As a young adult, Hong stayed at home a lot and felt she was lacking direction in life. After connecting with Goodwill in Seattle, she became involved in the Green Corps Program where she learned how to maintain trails and took classes in workplace and life readiness. Today she feels she has a purpose and is headed to a career where she can support her family.
In conjunction with the grand opening of its first retail store in Hawaii in June, Microsoft presented Goodwill Industries of Hawaii (Honolulu) with a $500,000 software donation plus several PCs.
READ MORE from Microsoft Supports Hawaii Goodwill with Grant, Donation Drive
Angela from Roanoke, VA, asks, “I’m one of the youngest people in my office. Almost everyone else is at least 20 years older than me and has been at this company forever. I feel like they don’t GET me and like we’re speaking different languages sometimes. How can I make this better?”
READ MORE from Four Generations, One Workforce: Tips for Working Together
The kitchen is one of the most complex areas to organize, because there are so many different functions going on in the space, so much equipment required, and so many people using and sharing the space so many times per day. When you tackle your kitchen, pay particular attention to the four “F-words” we teach for strategizing your space: Features, Flow, Function and Frequency.
READ MORE from Keep Your Kitchen Clutter Free with These Tips
From June 10 to 13, Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids (MI) participated in a youth employment event, Ready Now! for Youth, that gave youth in Kent County employment skills and training to interview for jobs and internships. The collaborative effort brought together Grand Rapids Community College, the Kent Intermediate School District, the Goodwill, the chamber of commerce, Kris Mathis Enterprise and Express Employment.
READ MORE from Grand Rapids Event Prepares Youth for Work, Connects Them with Business Leaders
I’ve been eyeing crochet doilies at my local Goodwill® for many months now, knowing that there must be something easy that can be done to give them a place in my home without them feeling too “granny." Finally, a couple of projects came to mind and seemed to fit the bill.
It has been 15 years since Congress enacted the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), the nation’s primary job training law. Back then, the U.S. had a budget surplus and the unemployment rate was 4.4 percent. Today, the nation is slowly recovering from the worst recession experienced in a generation and unemployment is stubbornly declining from the peak it reached during that time. Needless to say, the law is long overdue for an update. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing today to consider how WIA could be improved to better develop a skilled workforce for a competitive economy.
READ MORE from Senate Panel Holds Hearing on Improving Workers’ Skills
Josh from Battle Creek, MI, asks, “I’m the least organized person ever! I have hard time keeping track of what I’m supposed to do, and I’m afraid I’m going to forget something. How can you help?”
In just four years, the weight of goods donated by Boston University (BU) students during Morgan Memorial Goodwill’s (Boston) Goodwill Not Landfill donation drive has nearly tripled. From April 22 to May 20, the university placed Goodwill bins in 15 locations – including every dorm – so that students could easily give away items they no longer needed as they cleared out their rooms to leave for the summer. The Goodwill also placed bins at the front of its store near campus so students who live off campus could also contribute.
READ MORE from Boston University, Goodwill® Collect More than 90 Tons of Donations
Sebastian, who has Asperger syndrome, had been unemployed for five years and living with his parents before coming to Goodwill. The program helped him get comfortable meeting new people and entering new situations -- to the point where he was able to find a job in December 2012. He now works in a commissary stocking shelves and is happy because of the independence and freedom he's gained.
