Kristi Bonham Receives the 2017 Edgar J. Helms Award for Staff
MEDFORD — Goodwill Industries International is pleased to announce that the winner of its 2017 Edgar J. Helms Award for Staff is Kristi Bonham.
Bonham serves as the quality assurance coordinator for Southern Oregon Goodwill Industries (Medford). She has worked for the organization since 1997, beginning as a job coach, contracts manager, and also spending time as the interim director of workforce development in Josephine County.
“Kristi embodies our core values of service, collaboration, community, and potential,” said Shae Johns, president and CEO for Southern Oregon Goodwill. “In two decades with Goodwill, she has been a mentor and advocate for hundreds of people as they realize their full potential to thrive in community employment.”
The award honors a current Goodwill employee who has not received Goodwill services in the past and who exemplifies the mission of Goodwill and founder Rev. Edgar J. Helms’ values of unselfish service to people with disabilities or other challenges to finding employment.
In 2013, legislation known as Employment First, emphasized moving adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities into integrated community jobs. As the resident expert on client services, Bonham led the efforts to meet the intent of the legislation. She created an educational series for staff, and aligned policies and procedures. Because of her work, Southern Oregon Goodwill Industries was recognized as a leader in Oregon and received a multi-year “Transformation Project” grant from the state.
Bonham says she is driven by her “love of working with people, assisting them to overcome obstacles. I simply cannot imagine my life without Goodwill in it.”
Bonham received her award at Goodwill Industries International’s annual Delegate Assembly meeting in Louisville, KY this week.
About Southern Oregon Goodwill Industries:
Southern Oregon Goodwill Industries is headquartered in Medford Oregon and is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the mission: enable employment by providing opportunities for personal and professional growth. The organization is one in a network of 162 community-based Goodwill organization in the U.S. and Canada. Revenue generated through the sale and recycling of donated goods is used to create job training and employment programs for the people with the most need in Southern Oregon in Douglas, Jackson, Josephine, Klamath and Lake counties, and Siskiyou County in California. In 2016, 3,186 people benefited from Goodwill services. More information about Southern Oregon Goodwill Industries is at www.sogoodwill.org.
About Goodwill Industries International
Goodwill Industries International (GII) is a network of 162 community-based, autonomous organizations in the United States and Canada with a presence in 13 other countries. GII is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that is recognized by GuideStar with its Platinum Seal of Approval, the organization’s highest rating for charities. GII was also ranked by Enso as the #1 brand doing the most good in the world for two consecutive years, and was the only nonprofit brand rated in Forbes’ 20 most inspiring companies for three consecutive years. Local Goodwill organizations are innovative and sustainable social enterprises that create job training programs, employment placement and other community-based programs by selling donated clothing and household items in more than 3,200 stores collectively and online at shopgoodwill.com®. Local Goodwill organizations also build revenue and create jobs by contracting with businesses and government to provide a wide range of commercial services, including packaging and assembly, food services preparation, and document imaging and shredding. Last year, local Goodwill organizations collectively placed more than 312,000 people in employment in the United States and Canada. In addition, more than 35 million people used computers and mobile devices to access Goodwill education, training, mentoring and online learning services to strengthen their skills, and more than 2 million people received in person services. To learn more, visit goodwill.org.
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Julie Fletcher
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Phone: (541) 772-3300 x 1036
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Lauren Lawson-Zilai
Senior Director, Public Relations
Goodwill Industries International
Phone: (240) 333-5266
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