CLARKSVILLE, Tenn (CLARKSVILLENOW) – John Ferrier has been through a great deal since a robbery cost him his job in 2009.

John was the manager of a gas station in southwest Florida when a man with what appeared to be a gun under his shirt attempted to rob the store, demanding money. John refused and ejected him from the store but violated safety policy in doing so.

The incident cost him his job, and the series of misfortunes that followed left him homeless. John went from a homeowner with two cars making $35,000 a year to living out of a tent in an empty lot owned by a friend. Things got bad enough that he had to surrender his beloved dogs to a shelter.

John’s situation was particularly difficult, he says, because he was responsible for others. John’s father had died when he was four, and he quit high school to support his brother, sister and mother.

John’s luck changed when a friend sent him money to move to Tennessee, where he could have a place to stay as long as he found work. He packed up his few belongings and moved to Clarksville.

Work was not easy to find at first. In 2011, John was hired by Goodwill as a donations attendant through their Clarksville Career Solutions Center.

With a stable income, John was able to purchase a used car, which a supervisor took him to pick up on his day off. With transportation and a roof overhead, he was once again able to help his family when they needed it.

“I made a promise to my family that I would take care of them as long as I lived,” John says. “Goodwill helped me do that.”

Two years later, John was transferred to Goodwill’s Needmore Road location where his excellent customer service skills and grasp of the operation eventually resulted in him being promoted to sales lead. “He’s a huge part of our team,” store manager Kristin Hinman says. “He’s always got a joke or a kind word or something. He just really cares about everybody.”

John lost his sister to cancer four years ago and his brother to a heart attack two years ago. He is thankful for the work family he has built in Clarksville, and for the opportunity to help others.

“All I’ve ever done is take care of people,” he explains. “People are needy in lots of ways, whether physically, spiritually, or just needing a friend. If someone’s having a bad day, I listen to them. Sometimes that makes them feel better.”

John says he once found a customer crying in the book section, having recently lost her daughter to cancer. John’s own sister was battling cancer at the time, and the two’s brief discussion made them both feel a little less lonely and little more hopeful.

“God put me at Goodwill for a reason,” he says.

John hopes he can serve as an example to others going through tough times.