Austal USA worker's survival story

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Her infectious grin and take me as I am attitude effect those around her.  Colleagues call out her name as she walks past them on the grounds of Austal USA. They ask why a camera guy is following her every move, but they already know the answer.  Betty Fain, the 52 year old Class B Welder, has become one of the faces of Austal's recruiting, and her story is quite unique.

Fain spent about five years living on the streets, using drugs, and making the wrong decisions in life.  She used church outreach programs to eat - usually just one meal a day - and to sleep indoors, usually having to leave at 6 a.m.

"I just want to say that my time on the street was very, very hard. It was hard and lonely, but I never gave up hope. I just kept holding on and I was trying to encourage the other women to just hold on," said Fain.

She encourages women that she meets everywhere to apply for work at Austal. She said it's a dream job that she practically begged for.

Fain was able to eventually get off the streets and into the Dumas-Wesley transitional housing program.  She was only allowed to stay there for 18 months.

"I was able to receive an apartment there and I'm going to tell you that was like the happiest day of my life. I was just so happy I took a shower for like an hour and a half," said Fain.

They instilled a bit of discipline and structure into her life. She found a temporary job at Subway and enrolled in the Build Mobile Program at Bishop State. She lived off of $47 a week.

"They taught me life skills. I never had a savings account before, I never knew how to budget money, I never knew how to set boundaries," said Fain.

Somehow roadblocks always seem to get in Fain's way, but her courage and conviction have pushed her through many of them.

She finished the Build Mobile Program and landed a job. Eighteen months later, though, she was laid off.

When her time at Dumas-Wesley was up, she got in with another housing program for the long-term homeless. A neighbor gave her a car, but it broke down just as she was starting the AIDT Maritime Training program with Austral USA.  Another friend started dropping her off at 4 a.m.

"With this job it has empowered me to be able to stand on my own two feet and pay my bills," said Fain.

There are still some things that Fain will not talk about, such as her daughter, and the sordid details of surviving on the streets. But today her smile - that infectious grin that makes you want to grin - tells a new story about Betty Fain.

"I'm angry at Betty Fain for some of the decisions that I've made, things that I didn't do. Of course I wish I could do things over but I'm very proud of Betty Fain today. I'm at peace today. I can say no today," said Fain.