Goodwill Provides People Opportunity to Work 2005

SOMMERS

Posted By: Misty Christner (email)
Date: 6/18/2018 at 12:18:40

Source: Iowa City Press Citizen 12/8/2005

Goodwill provides people the opportunity to work

How many people do you know who are grateful for their jobs? Not begrudgingly grateful, but truly grateful down to their very core?
Goodwill provides employment, training and support services to advance the social and economic well-being of people who experience barriers to independence and self-sufficiency. Because of the very nature of what Goodwill Industries does, we are privileged to witness people grateful for the chance to go to work. Yes, that is right - grateful for the change to go to a job, to earn a paycheck, and to buy things with money they earned themselves.
When people with disabilities get their first job, they are excited. They feel apprehension, anxiety about correctly completing the tasks of their new job and pure pleasure when a job is well done.
When someone gets back to work after months or years of being sidelined by a life-changing injury, they feel joy at reclaiming a portion of their past life. Having a job to support one's self affirms there is still a place in society for them as a contributing worker.
When someone gets a used car to drive to work or school, they take pride in the ownership of a vehicle that some might call "over the hill." For those who have had to share a car with others, begged for rides from friends and neighbors, or hassled hauling groceries and perishables on the city bus on a hot summer day, this is a dream come true. So what if the car has lots of miles on it and more than a little rust. The car runs, and it is yours - and it's a tool in changing your life for the better.
Many see our stores and the shelves full of goods and consider them great values. They are more than that. The money generated by sales at the stores goes directly into funding job training programs; sometimes our clients also are our employees. Goodwill encourages and assists clients in their own desire to help themselves.
Goodwill offers programs that allow people to get on with their lives. During our first years, Goodwill was a place for people with disabilities to come to work and earn wages. Then we began to emphasize job placement within the community. Today, Goodwill Industries of Southeast Iowa is the largest provider of supported employment in the state.

Leanne Sommers is Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Goodwill Industries of S.E. Iowa.

For information, call Goodwill at 337-4158 or United Way of Johnson County at 338-7823

You may direct gifts to Goodwill, P.O. Box 1696, Iowa City, IA 52244, or the United Way of Johnson County, 1150 Fifth St., Suite 290, Coralville, IA 52241.