Job Creation and Skills Training Should Be a Priority this Election

As the election season heats up, voters want candidates to focus on getting people back to work. Unfortunately, a recent poll revealed a disparity between reducing unemployment and the need for providing new skills training for the unemployed.

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Talking to Your Employer about Work-Restricting Injuries

Ryan from Flagstaff, AZ, asks, "My doctor says I have to cut back on lifting, but my job demands it and I can’t afford to lose my job. How should I talk to my employer about this?"

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Goodwill Advocates Urge Congress to Invest in Job Training

Goodwill Holds Annual Advocacy Day on April 17 Nearly 200 representatives from Goodwill® including CEOs, workforce development professionals, volunteer board members, and program participants will gather on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, April 17, to ask Congress to secure the country’s economic recovery by funding federal job training programs. Goodwill, the largest provider of services in

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Helping People Return to Work Remains a Priority for Goodwill®

On Tuesday, October 11, 2011, the American Jobs Act was defeated in the U.S. Senate after it failed to attract the 60 votes needed to conclude debate. At Goodwill®, we stand ready to work with the administration and Congress to put Americans back to work and is hopeful that some of the promising aspects of the act will move forward, including increasing employment opportunities for veterans, people who are long-term unemployed, low-income adults, individuals with disabilities and youth.

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Goodwill Supports National Disability Awareness Month

Goodwill Industries® is proud to support National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). This year’s NDEAM theme is, “Profit by Investing in Workers with Disabilities.” For decades, Goodwill® agencies have trained and hired people with disabilities. Goodwill provided employment training and job services to more than 240,000 individuals with disabilities last year. people with disabilities, including youth, older workers, and military veterans. While more employers should recognize the value of hiring people with disabilities, Congress can also do more to increase their employment opportunities.

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Funding for Programs Important to Goodwill® Remains Uncertain in Congressional Negotiations

Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives agreed to a Senate-passed spending measure that provides temporary funding for the upcoming fiscal year through October 4. Congress must pass another continuing resolution (expected to be good through November 18) before the October 4 deadline. But we are far from being out of the woods. Congress has yet to pass any of its 12 annual spending bills. Such short- and long-term uncertainty will make it even more difficult during these difficult economic times for community-based organizations like Goodwill to develop and implement sustainable strategies that help people with employment challenges find jobs and advance in their careers. While Goodwill’s self-sustaining social enterprise generates the bulk of the funds Goodwill invests in the communities it serves nationwide, federal funds:

  • Leverage programs that local Goodwill agencies operate
  • Stimulate innovative advancements in Goodwill’s delivery of services
  • Support partners in communities that provide key employment and supportive services that improve employment outcomes for the people that Goodwill serves

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Celebrating 20 Years of the Americans with Disabilities Act

On July 26, 2010, we commemorate the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the first-ever civil rights law for people with disabilities that gave people with disabilities better access to goods, resources, services and job opportunities. We celebrate the ADA as a symbol of our nation’s commitment to equality, and rejoice in the progress that has been made over the past 20 years. But there is still much to do.

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Tina Ballard Receives Goodwill Industries International Outstanding Leadership Award

Goodwill Industries International is pleased to honor Tina Ballard, Executive Director of the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, with its first-ever Outstanding Leadership Award for Federal Executives. This award is given by Goodwill® to a federal executive who has clearly demonstrated support for Goodwill’s policy agenda. Increased employment opportunities under the Javits-Wagner-O’Day (JWOD) Act is one of Goodwill’s top priorities as Goodwill makes up nearly 15 percent of the AbilityOne Program. Enacted in 1938, the Wagner-O’Day Act sought to create employment opportunities for people who are blind by using the vast purchasing power of the federal government. In 1971, under the stewardship of the late Sen. Jacob Javits, the employment program was expanded to include people with significant disabilities. That expanded program — called AbilityOne — operates today under the Javits-Wagner-O’Day (JWOD) Act. The Committee for Purchase has oversight of the AbilityOne Program.

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