If you’re going to call
Jose Fernandez do it late in the day. The Pembroke
Pines business owner usually has time to take
calls from reporters and other outsiders around 5
in the afternoon. Any other time he’ll be busy
with his burgeoning contracting business.
For the last few months, he has
been remodeling kitchens and bathrooms, repairing roofs
and doing general home improvement. His growing small
business took root after he received some financial
help from Lamont Graves and the DreamLink Foundation.
“He
helped me out,” Fernandez said of Graves. “He
sponsored me during my schooling to get the paper work
done. I used to work for a company and people said
I had talent. Lamont was one of them.”
But as
a new husband and father it was difficult to quit his
day job to go out on his own. Even with his desire
to do the best for his family, he still was apprehensive
about developing a small business.
“He (Graves)
said if you work hard I’ll sponsor you,” Fernandez
said. “Whatever I needed he covered it. It was a real big blessing. The
lord touched his heart to help me out.”
DreamLink was founded in 2003 specifically
to help people like Fernandez. In the late 90s, Graves
and his wife, Gladys, started giving to people in southern
Florida during the holiday season. They would provide
gifts and food for families. Four years ago, Graves and
his advisors decided to create a foundation that had
a mission of making dreams come true. Since then in addition
to helping around the holidays, it has expanded its work
to include helping people realize their dreams.
“Jose is the exact reason we started this foundation,” DreamLink
founder Graves said. “There are so many people who could do so much more
if someone gave them a hand up. Jose impressed me as someone who just needed
a little break to do a big thing. He just needed someone with resources to believe
in him. I’m glad the foundation could help him
in his journey to create a better life for himself and
the people around him.”
Although he still has a bit
of nervousness around his new venture, Fernandez said
he wouldn’t change
a thing.
“I was nervous about it, but I don’t regret it,” he said.
It also will help him fulfill another part of the foundation’s mission;
people reaching back to help others.
“I think it’s
going to make me want to help someone,” Fernandez
said. “I think I would do it if I had something
to offer him (another fledgling business owner). We all
should be more like that. I’m
really grateful.”
