A cadre of more than 300 volunteers dedicated 25,000 hours in 2012 to spreading the mission of Goodwill Industries-Manasota (Sarasota, FL). Ambassadors from the program routinely speak with service clubs, faith-based organizations, professional associations, youth groups and others to build awareness of Goodwill’s programs and services, as well as Goodwill’s contribution to the community.
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Goodwill, Serving the People of Southern Los Angeles County (Long Beach) is now in the seventh year of its Certified Nursing Assistant and Home Health Aide training program. Between 2008 and 2012, nearly 900 people have been trained through this program, an 11-week program combining classroom instruction with hands on clinical training. These students in cohorts of 10-20 people receive the clinical training by Long Beach School for Adults instructors with weekly tests. They then attend an employer’s breakfast — set up “speed dating” style — that allows them to meet one-on-one with employers looking to hire.
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A couple years ago, Goodwill Industries International instituted a program to help low-income individuals gain financial stability thanks to a grant from the Charles Schwab Foundation. In 2010, as part of this Schwab grant, Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana (Indianapolis) partnered with the Indianapolis Charles Schwab office to pilot the volunteer-based financial education program, Good Assets. Local Charles Schwab employees, as well as Goodwill® staff, teach financial education in a group setting. They also serve as financial coaches, meeting one-on-one with participants to advise on financial needs and goals. A financial coach’s roles include facilitating realistic goals, enhancing accountability and providing opportunities for practice so that participants can ultimately develop their own financial goals.
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Jenna Isaacson—independent visual journalist, Goodwill® blogger and lover of all things thrift—recently left Washington, DC, on a thrifting expedition for her documentary photo project All Thrifty States: A Visual Journey through America’s Collective Closets. Goodwill Industries is an educational partner and sponsor of the project and upcoming book that demonstrate how purchasing used items is not only environmentally friendly, but a healthy alternative to the consumerism that has pushed Americans’ spending habits to the max.
Goodwill of North Georgia recently teamed up with fashion blog The2econdFloor.com to hold a Prom Remixed Essay Contest for students at Grayson High School in Loganville, GA. Three students won the contest after writing a 500-word essay about their view on incorporating used and/or repurposed clothing into their personal style.
The Lufkin Goodwill’s YouthBuild program is made possible by one of 74 Department of Labor grants distributed to community-based organizations throughout the country and will focus specifically on the construction industry. Over two years, it will help 64 18-to-24-year-old students in rural Angelina and Nacogdoches counties advance their education and job skills in order to achieve economic self-sufficiency. The area’s unemployment and poverty rates for this age group are 23.92 percent and 18.92 percent respectively, compared to national rates of 18.5 percent and 15.3 percent; the graduation rate is 67.83 percent versus 71.7 percent nationally.
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Hand holds VHS tapeLast month, Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin Counties (CA) launched an ideas-based challenge to find a solution to the growing disposal problem of VHS tapes. As new technologies have increasingly replaced VHS tapes, these former staples of American living rooms are filling up landfills at an alarming rate. The tapes are harmful to the environment and pose a threat to the safety and health of communities as the chemicals coating the tape — toxic ferric oxide, iron oxide and chromium dioxide — seep into groundwater.
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Last week, Goodwill Industries International, in partnership with Goodwill Industries of Houston and StoryCorps, completed a series of recordings as part of the StoryCorps Military Voices Initiative. Twelve veterans served by Goodwill Houston shared their stories during the two-day recording session. Each conversation will be preserved at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Among those who shared their stories were a sixth generation veteran who chose the military over playing college football, an Iraqi veteran who served in nine different countries and a veteran who served on special ops team during his enlistment.
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Last week, Goodwill Industries International, in partnership with Goodwill Industries of Houston and StoryCorps, completed a series of recordings as part of the StoryCorps Military Voices Initiative. Twelve veterans served by Goodwill Houston shared their stories during the two-day recording session. Each conversation will be preserved at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Among those who shared their stories were a sixth generation veteran who chose the military over playing college football, an Iraqi veteran who served in nine different countries and a veteran who served on special ops team during his enlistment.
READ MORE from Goodwill®, StoryCorps Record Veterans' Stories for Military Voices Initiative
Goodwill of North Georgia (Atlanta) runs two programs that train women in non-traditional jobs such as highway construction and carpentry: Women in Apprenticeship and Non-Traditional Occupations and Georgia Women in Highway Construction. Participants receive assistance in paying dues, obtaining transportation, obtaining apprenticeships, interview experience, resume preparation and more. “They really feel like [the program is] a brand-new start,” said Mandy Trowell, construction training program manager. “They knew they could do this, and they are just as tough as the men. Once they’ve gotten the job and maintained it, they’re able to really support their families for the first time in a lot of cases.”
Goodwill Industries, Ontario Great Lakes (London), is in the process of opening a new $3.6 million, 113,000-square-foot Centre for Social Enterprise and the Environment that will offer job training, provide new jobs and help reduce the amount of donations that go to landfills. The goal is to achieve ‘zero waste’ by lowering the current rate of 17 percent to less than 10 percent.
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The Goodwill Easter Seals Miami Valley (Dayton, OH) Rapid Employment Program, which operates out of space at a nearby homeless shelter, has helped 194 homeless men get back to work since its inception in October 2011. The program is part of the county's 10-Year Homeless Solutions Plan and has helped men find jobs ranging from cross country truck driving, to positions at McDonalds, in retail, in factories and as security guards.
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