While Rev. Edgar J. Helms did not become a Methodist missionary to India as he originally intended, he found another way to spread goodwill. Instead of sending him to India, the church sent Helms to Boston, Massachusetts to work with immigrants by helping them both discover and realize their dreams. Goodwill Industries of Michiana President and CEO Debie Coble shared that it was through working with these Boston immigrants that Helms came up with the idea for Goodwill, founding the nonprofit organization in 1902.
“He served a very poor portion of the city, working with individuals who had fallen into tough times, whether it was felonies, addictions, being unable to locate work, having disabilities, being orphaned, and the whole nine yards,” Coble said. “He saw that need and started collecting items from the community that they no longer needed and gave it away. He quickly figured out there was no dignity, nor did it help people learn how to take care of themselves, so he quickly developed the idea of helping them learn a trade through fixing the items that were donated and then selling them. That is how Goodwill Industries came to be.”
Goodwill may be known primarily for its retail services, but this nonprofit organization does more than sell secondhand items at low prices – it also has a variety of career, community, and education services established to improve the lives on others based on their needs. While certain programs within these services are funded in part through grants and performance contracts, the retail services constitute the main funding supply, supplementing certain programs and fully covering others.
“If we have some services in those programs that the grants don’t pay for, then we’ll use retail dollars for those. 2nd Chance and our career centers are totally funded by our stores,” Coble said.
Just one of Goodwill’s eight career services, 2nd Chance consists of a two-week class, resume and interviewing guidance, and more to help formerly incarcerated individuals with their re-entry into society. Goodwill’s other career services are Career Connections, Industrial Services, Ability First, Senior Employment Services, Youth Services, Bridges, and WeConnect. Its Community Services are Nurse Family Partnership, Stand Against Violence Everyday (S.A.V.E.), Group Violence Intervention (GVI), and Veteran Services. Its Education Services are The Excel Center and TechSTEP.
“With the expansion we’ve gone through over the past seven years, we are actually now almost a cradle to grave service,” Coble said. “With our Nurse Family Partnership, we are providing services to pregnant moms. Through the Excel Center, our daycare that we serve, the parents of our students can bring their children starting at an age of seven weeks old. In our Senior Community Service Employment Program, there is no age limit. You have to be at least 55 to be eligible for that, but we’ve served folks in their 80s and 90s before. We cover the whole gamut.”
Each of Goodwill’s services were created to address the specific needs of the communities it serves. Coble shared the organization’s targeted demographic is simply anyone who faces barriers that want to push through them. Goodwill is constantly on the lookout for needs within its communities and how it can appropriately and impactfully engage with those needs.
“Every few years, we have community needs assessments to make sure that we have a good understanding of where the communities we serve are at,” Coble said. “We also have our ears to the ground and are involved in so many different things that if need arises that no one else is addressing, then we are going to look at how we can fill that gap or partner with somebody to fill that gap.”
Goodwill’s programs are run with the help of its vice president of workforce development, vice president of the excel centers, and vice president of community engagement. Coble said that Goodwill is not only fortunate to have many good people on its team, but also partners, community partners, and advisory boards. Whether part of the Goodwill staff or not, the people within these groups are passionate about helping others.
“It’s the love of the people we get to serve every single day. It really is about working with folks, many of whom walk through our doors hopeless. There’s not a whole lot worse than hopelessness,” Coble said. “We get to walk alongside them and watch that hopelessness turn to hope.”
“I had the privilege of attending our job readiness graduation a few weeks ago, and one of the ladies who was in there was in tears,” Coble continued. “This was the second certificate she ever received in her life. For her to get to that point where she actually completed something and was acknowledged for it and got to celebrate it was overwhelming for her. As we get to watch her find her success and be a part of it makes it easy to come to work every single day.”
Coble encouraged anyone who wants to learn more about Goodwill to come to one of its More Than a Store tours. While Goodwill used to focus primarily on advertising the stores rather than the services so that it could generate the revenue needed to support its services, Coble hopes to teach people that Goodwill is not a for-profit thrift store, but a community-minded nonprofit organization. Through even the smallest purchase at a Goodwill store, the public is not only getting a bargain but also contributing to a worthwhile mission.
“Remember that when you come in and shop or donate, you actually are engaging as a partner in our mission. It’s because of you, we get to do what we can do in helping people reach their dreams.”
To learn more about Goodwill Industries of Michiana or shop its store online, visit https://goodwill-ni.org/.
