Gina Ortiz joined Work Opportunities Unlimited (WOU) twelve years ago as a Career Resource Specialist on the Lowell, MA team. However, before dedicating her days to breaking down barriers to employment for people with disabilities, Gina worked at a grocery store with Ayden Hardy. The two kept in touch, and one day Ayden introduced her to his wife, Annalise Hardy, who is now also a Career Resource Specialist (CRS), on WOU’s Keene, NH team. They’ve all been friends ever since. Annalise and Ayden were even Gina’s realtors. “We’ve had several relationships along the way, connectivity on different levels,” says Gina. “We have known each other a long time now.”
Last year, Annalise had been working full-time at a tool manufacturing company, but she planned to transition to a role with more flexible hours. Gina shared how much she loves working at WOU and encouraged Annalise to apply. As Gina says, “Annalise is super open, super friendly, very welcoming, and compassionate. She can handle the ups and downs, and she has a good work ethic. I just thought she was the perfect fit.”
Then Annalise and her husband relocated to the Keene area. After the move, Annalise says, “I was looking for part-time work again, so I reached out to Gina because I always found what she does to be amazing work. I figured, why not see if the opportunity was still there?” Annalise successfully interviewed and joined the Keene team in May of 2024. With guidance from her friend Gina, Annalise felt prepared to face her new role. “Gina talked to me in-depth about what to expect, and it definitely helped.” As a CRS, Annalise supports both business development activities and an active caseload of Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) clients. She shares, “Part of my day I spend doing business development for Keene and other markets as needed, and part of my day is checking in with my clients and meeting up with them in the community.”
Annalise is thrilled with her new role in a new industry. “I’ve never been in human services before. I’ve always been in a customer service position, which obviously still deals with humans but not to this extent,” she laughs. “Being responsible for helping someone with their next step in life – as much as that is challenging, it is also the most rewarding part for me as well.” Annalise is so happy, in fact, that she has talked about WOU with many friends and family members. “I’ve explained to them what we do and what the process is like, because I find it so amazing, and I don’t think a lot of people know about it even though WOU has been around for a while,” she says. “I take the opportunity to spread the word as much as possible.”
“The culture at WOU is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced,” Annalise continues. “I’ve had a fair number of jobs in my time, and I can definitely say I thought I’ve worked at some great companies, but WOU blows them out of the water every time. I love that everyone feels supported. Upper management and everyone on your team really treats everyone as equals, and wants the person next to them to succeed as much as they are succeeding themselves.” Gina says, “I feel the same way. For instance, we have team group chats, and if someone gets a placement, everyone chimes in and congratulates each other. Everyone’s there to support each other. You don’t feel like there is tension or animosity. It’s very comforting… I feel like the team that I’m on right now is just phenomenal, to have those connections and those positive relationships on top of it are just huge.”
Over her tenure, Gina’s role has adapted to the needs of her team and her community at large, but she remains driven to continuously learning and making a difference in people’s lives. “I love working with the different service areas,” she shares. Gina currently spearheads her office’s Division of Children and Families (DCF) services. Explaining what that entails, she says, “For instance, I’ll assist a young child that is unfortunately in the system, or a mother who is struggling and needs housing or a job. With DCF it’s not necessarily finding someone a job, it’s also finding resources or housing. I’m learning, I’m not doing the same thing every day, and I love it. At the end of the day, like Annalise said, you are making a difference for somebody.”
Even though the two friends are in different teams and focus on different responsibilities, they both treasure the extra connection of being colleagues. Annalise says, “I have always appreciated the hard worker that Gina is and the amazing mom that she is, but it brings it to a whole new level seeing what she does every day and the lives that she changes… I feel like it’s definitely made our relationship stronger, and it’s not so much that I know Gina because of my husband, I feel like Gina is now my friend as well, equally.” Gina agrees, saying, “Having someone who was your friend prior and is now doing what you do, it’s awesome. We can talk about work together now, and she gets it. And now she’s stuck with me for life!”
