Ulysses Mims, Jr.: More Than A Veteran
This article is featured in our PlayBall program this week at BB&T Ballpark. Five times this season, the Dash and Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina will honor someone through their Salute to Veterans Program.
Today, former military staff sergeant Ulysses Mims, Jr. is living the good life. He provides for himself and his numerous relatives, he has a place to call his own, and most importantly, he wakes up happy each and every day.
However, it wasn’t always this way for the North Carolina resident. While his time in the armed forces provided a stable backing for his years as a young adult, his subsequent triumphs and tribulations after his military service are what compelled Goodwill Industries of NWNC to select him as their April honoree for the Dash’s Veterans Program.
“The success of the program for me is this: I’m no longer homeless. I’m no longer helpless.”
As a junior in high school, Ulysses decided to volunteer for the armed forces. The Charlotte native had no interest in going to college, and instead was looking for a way to escape the troubles he knew lay ahead if he remained at home.
“The military saved my life. As a young man coming from the streets of Charlotte and living in the ghetto, the military was the best thing that could ever happen to me,” Ulysses said.
The 56-year-old served as a member of the airborne unit from 1978 to 1986, reaching the level of staff sergeant (E6). Ulysses was one of 18 promoted to the E6 level out of a possible 3,000 applicants in his class, an achievement he proclaims as his greatest moment in the service.
After he was discharged, however, Ulysses found himself involved with the wrong crowd. The nine-year veteran became an addict, living on the streets and selling drugs before ending up in prison. He was hopeless and lost, looking for anyone but himself to blame for his situation. That’s where he says his life really changed.
“Anybody can change their life, but you have to get honest.”
During his incarceration, Ulysses turned to religion for answers. He constantly prayed for forgiveness, promising that he would change his life for the better. Ulysses says the act of praying gave him a desired sense of relief.
“It felt like a big ol’ elephant off my back,” Ulysses said. “The biggest thing for me was that I had to get honest. I had to quit blaming other people for what was going on around me. I had to start looking inside myself.”
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His prayers were first answered by Lucas Vrbsky, a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ representative who came to speak to Ulysses and his cellmates. Lucas spoke with Ulysses at length about the benefits he was entitled to at the VA, as well as programs that he could attend once he got out of jail.
At first, Lucas wanted to send Ulysses back to Charlotte, but “through God’s will”, as Ulysses put it, he ended up in Winston-Salem with the Veterans Helping Veterans Heal program. Ulysses came to VHVH with nothing more than the clothes on his back and a small glimmer of hope that he could turn his life around.
In conjunction with Goodwill Industries of NWNC, Ulysses was able to enroll in Operation: GoodJobs, Goodwill’s Veterans Services Program. He was assigned an employment case manager, Ms. Sandy Jolley, who guided Ulysses through workshops that involved resume building and cultivating interview skills. Since he had been unemployed for several years, Ulysses participated in a two-week job readiness course taught by Ms. Deltra Bonner, a Forsyth Technical Community College Human Resources Development instructor. Both of these women were influential in his transformation, each taking genuine interests in helping him get back on his feet.
“Ms. Jolley and Ms. Bonner allowed me to see that there are actually people in this world who are sincerely interested in helping people,” Ulysses said. “I hadn’t seen that in anyone in a long time. They gave me hope and strength that everything was going to be ok.”
He soon found himself applying for jobs that required a Commercial Drivers License (CDL), which he possessed, through a temp agency called Express Employment Professionals. Following a few test jobs in early 2015, Ulysses was offered three days work at Rugby Architectural Building Products in Kernersville driving a truck.
Three months later, he was permanently hired. Ulysses credits his full-time promotion to a quote Ms. Bonner instilled in him.
“She said, ‘It doesn’t matter what you have done. The thing that matters is what you want to do now,’” Ulysses recalled.
He used this quote during his job interview to explain how he had changed since his imprisonment. Ulysses’ honesty caught his boss off guard, but it was convincing enough to get the job because his superior had never seen such raw openness from a convicted felon. At long last, Ulysses had proven he had turned his life around. He hasn’t left that position since.
That was back in June of 2015. Now, Ulysses has repaired many of his relationships with family and friends, purchased his own house and vehicle, and made it his mission to give support to veterans dealing with similar life situations.
“Anybody can change their life, but you have to get honest,” Ulysses said affirmatively.
This honored military veteran will be seven years sober in December, and he gives all the credit to the people at Goodwill Industries of NWNC and Veterans Helping Veterans Heal for his success.
“It was a true privilege to be in that program. It [Goodwill] is one of the greatest organizations around. The people there have had a real, personal impact on my life,” Ulysses said. “The success of the program for me is this: I’m no longer homeless. I’m no longer helpless.”
