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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.
Gifts
86¢ of every dollar Goodwill spends goes to the programs and services that help transform lives.
Leo Purcell: The Life-Changing Connection
Leo Purcell: The Life-Changing Connection
A wonderful example of the success of Goodwill’s social enterprise programs is Leo Purcell who is now a team leader in Goodwill’s Somerville store. "I don’t know what I would have done if it hadn’t been for Goodwill," he says. "You see, it all happened because, well, because I had some trouble with the law. Nobody would hire me. Nobody. I tried everywhere and everything, but I couldn’t get a job."
But then the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission referred Leo to Goodwill. "That’s when I got a break because Goodwill didn’t turn me away like the others. They gave me a chance," he says. After going through a job readiness training course, Leo gained on-the-job training working in Goodwill’s Distribution Center for a year and a half. "It was well worth it," he recalls. "A lot of people helped me, especially my case manager."
Leo’s second break came when Goodwill was able to place him in The Goodwill Store in Davis Square in Somerville. "It was pretty hard at first," remembers Leo. "I had to learn how to deal with customers, something that was new for me. But I worked really hard and Goodwill saw that. They saw that I had grown up and was serious about my job. In six months I was promoted to team leader!"
Today, Leo is happy and enthusiastic about his work. He says, "I’m not in trouble any more and I feel good about my life now. Goodwill gave me the chance I really needed. I’m so grateful that they helped me change my life!"
Did you know?
Headed to the movies anytime soon? If the film was shot in Massachusetts, there is a good chance some of the furniture from the movie will appear soon at a neighborhood Goodwill - a bit of Hollywood glam for a thrift store price.
Eric Chouinard: Finding a Museum-Quality Connection
Visitors to the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem see exhibitions and collections that include Native American artifacts, fashions of Iris Apfel, photographs by Valerie Belin, and paintings from India. What they don’t see is dust, fingerprints, or smears. That’s because the museum hired an enthusiastic high school student named Eric Chouinard as a member of their maintenance and janitorial team.
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