"When life seems chaotic, you don't need people giving you easy answers or cheap promises. There might not be any answers to your problems. What you need is a safe place where you can bounce with people who have taken some bad hops of their own." Real Live Preacher
I recently was sent this quote and it seems appropriate to pass it along to our valued supporters. Yes, Goodwill of Greater Washington has a Vision and a Mission Statement, which has been shared with you throughout the years. But this quote describes Goodwill and what you allow us to do through your support. Goodwill is that "safe place where people who have take some bad hops of their own" can come together and find a new direction for their lives. We do not give "cheap promises", but instill the desire to move forward, the ability to achieve and the vision for personal dignity and success to all of those whom we serve. This could not be done without your support and we daily are thankful that you play a role in our Goodwill!
Catherine Meloy,
President & CEO
A Mission Moment
A Word from our Green Pathway DC Graduates
This Month's Mission Moment we've focused on a few Graduates of GGW's Green Pathway DC, Class of June 2010. They tell us about their life changing experiences with Goodwill's Job Training Program, and leave some encouraging words for those who will go through the program after them.
Goodwill Retail Store Soft Opening in Herndon,VA a huge success!
Our new Goodwill Retail Store and Donation Center at 2421 Centreville Road, at the Village at Dulles Shopping Center in Herndon, VA officially opened its doors at 10AM this past Saturday, August 28th.
Stay tuned for our grand opening celebration in a few weeks! To learn more or find a map to the new store and donation center, just click here
Did you Know that Goodwill Provides Disability Services?
For 75 years, Goodwill of Greater Washington has provided vocational services and employment to individuals with disabilities and disadvantages. Throughout the 75 years, we have expanded our employment related services to individuals with disabilities, including specialized training on cultural diversity and disability awareness. Our growth is focused on building the employment outcomes of individuals with disabilities.
The purpose of Goodwill’s Training and Employment Disabilities Services is to provide individualized employability skills training and other types of assistance to individuals with disabilities who experience significant and critical barriers to employment for entrance or re-entrance into the workplace.
Summary of Services:
Benefits Planning
Job Development & Placement Services
Community Based Employability Skills Training
Job Coaching and Retention Services
Travel Training
Goodwill provides a variety of highly skilled professionals with training in disability services to support individuals who need assistance. They include:
Director
Career Coaches
Career Transition Instructors
Staffing Specialists
Vice President of Workforce Development Services
The U.S. still struggles to recover from the worst recession since the Great Depression. And unemployment stubbornly hovers near 10 percent. But Goodwill continues to invest the bulk of its revenues into providing services to people who face employment challenges.
Federal investments in this work are vital to us. Today, we are asking you to contact your Members of Congress, and ask them to support funding for job training programs. Continue reading to learn more, or take action now.
Background: Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a bill to provide FY 2011 funding for the U.S. Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education. The bill includes $169.6 billion for discretionary programs, including many that support the services provided by community-based Goodwill’s across the United States.
Under the Senate bill, additional DOL funds are being allocated to create a new “Workforce Innovation Fund,” as proposed by the Administration’s budget. For example, funding for the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) would receive $896 million for adult worker programs, up from $861 million in FY 2010, with $35 million going to the Workforce Innovation Fund.
Funding for youth programs would rise to $995 million, up from $924 million in FY 2010, with $95 million going to fund the Workforce Innovation Fund. Funding for dislocated worker programs would rise to $1.2 billion, up slightly compared to FY 2010, and with $55 million going toward the Workforce Innovation Fund.
Additional funds from the Department of Education would also be tapped for the innovation fund – $27 million from the Rehabilitation Services Administration and $30 million from Adult Basic Education.
Funding for the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) would be significantly decreased by $225 million. This program helps provide low-income older workers (age 55 and over) with community services employment and private sector job placements. Read about Goodwill’s involvement in SCSEP.
View an analysis of proposed spending as it relates to Goodwill’s public policy priorities.
Prognosis: Election-year politics may bring this year’s appropriations process to a screeching halt, forcing congress to pass a “continuing resolution” to extend federal spending beyond the September 30 end of the fiscal year — and beyond the mid-term election on November 2.
Now is a critical time to let Congress know that you support funding for the types of programs that Goodwill provides that help regenerate our communities and reinvigorate our economy.
For the second year in a row, Goodwill of Greater Washington and Family Circle are teaming up for a Back-to-School Clothing Drive. The goal of the drive is to encourage families to donate their gently used clothing to fund support services that help people facing challenges to finding employment become financially stable and support themselves and their families.
This year’s clothing drive runs from Monday, August 2 through Thursday, September 30, 2010. The two organizations are encouraging people to donate their clothing items to any one of Goodwill’s 3,500 donation centers across the country or schedule their own donation drive at schools, businesses, or anywhere friends and neighbors gather. The partnership will be featured in Family Circle’s September issue, which is dedicated to back-to-school. More information can also be found at http://donate.goodwill.org/familycircle.
Last year, Family Circle readers helped generate 11 million pounds of clothing donations, far exceeding the original goal of 5 million pounds. Once again, moms and dads can use the clothing drive as a way of teaching their kids that donating can make a real difference in someone’s life. Plus, donating also gives clothing a second life by keeping items out of landfills and helping to preserve the environment. The Back-to-School clothing drive will help to support Goodwill’s new Donate Movement; a public awareness initiative powered by Goodwill® that inspires consumers and businesses to promote the positive impact donating has on people and the planet.
“Family Circle is happy to partner with Goodwill for the second year in a row for our Back-to-School Clothing Drive,” said Family Circle Publisher Diane Papazian. “Family Circle readers are dedicated to getting involved in their communities and giving back. This is a great way to do so.”
Find your local Goodwill store or donation center at http://www.dcgoodwill.org, donate what you no longer need, then calculate the impact of your donation through the Donation Impact Calculator at http://donate.goodwill.org. The calculator will show you how your donated goods become jobs.
For example:
• One bicycle, one coat and one DVD provide a person with one hour of on-the-job training.
• One working computer provides 5.3 hours of career counseling.
• Six shirts and two pairs of jeans provide one hour of a job search class.
Do you like it when we open new stores? Do you like people getting jobs? Do you like fashion?? Then come “like” Goodwill of Greater Washingon and the DC Goodwill Fashionista on Facebook for special updates, coupons, and information on your local Goodwill!
Our region's most vulnerable citizens are finding it increasingly difficult to find work in this challenging economy, and more people are coming to our doors seeking help. That is why we are asking friends like you for lasting financial support that will strengthen and reinforce our programs for years to come.
One of the most sustainable, enduring ways to support the work of Goodwill right here in the greater Washington, DC area is through your will or bequest. This type of legacy investment ensures that we will weather this storm, and the next one. We realize that it takes very special donors to confirm their enduring belief in our mission and remember us in their will.
If you have been considering such an arrangement with us, or if you have already included Goodwill of Greater Washington in your will, please let us know. Simply contact Stephen Kopalchick at 202-715-2625 or email at stephen.kopalchick@dcgoodwill.org.
It's a Tough Economy... Goodwill Needs Your Donations!
Donation Centers:Public donations are the lifeblood of Goodwill's retail operation. We accept gently used clothing, furniture, house wares, working electronics, computers and many other items, and then resell them to help fund our employment, job training and placement services for people with disabilities and disadvantages. Please click here for a list of locations.
Volunteer: Our volunteer program has been put on hold
Monetary: You can help financially support our workforce development programs for people with disabilities and disadvantages, by making an online donation here .
Donation Drive: Looking for a way to support your community? Want to manage a service project that does not require a lot of preparation? Host a donation drive at your local church, job, neighborhood, or school! We make it easy as 1, 2, 3. Just contact Shanna Gidwani, Marketing & Communications Coordinator, at Shanna.Gidwani@dcgoodwill.org or 202-715-2617 to schedule a date.
Computer Recycling Program: Goodwill of Greater Washington has partnered with Dell for Reconnect, a partnership that offers consumers free recycling for any brand of computer equipment in any condition. The program's goals are to divert over 2.7 million pounds of used computers and computer equipment from area landfills over the next year; and provide consumer education on the importance of environmentally-responsible computer disposal. Please click here for a list of locations.
Click: GoodSearch is a search engine which donates 50-percent of its revenue to the charities and schools designated by its users. It's a simple and compelling concept. You use GoodSearch exactly as you would any other search engine. Because it's powered by Yahoo!, you get proven search results. The money GoodSearch donates to your cause comes from its advertisers — the users and the organizations do not spend a dime!
Go to www.goodsearch.com and make Goodwill of Greater Washington your favorite charity to support!
The Goodwill team is making guest appearances around the greater Washington , DC area! Want to know more about what Goodwill does? Want to get involved? Need a guest speakeryou're your school or local civic organization? Please contact Shanna Gidwani, Marketing & Communications Coordinator, at: Shanna.Gidwani@dcgoodwill.org or 202-715-2617 to schedule a date.
Some organizations who have already invited Goodwill to speak or volunteered to support our efforts include Boys Scouts, Lions Clubs, Kiwanis, Jaycees and Rotary Clubs.
Contracts: Betty Thompson– FDA/Lafayette/GPO Antwonne Wrenn – BKB Daniel Martin – USGS/NGA Yvette Phillips – BAFB Margaret Green – BEP Eric Bond – ARL/OPO
Retail: Kiona Walker – Alexandria Kenny Vallejo – Sterling Robert Kukapa – Rockville
Moses Davis – South Dakota
Ashley Lynn – Gaithersburg Cortez Donavan – Falls Church Nishad Sayem – Columbia Pike Alfred Fields – Glebe Rd. Sherrie Smith – Glebe Production
Rosa Charriez – Manasas Turray Simms & Aloy Chung – E-Commerce/Transportation
Employees of the Month is sponsored by:
GOODWILL OF GREATER WASHINGTON'S MISSION
Goodwill of Greater Washington's mission is to educate, train, employ and place people with disadvantages and disabilities, creating a stronger workforce and a more vital community while building dignity for the people we serve through the removal of barriers to personal success.
The U.S. still struggles to recover from the worst recession since the Great Depression. And unemployment stubbornly hovers near 10 percent. But Goodwill continues to invest the bulk of its revenues into providing services to people who face employment challenges.
Federal investments in this work are vital to us. Today, we are asking you to contact your Members of Congress, and ask them to support funding for job training programs. Continue reading to learn more, or 
