Wall Street Mission Goodwill Industries (Sioux City, IA) recently celebrated the launch of its Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program aimed at finding employment for homeless veterans in Sioux Falls, SD.
The Sioux City Goodwill® plans to enroll 55 homeless veterans in the program. When many of these veterans return home from active duty, they become chronically homeless, living out of cars, outside or on friends’ couches. Of the Sioux Falls area’s homeless population veterans make up 11 to 20 percent.
Once their status has been confirmed with the Veterans Affairs office, the Sioux City Goodwill can enroll the participants for up to 12 weeks and begin to find them housing. The participants will work 20 hours a week for Goodwill and spend another 20 hours a week training for a job with another employer. By next summer, the Sioux City Goodwill is striving to find employment for at least 36 of these participants.
During the program, the veteran participants will work at the South Norton Goodwill store, or in janitorial or e-commerce positions. The program’s staffing and other expenses will be funded by a $100,000 U.S. Department of Labor grant that runs through June 2013. The Sioux City Goodwill has budgeted $95,000 to cover the participants’ wages at $7.25 an hour.
To learn more about Goodwill’s efforts to help veterans reintegrate into the workforce, contact GII Veterans and Military Families National Program Manager James Lander.
