Mentoring Program Receives Volunteer Program of the Year Award, Family Financial Stability Program Receives 21st Century Initiative Award
June 30, 2009
Denver, CO. — For helping at-risk students transition successfully from high school to college, and for helping families increase their financial stability, Goodwill Industries® of Denver has been honored by Goodwill Industries International® with two prestigious national awards: the Volunteer Program of the Year Award and the 21st Century Initiative Award.
Goodwill Industries of Denver implemented the SummerBridge mentoring program to help recent high school graduates find success during their first year of college by linking them to supportive mentors in the community. The overwhelming majority of the young people served by the SummerBridge program are first-generation, urban college students.
Since the program’s launch in 2002, the Goodwill® has matched approximately 20 youth with mentors each year. In summer 2008, the program was expanded to two different schools where 40 volunteer mentors were matched with college students in two Colorado counties.
The Denver Goodwill’s Advancement Plus Career Development Program helps workers who earn low wages in Adams County, CO, to improve their household income through two, concurrent efforts: customized training programs that make job advancement possible, and facilitated access to community and financial resources that already exist, but are often not used by families that qualify.
In 2008, 458 participants were served and 1,031 vocational trainings were completed. The average income upon entry was $2,337 and the average income upon completion was $2,854, which puts an extra $2.7 million back into the community through wages.
“Goodwill Industries of Denver is a role model in the Goodwill movement,” said Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International. “Their innovative and successful program models can be replicated by other Goodwills, helping us reach our over-arching goal of doubling the number of people we serve by 2011.”
Goodwill Industries of Denver was honored during the 2009 Goodwill Industries International Delegate Assembly in Indianapolis, IN, on June 29, 2009.
