Goodwill Industries

GOODWILL INDUSTRIES International is one of the largest nonprofit organizations in the world devoted to helping the poor. It provides education, training, and career services to people who are disadvantaged by physical, mental, and/or emotional challenges and by social conditions such as lack of education, or work experience, welfare dependency, and homelessness.

In 2004 Goodwill Industries provided employment and training to about three-quarters of a million people. The motivation for this work-oriented assistance arises from the belief that work has the power to transform lives because it builds self-confidence, personal independence, creativity, trust, and friendships. Belief in the creative value of work is central to the Goodwill Industries work philosophy, which is that everyone should have a chance to be gainfully employed. Goodwill Industries provides that chance for many who would otherwise probably not find employment. Its key mission is to give people the training and skills they need to become excellent workers in the American economy.

Goodwill is funded in several ways. Donations of clothing and household items are sold at over 2,000 Goodwill retail stores. In addition some items are sold through the internet site, which also functions as an online auction service. Money is paid to Goodwill as income when it helps businesses fill gaps caused by labor shortages or other factors. Also, it earns money by training workers hired by some businesses to fill labor shortages, or by filling gaps that occur in the labor needs of industry. It also helps to train contract workers who can then fill in as needed.

Over 80 percent of the income that Goodwill Industries receives is used to fund education and career services to those who seek help as workers. In this way Goodwill Industries serves as both an employment trainer and a jobs center.

Well over a quarter of a million people are helped by Goodwill with job assistance each year. Fully 100,000 are placed in competitive employment. The full Goodwill Industries program generates over $2 billion annually. Over 50 million people give donations and many are repeat donors.

Goodwill is now international in scope. It has a public policy agenda that is concerned with the disadvantaged. Some come from low-income backgrounds. Many come with a criminal record. To serve the people who come to Goodwill seeking help who have a criminal record an ex-offender program has been developed. The goal is to reduce or eliminate recidivism and to successfully enable the reentry of the ex-offender into society as a responsible citizen and taxpayer.

Goodwill Industries International has become truly international with its network of over 200 community-based organizations in 24 countries. Its work overseas is essentially the same as in the United States. It provides job training and career services to people everywhere that it has been able to develop a center.

The socially complicated world of today is often a challenge to job seekers. They are often unable to work until issues of childcare, transportation, emotional stability, language skills, literacy, and math skills are settled. For some people, the need is to acquire life skills, such as balancing a checkbook, developing a family budget, or other need. For others the need is to get educational qualifications, such as gaining a high-school-equivalency diploma. Goodwill seeks to provide ways to handle these issues so that people can develop employability or can actually be available for work.

...