Our History

Dr. Edgar J. Helms, Jr., founded the Goodwill movement in Boston in 1902 based on one simple philosophy: What people really want is "not charity, but a chance" to work. His philosophy continues today in more than 200 independent Goodwill locations in North America and 23 countries. Collectively, Goodwill Industries is the largest employer in the world of people with disabilities and annually helps a half-million people find work.

Goodwill of Greater Washington was founded in 1935 and has been helping people in the greater Washington, DC metropolitan area for more than 70 years!

In 1930, Elizabeth Murray, a social worker and advocate for people with disabilities who strongly believed in the Goodwill mission, initiated a campaign to establish a Goodwill in the nation's capital. For five years Mrs. Murray recruited community leaders and solicited funds.

On May 31, 1935, Mrs. Murray and six other community leaders signed the incorporation papers for Goodwill Industries of Washington, DC.

The organization's first headquarters was located at 1214 New Hampshire Avenue, purchased with a $100,000 donation from Anne Hubbard Davis. Thus Goodwill of Greater Washington's legal name is Davis Memorial Goodwill Industries.

So the next time you donate to us, shop with us or contract for our custodial services, you are really helping to provide meaningful jobs to people who simply seek a hand up, not a handout.

Goodwill of Greater Washington is an Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3) nonprofit workforce development organization that has helped tens of thousands of Washington metropolitan area residents get jobs since 1935.

To contact Goodwill Industries International or locate Goodwills in other states, click here.