SARASOTA/BRADENTON, FL – In a continuing effort to increase employability skills and place more people – particularly those who are unemployed or underemployed – in jobs, Goodwill has actively partnered with hundreds of organizations. Through these cooperative efforts, Goodwill is able to provide job skills training, job placement, and other community-based services such as career counseling, financial education, résumé preparation, and mentoring to veterans, individuals with disabilities, and others with barriers to employment.
Goodwill believes that offering skills training and the opportunity for part-time jobs can build confidence, provide a safe and supervised environment, and offer financial stability for at-risk youth. Partners include School House Link, a program of the Sarasota County YMCA that works with homeless and unaccompanied youth, and Replay Outreach, an organization helping at-risk youth in Manatee County.
Preparing community members to fill high-demand, higher-paying jobs provides mutual benefits for workers and the community. Goodwill has partnered with CAREmasters and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County to help residents to become Certified Nursing Assistants and be placed into jobs.
Last fall, Google.org and Goodwill Industries International announced the launch of the Goodwill Digital Career Accelerator. Funded by a $10 million grant from Google.org and with the assistance of 1,000 Google volunteers, the new Goodwill initiative will enable more than one million people — including people with disabilities and disadvantages, youth, older workers, veterans and military families, and people who are transitioning back into society — to receive digital skills training over the next three years. This training will commence in our area in May.
Helping individuals with disabilities and significant barriers to employment to find and retain jobs is core to Goodwill’s mission. Since 2005, Goodwill Manasota’s Supported JobsPlus program has made it possible for Goodwill to meet the needs of all job seekers, including programs for youth, seniors, veterans, and people with physical, developmental, and psychiatric disabilities, criminal backgrounds, and other specialized needs. Partner agencies, including the Division of Blind Services, Easter Seals, North Port High School, the Manatee County School District, Red Lion Jobs, Inc., United Choice, Loveland Center, United Cerebral Palsy, Manatee Glens, CareerSource Florida, and Placement Solutions, help to recruit and refer clients to Goodwill.
Goodwill’s Veterans Services Program is charged with helping veterans to adjust to life after service. Goodwill works with organizations including Turning Points, Jewish Family & Children’s Service, the Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness, and Veterans Affairs not only to connect at-risk veterans with crucial social services but also to get them on the path to employment and financial stability.
In order to prepare veterans to find jobs, Goodwill and Hire Heroes USA have partnered for the Veteran Employment Workshop, a program that includes career coaching, strategic planning, an expert panel Q&A session, and the opportunity to practice interviewing skills in front of mock interviewers.
Women who have experienced hardship and abuse face significant challenges in finding their way back to stability and security. Goodwill has partnered with Selah Freedom, an organization that provides safe housing a treatment to women who were victims of human trafficking, and has just begun working with Learn to Fish, which works to help women and children who have been marginalized and traumatized. Clients who are seeking employment are enrolled in Goodwill’s Job Connection program and placed in jobs in our community, benefiting from the employment, the paycheck, and the access to job skills training.
“At Goodwill, we strive every day to offer career navigation and skills attainment in order to provide long-term economic stability for individuals, their families and the greater community,” said Bob Rosinsky, president and CEO of Goodwill Manasota. “Goodwill believes that, together with our partners, we can create a more employable community. Everyone should have the chance to feel the pride of a paycheck and the confidence the investment in people can provide.”
For more about Goodwill, go to experiencegoodwill.org or call (941) 355-2721.
About Goodwill Manasota
Goodwill Manasota is an industry-leading, 501(c)(3), not-for-profit organization that changes lives through the power of work. With the sales of donated goods and philanthropic donations, Goodwill is able to assist people with disabilities and other barriers to employment by providing job skills training and employment opportunities. In 2017, Goodwill Manasota served 11,672 people, placed 555 people in jobs, assisted 360 veterans as they reintegrated back into the civilian workforce, and provided 19,540 hours of on-the-clock training for its employees. Goodwill Manasota’s economic impact back to the community is worth $92.1 million. Goodwill is one of the pioneers of the reduce-reuse-recycle movement and this past year diverted more than 41 million pounds out of the landfill. Goodwill Manasota is accountable to a local Board of Directors. Goodwill Manasota, in essence, belongs to this community and is not owned by any individual or company. For more information, visit www.experiencegoodwill.org.