John Ayala interned at Willis Dady the fall semester of 2022. He was with us for 140 hours working towards his social and criminal justice degree at Coe College. In his application he said, “I plan on being in law enforcement and understand that I will be interacting with many people. This internship will give me a glimpse of what the future holds for me.”
John interned with our Permanent Supportive Housing program. He assisted our PSH Case Manager Maxine in helping clients navigate housing, learned how to de-escalate situations, and gained skills that could be applied to his future occupation. He said his favorite thing about Willis Dady was “how close everyone was with each other. I really felt like I was part of the organization with everyone because they were very helpful and gave their time to teach me useful skills. I loved everything about Willis Dady from the people we got to help to the relationships I made with everyone.”
Today John is a Corrections Service Assistant for the Orange County Sherriff’s department in California. He sees himself doing this work for a long time and aspires to become a Deputy in the next few months. Congratulations on all you’ve achieved, John!