Meet architect in training, Josué Martínez

Josué meets with Margarita Diaz, PODER employment program coordinator.

Meeting clean-cut Josué Martínez for the first time, you would never guess that this well-spoken 28-year-old grew up in a house made of scrap metal with no cement floor.

Beating the odds, Josué was able to graduate from high school in 2001 with the help of Common Hope, and he went on to study four years of architecture at the university level with a Common Hope scholarship. Although Josué had to put his university degree on hold recently due to his family’s economic problems, he has continued to receive support through PODER, Common Hope’s employment program.

Josué currently supports himself by making architectural blueprints and, at times, supervising construction jobs. He looks to Margarita Díaz, Common Hope’s employment program coordinator, for references and possible job opportunities. “Margarita taught me how to do a resume,” he says, “even how to write a letter to ask for a job.”

Josué hopes to eventually finish his university degree, but in the meantime he is helping support his family with his work.  We are confident that Josué will succeed, as his passion for architecture runs deep: “I think [architecture interests me] because in my life, we have always lived in houses made out of scrap metal,” he explains, “I never had [a house with] a floor and walls.”