If you shop at a Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids retail store, your money is going toward helping our community. Specifically, that money may be helping your friend or neighbor get a job.
With 18 retail stores in Grand Rapids, there are plenty of locations to choose from. Plus, the two new Blue boutique stores offer trendy clothing and items, and are designed to offer more of an upscale experience to customers. Most everything in the stores comes from donations dropped off at one of the drop off locations.
Goodwill offers a comprehensive job training program through its Hartley on Grand Career Center that exists because of the retail stores. The stores provide 65 percent of the funding Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids needs to operate. The rest of the operating budget comes from grants and private donations.
“Donations are essentially our fuel,” says Jill Wallace, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids.
Last year, 3,000 people were served last year at the Career Center and just under 1,000 people were placed into jobs as a result. Altogether, more than 10,000 people have been assisted at the Hartley on Grand facility.
The Career Center is a walk-in place where people can visit to get advice, help with their resumes, job searching assistance, mock interview role playing and more. They have computers onsite and no appointment is needed.
They also have 20 different job training programs geared toward what is needed and in demand in the local community. Currently, programs in hospitality and nursing are popular choices, as are the Youth to Employment and Veterans Services job training programs. Training typically lasts 6-8 weeks. There is no fee to those participating because of the income generated through the retail stores.
To access the job training program, people meet first with a case manager who will assess their skill base and needs and find out what they are looking for.
Goodwill often works with people with barriers to employment, whether that may be a physical or mental disability, a veteran returning from duty, someone with a criminal record or any another issue that may make it difficult for them to find a job.
The job training program is comprehensive and teaches participants not only specific job skills, but how to sustain a job by learning how to handle conflict, take direction and more.
Goodwill has worked hard to garner the trust of local employers so they will continue to hire those who have completed the job training program.
“We have years of building relationships with employers,” says Wallace. “We show them how comprehensive our programs are and how the individuals sustain and retain employment.”
The program’s goal is to get people in the community to become self sufficient and if they can be gainfully employed, this is often the first step in that direction.
Wallace says they “want people to be proud of who they are and the decisions they make.”
Volunteers are needed in a variety of ways at Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids. They can help at one of the retail locations or at the Career Center teaching a class, showing someone how to write a resume, doing mock interviews and more.
Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids is “changing lives and communities through the power of work.” Here are some ways you can give back and support them on their mission:
- Visit
Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids online to learn more about them.
- Shop at a local
Goodwill store or
online.
- Shop at a
Blue boutique location for “trendy merchandise in a hip, eclectic setting.”
-
Volunteer your time and skills in a variety of ways.
-
Donate materials to a Goodwill location.
- Make a
financial contribution.
- Like Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids on
Facebook.
- Follow
@goodwillgr on Twitter.
Source: Jill Wallace, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids
Writer: Heidi Stukkie, Do Good Editor
Images provided by Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids.
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