Fall into Goodwill

Our mission is to help individuals with barriers to self-sufficiency to achieve independence and dignity through work. 

Not charity, but a chance.

Our Mission & History

Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries was established in 1895 in the South End of Boston by Rev. Edgar J. Helms, who had come to Boston University to train for the ministry. Recognizing the need for jobs to help immigrants and other individuals lift themselves out of poverty, he created an early social enterprise in which they collected unwanted household goods, refurbished them, and sold them to the community at affordable prices. The model successfully transformed lives, and today, Goodwill is a leading workforce development provider. The organization continues to operate robust social enterprises and provide comprehensive services to advance its mission to help individuals with barriers to self-sufficiency to achieve independence and dignity through work. Not charity, but a chance.

Goodwill’s mission services focus on helping people secure employment, which is critical for economic self-sufficiency and mobility. Program participants are typically individuals with significant barriers including developmental and physical disabilities, reliance on government benefits, histories of domestic violence and incarceration, limited English, and more. Almost all participants are very low income and the majority are from communities of color. Goodwill offers programs at its Roxbury headquarters and at job training centers in Salem and Springfield.