Rafaelina Ramirez

Rafaelina Ramirez

Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries recently presented Rafaelina Ramirez with the 2011 Emil Hartl President’s Award in recognition of her outstanding performance as a Goodwill employee.

A Roxbury resident, “Lina” Ramirez has worked at Boston Career Link as a career advisor for five years. She started as a job specialist, was promoted to a business account executive and then in the spring of 2010 accepted the position of career advisor.

Last year, the state rolled out a new program called Reemployment Services, which requires mandatory visits for unemployed individuals to attend a career center. Ramirez was asked to get the program running in less than two months. Thanks to her efforts the percent of individuals who returned after an initial visit increased from 14 to 65 percent.

“I see people every day who think there’s no hope out there,” said Ramirez. “But when they leave our door, they know there’s hope for them here at Boston Career Link. It all goes back to Goodwill’s mission of helping individuals with barriers to self-sufficiency achieve independence and dignity through work.”