Marcus Cox

When Marcus Cox talks about building a new life, he does not speak in slogans. He speaks with the steady urgency of someone who has lived through hard chapters and decided, deliberately, to write a different ending.

Marcus is based in Portland, Oregon, where he works for Sunstone Way, a nonprofit that operates a congregate shelter and other housing programs serving people experiencing homelessness. He started with the organization as on call staff, picking up shifts while learning the rhythm of the shelter and building trust with participants. Over time, he leaned into training, logged hours, and grew into a full-time role. Today, he is a case manager whose presence is both practical and deeply human.

Why Registered Apprenticeship?

Marcus first learned about the apprenticeship option through the workplace during orientation. It was one of several training pathways available, but this one stood out. Marcus had tried college multiple times in the past, and he knew how difficult it could be to balance work, full course loads, and the pressure of deadlines while still trying to make ends meet.

Apprenticeship offered something different. It allowed him to keep working while learning at a pace that felt achievable. The flexibility mattered, but so did the structure. He was not left to figure it out alone. His program manager met with him regularly, signing off on hours and creating space to talk through what Marcus was learning and how it applied to the real work happening in the shelter.

For Marcus, that blend of learning and support was the turning point. The training did not live on a page. It showed up in conversations, in approach, and in the daily decisions that can shape whether someone feels respected, safe, and ready to take a next step.

Learning in the Real Environment

During most of his apprenticeship, Marcus worked as on call staff. That role gave him the ability to choose shifts and still carve out focused time for the learning side of the program. In the shelter, he supported the day-to-day needs that keep the environment stable and accessible. He spent time in shared spaces, helped with basic supplies and routines, and stayed visible on the floor because he did not want to be someone participants only saw behind a desk.

That visibility became part of his strength. When people see the same staff consistently, the relationship changes. Trust builds. Conversations become more honest. For Marcus, that trust became the foundation for the next step. As he increased his hours and completed more training, he moved into a full-time case manager role where he could do deeper work and support people with greater intention.

Turning Experience into Effective Support

Case management in a low-barrier shelter can be demanding, and Marcus is candid about that. He describes his approach as part mentor, part problem solver, and part steady presence. He knows that purely textbook case management does not always land with people who have lived for years in survival mode. He believes respect is earned through consistency and real understanding.

Marcus draws on his own lived experience, including the hardships of his early life, to meet people with both care and clarity. He does not romanticize the past. He uses it to connect, to motivate, and to show others that change is possible. He also learned that the way he responded to conflict had to evolve. Early on, he carried a kind of survival intensity into difficult interactions. With the help of mentorship and training, he built a new skill set rooted in de-escalation, patience, and emotional regulation.

The apprenticeship learning reinforced that growth. Concepts like trauma-informed care, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and behavioral health foundations helped him interpret what he was seeing in the shelter through a clearer lens. That knowledge did not just help participants. It helped Marcus, too. He describes becoming more aware of his own reactions and more intentional about how he responds when life gets hard.

Benefits for Employers and Communities

Marcus sees apprenticeship as a practical strategy for strengthening the workforce in community-based services. It allows employees to learn while working, and it gives organizations a way to develop staff who are prepared for the realities of behavioral health and housing stability work.

He also credits the broader support system around the apprenticeship for making completion more realistic. Regular check-ins, guidance, and peer connections with other apprentices created the kind of accountability that many adults never receive in traditional education settings. For Marcus, it felt less like going to school alone and more like building a network that wanted him to succeed.

That support translates directly into community impact. In shelter environments where stress and crisis are common, well-prepared staff can change outcomes. Marcus believes reliability, training, and consistency help participants stabilize, access services sooner, and begin rebuilding trust in systems that have often failed them.

Looking Ahead

Marcus is not finished. He is already thinking about additional credentials, including peer-focused roles and continued professional development. He sees his career as a living pathway, not a single destination.

He also sees the bigger picture. Apprenticeship helped him secure stability for himself and gave him a clear way to keep moving forward. At the same time, it strengthened his ability to support others with skill, patience, and credibility. For Marcus, that is the point.

“Apprenticeship let me work and learn at the same time, with real support behind me. It helped me build a career, and it helped me become the kind of person who can help others take their next step too.”
— Marcus Cox