship—along with a sense of accomplishment and purpose—that sustains Ginger daily in her work.

Written by Luke Ehrhardt
Duke Divinity School Fellow