Goodwill Receives $2 Mil To Develop Programs In Hispanic Communities

The Goizueta Foundation Awards Goodwill With Financial Education and Youth Development Grant

 

 

Three-Year Project Will Help Hispanics Throughout Georgia

ROCKVILLE, Md.,  -- The Goizueta Foundation has awarded Goodwill Industries International a grant valued at $2,055,084 to develop employment and education initiatives in Hispanic communities in the state of Georgia. The grant will be funded over a three-year period.

The four independent Goodwill agencies that receive the funding will improve their job training programs and employment-based services to meet the needs of increasingly growing Hispanic populations in the Atlanta, Columbus, Vidalia, and Augusta areas in the state of Georgia. In addition, Goodwill Industries International will hire a statewide program manager to coordinate the efforts of the local Goodwills and document their successes.

"Through support from The Goizueta Foundation, Goodwill agencies in Georgia will customize career services to meet the needs of the growing population of Hispanic residents through a multi-faceted, customized approach," said Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International. "This approach will include the development and growth of financial literacy training and effective youth development services for Hispanics, and specifically, the expansion of access to services for Hispanic individuals with disabilities."

Most importantly, Goodwill will expand the number of career development centers in or near neighborhoods with high Hispanic populations in order to offer their residents with basic skills training. This training will empower them to achieve economic independence and be able to support themselves and their families. Each center will provide a range of services, which might also include English as a Second Language courses as well as specific vocational language instruction.

Using these effective practices as a base, the Georgia Goodwill agencies will find ways to adapt and customize career services through community needs assessments and community partnerships with Hispanic-serving organizations and businesses. The project will serve as a national model to other Goodwills, through lessons learned and best practices, in their targeted outreach efforts to Hispanics.

ABOUT GOODWILL INDUSTRIES INTERNATIONAL

Goodwill Industries International is a network of 183 community-based, independent agencies in the United States, Canada, and 13 other countries. One of the nation's top five most valuable and recognized nonprofit brands as well as a leading social services enterprise. (Source: Cone Nonprofit Power Brand 100, 2009), Goodwill generates opportunities for people to achieve economic stability and build strong families and vibrant communities by offering job training programs, employment placement services and other community-based programs for people who have disabilities, lack education or job experience, or face employment challenges. To pay for its programs, Goodwill sells donated clothes and other household items in more than 2,300 retail stores and online at www.shopgoodwill.com. Local Goodwill agencies also build revenue and create jobs by contracting with businesses and government to provide a wide range of commercial services, including packaging and assembly, food service preparation and document imaging and shredding. In 2008, 1.5 million people in the United States and Canada benefited from Goodwill's career services and more than 172,000 obtained job placement services. Goodwill channels 84 percent of its revenues directly into its programs and services. To find your local Goodwill, use the online locator at www.goodwill.org or call (800) 664-6577.

Every 42 seconds of every business day, a person served by Goodwill earns a good job.

SOURCE Goodwill Industries International