Orlando, Fla. – Unemployed for two years, the phone call could not have come at a better time for Parramore’s Jacqueline Fields.

Anderson Hill, President and CEO of HZ Construction and part of the Orlando Magic’s construction management team, was on the phone offering her full-time employment as a project assistant on the construction of the community’s new Events Center.

“The week I got the job, it felt like a load came off my shoulders,” said Fields, who had been earnestly searching for full-time employment. “I’ve always been motivated and loved to work, but it was difficult because the job market wasn’t that good.”

As a result of the additional work load due to the Events Center Construction, Hill was looking to add a position and when he considered Fields’ credentials, he was confident he had found his new project assistant.

“Jacqueline is from the community of Parramore and has great work ethic,” said Hill. “We offered her employment that we trust will last longer than the present Events Center Construction. The training that she will receive during this project will certainly benefit Jacqueline personally and HZ corporately.”

The 40-year-old single mother of three has spent most of her life residing in the Parramore area. Fields was raised by her grandmother, Nellow Fields, who lived off Livingston St. and Parramore Ave., just blocks from where the community’s new Events Center is being constructed. She would go on to graduate from Jones High School and thereafter head to Atlanta where she earned a bachelor’s degree in business operations from DeVry University. After a spell of homesickness, Fields returned home in 1992, to pursue a career.

“It has been a struggle…I have three children and I’m a single mom,” said Fields over lunch at a local landmark – Johnson’s Diner. “I’ve been unemployed since 2006, and just getting back into the work force makes me self sufficient as far as taking care of my kids.”

Although Fields has faced hardship and trying times in recent years, she has newfound joy as a result of her recent career advancement.

“Oh my gosh! My spirits were lifted from a one to a nine in a matter of weeks,” explained Fields, who lives just two minutes from HZ’s South-Street office. “Things were kind of difficult; the job couldn’t have come at a better time in my life.”