I started at the bottom. And that's when Larry Townsend was making history. I was working downstairs, writing (food stamp) contracts for him.

When the robbers left she came downstairs,

The bottom itself wasn't anything exciting. But when it started going higher, it blasted off.

One of the criticisms of 'work first' is that it's really good at getting people jobs, but not as successful at getting people out of poverty.

We want to maintain a customer-oriented focus to our programs. It reminds staff that we're in a service profession, and it tells our customers how serious we take them.

If I spent all of my time worrying about how I was going to live up to their standards, I don't think I'd be focused on the important things.