ROCKVILLE, MD — Goodwill Industries International joined key stakeholders and partners today at the White House to promote connecting second-chance individuals, who are benefiting from early release under provisions of the bi-partisan First Step Act, with opportunities to learn and earn. As the nation’s leading workforce development provider, Goodwill commented on the need to welcome hundreds of thousands of individuals back into communities across the country with employment opportunities and supports to ensure success.
For more than 115 years, Goodwill has helped people facing challenges reach their full potential through learning and the power of work. Goodwill partners with public and private entities to ensure second-chance individuals’ success. Goodwill organizations across the country are non-partisan nonprofit organizations, and many offer reentry-specific services to help second-chance individuals with occupational skills training, industry-recognized credentials, and placement into employment, apprenticeships or post-secondary education.
The First Step Act passed was signed into law last December. Due to sentencing reforms within the act, another 2,200 individuals will reenter their communities next month. Annually, more than 100,000 come to Goodwill for earn-and-learn opportunities, wrap-around services, housing, mentoring, job placement and retention services, and connections to other services that help them support themselves and their families. Many local Goodwill organizations offer pre-release services, including career, education and transition readiness.
“Today’s event serves as a catalyst to give people who are coming back home a real second chance,” said Steven C. Preston, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International. “There is tremendous opportunity to invest in individuals reentering communities in order to support them and their families. Goodwill organizations stand ready to help people achieve meaningful employment and long-term success. We look forward to engaging with community businesses and partners in this effort.”
By way of three current U.S. Department of Labor re-entry grants via Goodwill Industries International, local Goodwill organizations are achieving less than five percent recidivism after one year.[1]
“We are asking all employers to consider that their next great hire may be an individual who needs a second chance,” said Preston.
To advocate for funding of the First Step Act and Second Chance Act, take action via the Goodwill Industries International TAKE ACTION advocacy center.
To view a story of a second-chance individual who used Goodwill’s services to transform his life, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiarydtidUw
CONTACT:
Lauren Lawson-Zilai
Senior Director, Public Relations
Goodwill Industries International
Phone: (240) 333-5266
[email protected]
ABOUT GOODWILL INDUSTRIES INTERNATIONAL
Goodwill Industries International (GII) is a network of 157 community-based, autonomous organizations in the United States and Canada with a presence in 13 other countries. For the past three years, Goodwill was ranked in the top five brands that inspired consumers the most with its mission in the World Value Index, commissioned by the creative agency, enso. Goodwill has been on Forbes’ list of top 20 most inspiring companies for three consecutive years, the only nonprofit featured on that list.
Local Goodwill organizations are innovative and sustainable social enterprises that offer job placement and training services, and other community-based programs by selling donated clothing and household items in more than 3,300 stores collectively and online at shopgoodwill.com®.
Goodwill helps people facing challenges find employment to advance their careers. Local Goodwill organizations build revenues and expand employment opportunities by contracting with commercial, state, government and non-government organizations to provide a wide range of business services, including janitorial and grounds maintenance, flexible staffing, food service, manufacturing and contracts packaging, reverse logistics, document imaging and shredding, and laundry services.
One out of every 200 hires in the United States was made with the help of Goodwill. More than 33 million people used computers and mobile devices to access Goodwill education, training, mentoring and online learning services to strengthen their skills, and more than two million people received in-person services.
Goodwill is both an icon and accessible neighbor: more than 82 percent of the U.S. population resides within 10 miles of a Goodwill location.
For more information or to find a Goodwill location near you, visit goodwill.org, or call (800) GOODWILL. Follow us on Twitter: @GoodwillIntl and @GoodwillCapHill, and find us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube: GoodwillIntl.
[1] Goodwill® LifeLaunch Young Adult Reentry Program is made possible with a $4,500,000 grant award, covering 87 percent of operating costs, from the U.S. Department of Labor-Employment and Training Administration. Goodwill is contributing leveraged funding valued at $668,179 to cover the remaining 13 percent of operational costs.
Goodwill® Adult LifeLaunch Reintegration Program is made possible with a grant award of $4.5 million, covering 74 percent of costs, from the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration. Twenty-six percent of the Goodwill Adult LifeLaunch Reintegration Program activities and services will be supported with $1.6 million in leveraged resources.
The Goodwill® Reentry Opportunities to Work (GROW) program is made possible with a grant award of $4.5 million, covering 92 percent of costs, from the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration. Eight percent of GROW program activities and services will be supported with $373,275 in leveraged resources.
