Case Management Services
Rehabilitation Programs
Workforce Development Programs
Skills Training
Career Services
Community Outreach
Youth Services

Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries has been serving Boston area residents for more than a century. Over the years, while its mission has remained the same, the agency’s programs and services have evolved to meet the ever-changing needs of the day’s job market. In recent years, the number of individuals served has grown greatly.  In FY 2000, Goodwill served more than 1,100 men and women through its job training and long- and short-term skills programs.

Goodwill’s programs can be divided into four categories: Long term rehabilitation, short term rehabilitation, workforce development and career services for individuals and employers.  All programs are supported and strengthened by Case Management Services.

Case Management Services provides comprehensive family-centric services to predominately minority adult workforce development program participants. Participants are assigned a case manager who assesses barriers to success and actively intervenes to address issues including substance abuse, parenting, domestic violence, housing, transportation, youth after-school academics, and provision of work clothing… with the goal of securing and keeping meaningful work. Post graduation and placement services are central to participant success because the world of work, and the disruption of family life it causes, will result in failure if not directly addressed by Case Management Services.
 

REHABILITATION PROGRAMS
Rehabilitation programs are designed for individuals with disabilities.  Programs are available to a wide variety of individuals with varying needs and abilities.  All the rehabilitation programs described below, with the exception of Skills Training and some work settings in Work Adjustment Training, are offered at both the Boston and Salem locations.
For more information about Goodwill’s long-term and short-term rehabilitation programs, contact Cheryl Annese, Director of Employment and Career Services, at 978-825-5000.
 
 

Goodwill’s training and work programs are divided into three categories:
Long-term rehabilitation programs for people with disabilities
Short-term rehabilitation programs for people with disabilities
Workforce Development
 

Long-Term Rehabilitation Programs

Day Habilitation Program provides a wide variety of active treatments that are planned and designed to increase participants’ levels of functioning.  The program provides services in the following areas of development: self-help, sensorimotor, communication, social, independent living, affective, and behavior.  This program can lead participants to a possible transition into a work preparation or supported employment program.  Through a variety of group and individual activities, Day Habilitation helps participants reach their optimal level of physical, intellectual, social, and vocational capability.  Offered in both the Boston and Salem offices, this program receives funding from the Massachusetts Division of Medical Assistance.

Vietnamese Program works in collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Mental Retardation in providing Day Habilitation and vocational services to Vietnamese individuals with developmental disabilities.  A service plan is tailored to meet the needs of participants.  Through the program, Goodwill offers classes in English as a Second Language (ESL) for individuals and their families, conducts outreach into Boston's Vietnamese community, and seeks eventual job placement in cooperation with Vietnamese-owned businesses and other local businesses.

Employment Supports Program serves people with mental retardation and developmental disabilities and empowers them to become competitively employed and participating members of their communities.  To ensure success, the program focuses on the needs of the participant using a team approach in designing a plan that best suits the individual.  Through the Employment Supports Program, Goodwill provides a menu of services tailored to each participant’s needs.  Services include vocational and situational assessment, individual vocational counseling, skills training, computer training classes, as well as social interaction, pre-employment, job development, job placement, and post placement supports.  The Employment Supports Program receives funding from the Massachusetts Department of Mental Retardation.

Extended Employment Program is a time limited facility-based work experience for individuals who demonstrate barriers to competitive employment, but are able to maintain a production rate of at least twenty-five percent of the industrial norm and seventy-five percent attendance.  The program also offers work opportunities in group settings at public or private agencies or with employers who have contracted with Goodwill to provide group work sites or mobile crews.

NISH provides skill training in Building Services at federally owned facilities and buildings in the greater Boston area.  Through this federally sponsored program, participants gain on-the-job training in building maintenance skills at a competitive wage.
 

Short Term Rehabilitation Programs

Employment Services is a participant-driven model of service delivery designed to increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities through greater participant choice and flexibility of services.  There are a variety of components available to individuals participating in Community Based Employment Services (CBES): Assessment, including a comprehensive vocational profile; Placement, encompassing vocational exploration and career planning; Initial and Extended Employment Supports, which provide on-the-job supports and other services necessary for stabilization and long-term maintenance of employment.  All services are individualized and designed in response to a participant’s preferences, skills, and needs.  CBES receives funding from the Statewide Employment Services Department of the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission.

Vocational Services offers a broad range of innovative and comprehensive services that address rehabilitation, employment, and career development needs for individuals with disabilities.  Among the services offered are structured vocational evaluation, situational assessment, work adjustment training, pre-employment classes, skills training in the clerical, computer, retail, food services, building services and manufacturing fields as well as job development, placement, and follow-up supports.

Vocational Evaluation assists individuals in identifying appropriate job and training options based on their strengths and interests, along with factors that may be obstacles to job placement and maintenance.  Work Adjustment Training is a time-limited, transitional program that emphasizes development of vocational skills, increasing work tolerance, promoting positive work behaviors, and learning job seeking skills necessary to obtain and retain competitive employment.

Goodwill assists program participants in achieving these goals through a paid work experience that simulates competitive expectations.  Work adjustment and skills training programs include pre-employment classes offered to assist the individual in developing the necessary job seeking skills to compete for integrated, competitive employment.  Job Development/Job Placement Activities are provided to ensure positive employment outcomes.  Once a position has been secured, job coaching will provide support to the individual in achieving and maintaining the employer’s standards.  This program receives funding from the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission.

School-to-Work Program provides job exploration and hands-on experiences to high school students who wish to investigate vocational opportunities in their community.  Students work with Case Managers, Employment Training Specialists, and Job Developers to understand their career options and begin seeking employment.  This Goodwill program offers young men and women a comprehensive list of services including vocational counseling, pre-employment classes, computer training, skill assessment, and a work study component.  This program is available through a cooperative effort with the City of Salem, the Salem Public Schools, and the Lynn Public Schools.

For Eligibility Contact :Angie Neal 617-445-1010
 

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Workforce Development Programs are targeted to individuals with significant barriers to self-sufficiency.  Goodwill is an important provider of workforce development training programs.  Building on its job training expertise in working with individuals with disabilities, the agency offered its first workforce development program for community residents in the fall of 1996.  Since that time, the agency has added a number of new programs and is currently developing others. The target populations for these programs are low-income men and women with barriers to employment.  These barriers may include lack of basic skills, chronic unemployment, welfare dependency, and lack of English fluency.  The bulleted list below details Goodwill’s Workforce Development Programs.  For more information about the below workforce development programs, contact Serena Powell, Director of Workforce Development Programs at 617-541-1232.

Fleet Step Up is a comprehensive computer and office skills training and job placement program that offers career tracks in general office work and accounting.  The program provides a full continuum of vocational and career-related services including: vocational assessment; occupational, basic and life skills training; case management; an optional paid internship; job seekers club activities; job placement and intensive follow-up services to help ensure long-term job retention, continued education, and economic self-sufficiency. The program runs for four months (2 sessions of 8 weeks) and meets for 35 hours per week.  Fleet Step Up teaches office and computer skills that are currently in high demand in the greater Boston area.  The program successfully prepares participants for good jobs that pay a living wage, many of which offer benefits, and that offer career ladders.  The program receives funding from multiple sources including FleetBoston Financial and other private sources, as well as the Workforce Investment Act and the Department of Transitional Assistance.

First Step is a unique retail training and job placement program that provides intense support to an individual transitioning off public assistance. In a collaboration between Goodwill and the TJX Companies (TJ Maxx, Marshalls and A.J. Wright), First Step program participants receive three weeks of classroom training.  Then, First Step participants complete a one-to-five week paid internship with Goodwill or the TJX Companies. Finally, upon program completion, a First Step graduate can transition into a full-time job with one of more than 20 Goodwill and TJX retail stores in the greater Boston area.  The program offers job-readiness and job-search activities, retail skills training as well as intensive case management, job coaching, a peer support component, and ongoing support services to ensure job retention for up to one year post placement.  The First Step program receives funding from the federal Welfare to Work Program administered by the Boston Private Industry Council.

Bridges to Independence addresses the multiple barriers to employment faced by welfare recipients with disabilities.  Successful program models for people with disabilities are integrated with the WorkFirst emphasis on early employment and post-placement training and supports.  The program offers vocational evaluation, subsidized supported work with a job coach, workplace skills training, comprehensive case management, job placement and post-placement support.

Career Focus Program offers extensive post placement supports to ensure job retention.  Goodwill contacts program graduates regularly to discuss job-related issues, any potential barriers to success, and appropriate solutions to problems.  Through frequent contact, Goodwill is able to help graduates identify and address problems before they become major concerns.  Additionally, we encourage all graduates to attend evening meetings with their peers at Goodwill to share success stories, discuss difficulties or concerns and group problem solve, and participate in a series of Job Survival Seminars offered by Goodwill staff and other guest speakers.  All program participants know that they can contact Goodwill at any time for help in addressing any issue that affects their ability to maintain employment, or for assistance to advance their career or education.  These services receive funding though Community Development Block Grants.

Work Pathways prepares adult welfare recipients who lack a high school diploma and have limited work histories for economic self-sufficiency.  Work Pathways offers a job coupled with comprehensive adult education including English as a second language, adult basic education, a high school diploma program, occupational and life skills training, job placement, day care, Head Start, mentoring, comprehensive case management and continuous supports for one year after they obtain a job.  The program is conducted in collaboration with Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD), and receives funding through the competitive Welfare to Work grant program provided by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Career Transition Project.   Post placement services are offered to working individuals who have recently received benefits from the Transitional Assistance for Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC).  The approach of service is centered on an individualized, intensive, and flexible service coordination model.  A case manager is assigned to every participant.  At the onset of services, a thorough assessment and service plan is completed with a focus on the individualized needs of each consumer.  Regular and consistent contact occurs between the consumer and assigned case manager with a central focus on job retention and advancement.  Concerns regarding parenting, stress, relationships, and other personal issues are often addressed during the service period.  Innovative design features of this program include 24 hours/7 days a week crisis intervention services and evening workshops to address the varied interests of participants.  The program is a collaborative effort with Boston Career Link.  Relationships with potential participants often occur before they exit pre-employment services in an effort to provide a continuum of services that is seamless.  This program receives funding through federal Welfare-to-Work and ESP contracts.
 

For Eligibility Contact : Serena Powell 617-445-1010
 

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Program participants have an opportunity to enhance their skills training, gain real work experience, and earn a paycheck by working in one of the following Goodwill’s business enterprises listed below.

Retail Enterprises today continue a tradition that began with Reverend Helms at the turn of the twentieth century.   Through work at Goodwill’s processing plant and 10 retail stores, participants gain skills in both the back end and front end of a retail operation.  Some participants sort, inspect and tag the newly donated clothing and goods while others sell the items in the Goodwill Stores at very affordable prices.  The low-cost, quality merchandise is sold to all walks of life and generate revenue to support Goodwill’s many programs and services.  In addition, trainees learn marketable skills and gain valuable work experience while earning a paycheck (see First Step Program).

The Goodwill Auction is held the second Saturday of every month, featuring some of the many treasures found among the piles of donated goods in Goodwill’s processing plant.  The items are selected by specially trained Goodwill staff for their value, uniqueness and antiquity. Those typically found on the auction block include jewelry, fine china, glassware, musical instruments, antiques and collectibles.

Food Services provides a “soup to nuts” training experience for individuals interested in jobs in this industry.  Eight competency based training modules allow participants to learn at their own pace.  Each component, such as dishwashing, salad preparation, grill cooking, or deli preparation builds upon the others giving participants a solid background for employment in restaurants and cafeterias in the community.

Contract Services consists of closely supervised and structured work for people with disabilities in light assembly and manufacturing under contract to local industry.  This work is performed in our modern industrial plant in Salem.  Participants learn job skills and gain experience with real work at a competitive wage.

Building Services Training Program provides on-site and off-site training and transitional employment in building maintenance.  This program is designed to provide on-the-job training and instruction in basic techniques such as daily and periodic cleaning, floor and carpet care, meeting/banquet set-up, and grounds maintenance.  Individual and group instruction is provided to ensure that each participant acquires the skills needed to obtain competitive employment in the building services and maintenance field.  This includes a variety of competency based training modules which enable participants to learn the skills in cleaning, set-up and general maintenance which they will use in building services jobs for employers in the community.

For Eligibility Contact : Serena Powell 617-445-1010
 
 

These services are provided through Boston Career Link (BCL), one of Boston’s three one-stop career centers chartered through the Private Industry Council.  Career centers provide labor exchange services for job seekers and employers and are responsible for referral of individuals to most federally funded job training programs.  The mission of the Boston Career Link is to provide high quality services that meet employment and career management needs of job seekers and employers.

Boston Career Link, an open membership organization, was established in 1996.  Goodwill has fiscal, operating and managerial responsibilities for the BCL and is a collaboration with Dimock Community Health Center and the Women’s Educational and Industrial Union.  Effective September 1, BCL will be located at Goodwill’s Harrison Avenue facility in Boston.  This move will make BCL’s services more accessible to people living in the Empowerment Zone. For more information visit www.bostoncareerlink.com.
 
 

Goodwill has a long tradition of working with Boston area youth.  The agency offers programs and activities throughout the year for local children with limited opportunities, but great potential.

The Goodwill Fresh Air Camp is located on 500 acres of woodlands, fields, and ponds in South Athol, Massachusetts.  Founded in 1906, the Fresh Air Camp offers an overnight camp experience during the summer months for children from 8 -16 years of age.  In addition to participating in traditional camping activities such as boating, swimming, and arts and crafts, young people participate in workshops on conflict resolution, violence prevention, and peer leadership training.  Led by a multicultural staff of caring counselors, the Fresh Air Camp experience fosters personal growth and a sense of community. Goodwill offers a sliding fee scale.

Mellon Academy for Girls is both an after-school tutorial program as well as a Saturday enrichment program that is available to girls every Monday through Saturday during the academic year (September through May).   Mellon Academy serves girls from 10-17 years of age who are from Boston neighborhoods.  This program receives volunteer support from the Boston Coalition of Black Women and the Junior League of Boston.  Mellon Academy focuses on career and leadership development and provides some specific skills training in math, sciences, and the humanities.  Through these programs, girls also participate in community service activities, sports, and cultural enrichment activities.

For more information contact : Diana Donnelly 617-445-1010
 
 

Community outreach is performed throughout the year and touches several thousand people annually in the greater Boston community.  Each weekday, senior citizens enjoy a hearty meal and the companionship of their peers in the agency's Hot Lunch Program.  In November, Goodwill hosts Thanksgiving holiday events for participants in the training programs as well as community residents in need.  Goodwill also offers the use of its corporate headquarters to more than 50 community groups for meetings and functions.  In 2001, Goodwill launched the Orchard Gardens Initiative to serve the needs of Goodwill’s Roxbury neighbors.

Contact Audrey Poeppelmeier 617-541-1259 for more information.

Orchard Gardens Initiative is an innovative community outreach program that provides educational and social services to residents in the Boston Housing Authority’s Orchard Gardens Housing Development in Roxbury.  Goodwill collaborates with Dimock Community Health Center and Family Services of Greater Boston to deliver adult basic education classes, GED preparation courses, and economic literacy programming to men, women, and children within this community.  These agencies also provide Orchard Gardens residents with programs that promote health and wellness as well as youth enrichment.  The goal of the Orchard Gardens Initiative is to increase the economic self-sufficiency and stability of individuals and families within the entire Orchard Gardens community.

Contact Michael Aguiar 617-445-1010 for more information.
 

Clothing Collaborative For Job Trainees, launched in 1999, makes available “professional” clothing to male and female job seekers who participate in Boston-based job-training and placement programs -- at no cost to the participant -- to assist them in their efforts to obtain and retain meaningful employment.  The Collaborative creates an opportunity, through wardrobe seminars scheduled throughout the year, for job-training graduates to learn the basics of dressing appropriately for work.  The graduates are also able to choose career attire for their interview, and for the duration of their first year of employment through a Goodwill Store certificate program. (Attachment 1) Work appropriate clothing—displayed at clothing seminars—is supplied through 75+ workplace clothing drives, stimulated and arranged by Collaborative staff and Steering Committee members.  For more information.
 
 

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