Goodwill’s job training, career services, and programs help people achieve independence.
“I like that Goodwill helped me because they are an amazing team. My ultimate goal is to work permanently and for a long time.”
John LaBombard is proud that he was a Six Flags team member for two summers, and that he was promoted at the amusement park in recognition of his outstanding performance.
John is a participant at Goodwill’s Springfield Employment Supports Program, which prepares individuals with disabilities for the world of work. He participates in paid on-the-job training in the retail distribution center and is searching for jobs in the community with the assistance of the Goodwill staff.
Now that John has the valuable Six Flags summer work experience under his belt, he has set his sights on a bigger goal – competitive, year-round employment.
“I like that Goodwill helped me because they are an amazing team,” John said. “My ultimate goal is to work permanently and for a long time.”
“My life is just beginning. If it weren’t for MassHire I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
When Linda Burston lost her job of almost 20 years, she was devastated. The Dorchester resident was all but certain she would not be able to find work because she was nearing 70. “I was depressed. Overwhelmed. I had anxiety,” she said. “How was I going to pay my bills?”
Linda came to MassHire Boston Career Center, the one-stop career center Goodwill operates. She met with a career advisor and they worked together to find a training program that would allow Linda to develop computer skills, including Word and Excel, in order to be prepared for administrative jobs in today’s workforce.
At one point during the training, Linda went into a “deep depression” and was ready to quit, but the MassHire staff encouraged her to keep going. “They believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself.”
Linda completed her training and secured a position at Pine Street Inn as a Behavioral Health Support Coordinator. Now 70, Linda loves helping others and helping them get the services they need.
“My life is just beginning,” said Linda. “If it weren’t for MassHire I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
“I can do my job because I know where I need to go for resources to help people in the community. The HELP program helped me achieve my goals.”
Natalia Dotel came to the United States from the Dominican Republic for a better life for herself and her two children.
The Dorchester resident enrolled in Goodwill’s Human Services Employment Ladder Program (HELP) in part because she had seen how others had helped with her autistic son. She wanted to be in a field where she was giving back.
In addition to learning about the skills needed to work in human services, Natalia updated her resume, improved her job interview skills, and learned job search techniques in the HELP program.
Now, working as the Small Business Development Coordinator for Uphams Corner and Egleston Square Main Streets, Natalia approaches her job with the skills she learned at Goodwill.
“I can do my job because I know where I need to go for resources to help people in the community,” Natalia said. “The HELP program helped me achieve my goals.”
“I like trying to make the customers happy. That’s the best part of my job.”
Jacy Galindrez has dreams and Goodwill is working with him to achieve them.
Jacy enrolled in Goodwill’s Employment Supports Program in Springfield where he lives. The program prepares people supported by the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services for work.
Through the program, Jacy participated in on-the-job training in several positions in Goodwill’s retail enterprise in order to learn about the world of work and develop basic work-readiness skills. Then, with the help of his case manager, Jacy started applying for jobs in the community.
Jacy was excited when he landed a position working at the Big Y grocery store in West Springfield. He started as a porter, but after seven months he had already been promoted to Service Clerk. And he loves it.
“I like trying to make the customers happy,” Jacy said. “That’s the best part of my job.”
His recent success and renewed sense of confidence has Jacy thinking about the future. “I’m thinking about going back to school,” he said.
“When I came to Goodwill I was hopeful. I had an open mind and you opened the
door for me.”
Kevin Bynoe is hopeful and looking forward to the future. He has a growing family and a good job as a cement truck driver for InTerra Innovation. It wasn’t always this way.
In and out of trouble with law enforcement since he was 15, Kevin had been incarcerated for 12 years when he came to Goodwill. He had limited job skills.
Working with the staff at Goodwill’s career center, Kevin secured a spot in a training program for a commercial driver’s license. It took him several tries to pass the exam, but he persisted and got a job at InTerra where he earns a family sustaining income. He recently became a father.
“When I came to Goodwill I was hopeful. I had an open mind and you opened the door for me,” Kevin said. “If I can turn my situation around, anybody can do it. I honestly feel like there’s nothing I can’t do.”
Standing outside the Salem Five headquarters in downtown Salem, Jared Simpson picks up his broom and begins to sweep. Once Jared has started working, he quickly gets in a groove and doesn’t like to stop until his task is done.
Standing outside the Salem Five headquarters in downtown Salem, Jared Simpson picks up his broom and begins to sweep. Once Jared has started working, he quickly gets in a groove and doesn’t like to stop until his task is done.
Jared is part of three-person mobile work crew that provides grounds and facilities maintenance at the local bank. The crew is part the Goodwill Employment Supports Program in Salem that prepares people with developmental disabilities for work. The program provides training and case management to help participants improve social skills, learn on-the-job, work in structured environment, and earn a paycheck.
For Jared, the work is special because he likes being productive and values the sense of accomplishment when he gets things done. Jared said he also enjoys being able to work outside much of the time.
A Salem resident, Jared has been with Goodwill for more than 15 years during which time he has been able to work on mobile crews at multiple sites. For Jared, working in downtown Salem has its perks, especially in the fall. “The costumes at Halloween were fun to see,” he said.
“Not being able to work was hard, but Goodwill was there for me. They helped me find daycare, helped me with my job search, and offered so much encouragement along the way. I’m very thankful.”
Taja Boone was working for a small nonprofit in Dorchester at the time the pandemic struck in 2020. She was devastated when she lost her job and found herself facing new challenges that she had not anticipated only months before.
A mother raising a then two-year-old daughter on her own, Taja needed to find work as soon as possible to support herself. Taja came to the Goodwill First Step job readiness program and started working with a job specialist to find a job.
As part of First Step, Taja developed a career plan with her job specialist. She also learned how to search and apply for jobs online, how to improve her resume, and how to conduct better job interviews via zoom by practicing mock interviews with Goodwill volunteers. Goodwill loaned Taja a laptop that had been refurbished through Goodwill’s computer recycling program to allow her to participate in the classes and search for a job online.
Taja needed to work full time and finding childcare for her daughter was a major stumbling block. Goodwill helped Taja navigate the complex process involved in securing a childcare voucher from the Department of Transitional Assistance.
In the fall of 2021, Taja’s efforts and hard work paid off and she was hired for a position as a Risk Analyst with the Massachusetts Worker’s Compensation Bureau.
“Not being able to work was hard,” Taja said. “But Goodwill was there for me. They helped me find daycare, helped me with my job search, and offered so much encouragement along the way. I’m very thankful.”
“The staff at MassHire was very knowledgeable and helped me figure things out.”
When Sebyera Bundu came to MassHire Boston Career Center, the one-stop career center Goodwill operates, she was at the end of her rope.
She was living in a shelter with her young son and feeling anxious about the future. She had been enrolled in a nursing program that had recently lost accreditation and she was unemployed. Sebyera knew she needed to get back on track.
At MassHire, Sebyera attended several workshops and met with a career advisor who helped her review her options. She decided to enroll in a medical assistant training program. MassHire referred her to Boston Career Institute and helped her navigate the process to secure housing.
Sebyera completed her training program without interruption. However, her internship at Tufts Children’s Hospital was put on hold for several months because of the pandemic. “It was frustrating,” she said. Throughout the process, MassHire staff supported Sebyera.
The internship resumed in the summer and when she completed it, Sebyera was hired full-time as a medical assistant and coordinator at the hospital. “It has been great,” Sebyera said of her new job. “I love working with children. I’m thankful that everything eventually worked out the way it did.”
Sebyera said MassHire was there to help when she needed it most. “The staff at MassHire was very knowledgeable and helped me figure things out.”
“This is the next challenge for me and I want to make the best of it.”
When you meet Rich, you understand the importance of second chances. Rich’s belief in the ability to turn one’s life around is infectious. And he doesn’t just talk the talk – he puts his words into action and follows through.
Rich was at the Boston Pre-Release Center in Roslindale. Prior to the Boston Pre-Release Center, Rich was incarcerated at MCI-Shirley in minimum security. Rich has dealt with substance abuse issues for much of his life, but said he participated in recovery programs at Shirley and is now “100 percent clean.”
The East Boston native got his position at the BJ’s Bakery through MassHire Boston Career Center as part of a new program with the Massachusetts Department of Correction. The program helps individuals returning from incarceration learn how to search for a job and find employment opportunities by accessing the career center and its services.
“I’ve loved coming to MassHire Boston Career Center,” Rich said, “and I’m always telling the younger guys about it. They need to take advantage of it. I got my job here and I’m still looking at other opportunities.”
“When they learned I was a veteran, they connected me with the veterans rep. We started working together right away. It was great to be able to make that connection.”
With the help of MassHire Boston Career Center, Denzel Douglas of Dorchester found a new beginning.
Denzel, a Navy veteran, came to MassHire in the spring of 2019 after being unemployed for nearly a year. Up until then, his job search had been frustrating. He did not have high hopes when he walked into MassHire.
But things changed – and for the better.
“When they learned I was a veteran,” Denzel said, “they connected me with the veterans rep. We started working together right away. It was great to be able to make that connection.”
In the Navy, where he had served from 2011-15, Denzel had worked as a medic. Now, out of the military, he wanted to do something where he was still helping others.
Working closely with MassHire’s veterans representative, Denzel began refining his resume, honing his interview skills, and applying for targeted jobs. By July 2019, he was hired as an Information and Referral Specialist at Brighton Marine, a veteran network community.
“This is a great job for me,” Denzel said. “It’s in the field I wanted and I’m helping veterans get the services they need. I’m very happy the way things turned out.”
“I like working at the store and helping customers. I also like to work with my new co-workers and teach them things.”
When Josephine Ramos came to Goodwill through the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services in 2012, she was a shy 22-year-old aging out of the Springfield public school system who had trouble focusing and communicating with others.
Fast-forward to the present and Josephine is an outgoing person who loves to work and help others. A key driver of that transformation has been Josephine’s participation in Goodwill’s Employment Supports Program in Springfield.
At Goodwill, Josephine learned job and social skills and now works at The Goodwill Store in Chicopee on a part-time basis as an assistant sales associate. The work has helped her open up and engage with others.
“I like working at the store and helping customers,” said Josephine. “I also like to work with my new co-workers and teach them things.”
Her work and training at Goodwill has helped her focus on her future and hopes to work in food services someday.
“The HELP program has helped me in so many ways.”
As a Family Partner at Riverside Community Care in Dedham, Takeerah Baker is helping families in crisis. She is able to do that because of her enrollment in a Goodwill training program, as well as her own lived experience.
When Takeerah came to Goodwill, she had not worked for 12 years because she was taking care of her oldest daughter who was born with a disability and other health issues.
When her daughter became more independent, Takeerah, a mother of two, wanted to help families facing similar challenges. Goodwill’s Human Services Employment Ladder Program (HELP) helped her meet that goal. After completing the program, which prepares people to work in human services, Takeerah secured the job at Riverside.
“The HELP program has helped me in so many ways,” said Takeerah. “The biggest way was that it prepared me. I can help people who may be feeling down and stuck and that have the same challenges I did. So, I’m just really proud of myself.”
“I like this job a lot. I get to move around and I’m always busy. It’s fun.”
To watch Paul Yahoodik work, is to watch someone who knows exactly what he is doing – no wasted motion, no extra steps, just precise movement to get the job done.
Paul was referred to Goodwill’s Salem Training Center in 2015 by the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services. At 22, he had aged out of the public school system in Lynnfield without a connection to a job. He was eager to work.
After receiving job readiness training, Paul began working at one of Goodwill’s mobile work crews at American Surgical Company in Salem. He liked the job, but wanted to be closer to home. Working with his Goodwill case manager, he started a job search and applied for a position at Amazon Prime as a personal shopper at the Whole Foods in Lynnfield. He got it and it was just what he was looking for in a job.
At Whole Foods, Paul uses a hand-held device to see what he needs to get to fulfill an order. He has been at the job since June 2018 and knows his way around the bustling grocery store like the back of his hand.
“I like this job a lot,” said Paul. “I get to move around and I’m always busy. It’s fun.”
Paul’s supervisors have praised his hard work and he enjoys the independence he achieves from working and saving money.
“I really like working at CVS.”
Ivan Nuñez has been an associate at CVS in Salem for 14 years where his attention to detail has made him a valued employee.
With the help of training from Goodwill, Ivan learned the skills to be successful. Linette Mundy, his store manager said: “He’s very enthusiastic. When he comes in, he just goes right to work. I really do wish I had a lot of Ivans.”
Ivan started in Goodwill’s Salem School to Work program for students with special needs and progressed to the Employment Supports Program which helped him find the job at CVS. Goodwill now provides ongoing case management assistance.
“I really like working at CVS,” Ivan said.