Marco first came to Fortune in 2019 as an Employment Services participant and resident at the Castle. Now, he holds a new title: Fortune Flyer, preparing to run the 2022 TCS New York City Marathon. He heard about the opportunity and jumped at the chance to support an organization he feels gave him so much during his transition home.

After Marco’s initial three-week job training workshop, he was hired to help maintain the subscription list of incarcerated people to our bi-annual publication the Fortune News. He was then encouraged to apply for the Fortune Fellowship at Bloomberg – a 16-week program for justice-involved individuals to further their professional development and help them secure sustainable employment with relevant experience under their belts.  

“Since Bloomberg, everything changed. It opened so many doors for me. I became a lead inspector for the state, and now I own my own company and do subcontracts with the city,” explained Marco. “I’m going back to college now. I have two daughters. I’ve come a long way. When I was applying for jobs, they didn’t care what else was on my resume – when they see Bloomberg, they know I can be a good employee.”  

Though Marco has since moved out of the Castle and into his own home, he still visits his old residence from time to time. He likes to check in on friends and attends the Thursday night community meetings. It was at one of these meetings that he heard about running as a Fortune Flyer. 

“My favorite thing at Fortune is the Thursday night meeting. There are so many energies there. You get to share information, and I believe the only way humans grow is through human interaction. I know if I go there, and if I feel a little lethargic, I leave there feeling amazing. I know I can do it because if I did it once before, I can do it again,” said Marco.  

Even though Marco has not previously run marathons, he knows he is up to the challenge. Beyond the race, he is excited to reconnect with people he knew through his time at Fortune and for them to witness how he is able to give back.  

Marco is grateful for the impact that Fortune had on his life and is eager for the chance to fundraise through his marathon run to give others the same opportunities. “They just helped me so much. I just thought each day I was there, ‘this place is amazing.’ I’m just ecstatic to be doing something for them after all of these years.”