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Our training programs help people get jobs.
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Our stores provide good things at good prices.
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Our youth programs make the future brighter.
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Just as there are things you recycle, there are things you donate.
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Goodwill, not landfill.
Programs
Goodwill provides job training, related career services, and youth enrichment programs.
Rugenia Zimmerman: The Career-Course Correction
Rugenia Zimmerman: The Career-Course Connection
For Rugenia Zimmerman, the recession was a wake-up call. She had been working in the healthcare field for 25 years and knew that caring for people was her passion. But she also knew that losing her job as a patient observer at a local hospital was a very real possibility due to cutbacks and layoffs. Wisely, Rugenia sensed it was time to look into job training options that would help her transition to a better job with more security. She found out about Goodwill’s Human Services Employment Ladder Program (HELP) and enrolled. For Rugenia, this eight-week class that prepares individuals to work in the human services industry was just the ticket she needed to advance in a line of work she already loved.
"I was so fortunate to find the Goodwill program," Rugenia says. "Even though I had worked in hospitals and nursing homes for years, I had no formal patient-care training. The Goodwill instructors were wonderful. They helped me upgrade my knowledge and skills by giving me lots of information on patient behavior.
"They also helped me understand the pressures I’d have to deal with when working with people with disabilities," she adds. "Goodwill really paved the way for me to advance in the field I love." Within a month of her graduation, Rugenia landed a job as a residential counselor with Bay Cove Human Services, one of the program’s employer partners.
Rugenia’s new job has been perfect for her because Bay Cove is also helping her go back to school. "I’m blessed because Bay Cove’s commitment to continuing education is exactly what I want. We are definitely on the same page. I’m so happy that everything is turning out so well. My career is moving forward and I’m proud that in addition to healing bodies, soon I’ll be healing minds and spirits as well."
Like so many other graduates of Goodwill’s job training programs, Rugenia deeply appreciates the expertise and the compassion of the people at Goodwill – and the generosity of those who support Goodwill.
Did you know?
Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries collaborates with more than 1,000 employers to promote and facilitate the hiring of individuals facing barriers to employment. These collaborations bring trained, dedicated employees to the workforce, and help people achieve independence and dignity.
Cleo Lewis: Connections Make the Future Bright
Sometimes the connection to Goodwill is so strong, Goodwill becomes like family. That is how it has been for Cleo Lewis, a bright sophomore at Charlestown High School, who has been enrolled in Goodwill’s after-school program, BNY Mellon Academy for Girls, since she was in grade school.
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