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Archived News
New Wheelchairs Still Available
As part of a grant from the Wal-Mart Foundation to sponsor wheelchairs nationwide, the Wheelchair Foundation distributed 100 new wheelchairs to non-profit organizations and the physically disabled last year. So far, Goodwill has successfully distributed many of these wheelchairs to persons with disabilities in the Central Florida area. There are still several child-sized wheelchairs available, so if you know of someone who needs a new wheelchair, please contact Goodwill's Vocational and Community Services Department, or call at (407) 235-1500. The Wheelchair Foundation is a non-profit, non-partisan, non-denominational 501(c)3 organization that delivers over 10,000 wheelchairs per month worldwide. For more information on the Foundation and its mission, contact The Wheelchair Foundation at www.wheelchairfoundation.org.
Hurry! Limited Wheelchairs Available
Goodwill Industries IS Green!
You've heard all the hype of everybody "going green” to save the environment, haven't you? Well, did you know that Goodwill Industries is Green? And we have been ever since we opened our doors in 1959. Goodwill is one of the world’s largest recyclers. Our recycling process is unique:
- Goodwill accepts donations of clothing, household items, and furniture, keeping these items from going to our landfills.
- The donated articles are then sold in Goodwill stores, giving new life to the donations and giving someone else the opportunity to get the most out of the recycled items. Additionally, we recycle approximately 18 million pounds of unusable donated items, and transfer these funds directly to programs and services for people who need them.
- Goodwill uses the money earned from the sale of the donations to pay for vocational programs and services for persons with disabilities and disadvantaging conditions in our own neighborhoods.
With a helping hand from Goodwill, special people are finding good jobs right here in Central Florida, becoming self-sufficient taxpayers who contribute to our community’s economy. Although the way we work is simple, it touches the lives of others who might not otherwise have the chance to change their lives.
So, think GREEN! Bring your unwanted items to Goodwill - it’s a great way to recycle and help your environment, and it changes lives, too!
Goodwill Prices Stable in Midst of Increasing Prices Elsewhere
As we struggle to cope with gas, grocery and department store prices that are escalating on a daily basis, here's a refreshing fact. Goodwill has not increased prices on its items in over four years. You can still get the same blouse at the same price, and the jacket that you paid $5.99 for in 2004 is still $5.99.
Goodwill Industries exists solely to serve individuals with disabilities and disadvantaging conditions in Central Florida. It is our commitment to offer good items at reasonable prices, and not burden our customers with paying the "extra costs of doing business.” Even though Goodwill's expenses have increased just like everyone else’s, we stand faithful to our customers.
So, come to Goodwill! Bring your donations, and shop in our stores. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at the high quality items we offer at reasonable prices, and best of all, you’ll help us help those who need it most.
Goodwill Receives 3-Year CARF Accreditation
Goodwill's CARF Accreditation Survey, which took place October 10-12, was a complete success. The staff worked diligently to prepare all the materials needed for the surveyors to review during the accreditation process. Goodwill Industries of Central Florida has been granted the highest award achievable, a full Three-Year Accreditation. The final report is very positive and contains many commendations about our services. Several programs were scrutinized during the intensive three-day process including Goodwill's Employee Development Services, Comprehensive Vocational Evaluation Services, Community Employment Services, Employment Services Coordination, and Employment Skills Training Services.
CARF is an independent, not-for-profit accrediting body whose mission is to promote the quality, value and optimal outcomes of services through a consultative accreditation process that centers on enhancing the lives of the persons served. Founded in 1966 as the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, and now known as CARF, the accrediting body establishes consumer-focused standards to help organizations measure and improve the quality of their programs and services.
In 2004, CARF announced that Goodwill Industries of Central Florida has been accredited for a period of three years for its programs and services. This latest accreditation is the eighth consecutive Three-Year Accreditation outcome that the international accrediting commission has awarded to Goodwill Industries of Central Florida.
Goodwill Opens New Program at Orange County Jail
Goodwill is pleased to announce their partnership with Orange County Corrections Department at the 33rd Street Jail. Our organization has opened a Job Connection Center at the facility to provide inmates who are soon to be released vocational services to prepare them for the world of work. Like Goodwill's Self-Sufficiency Job Centers, the GoodWorks Program includes an array of employment related services in a single location. These include an up-to-date computer lab where inmates can compose resumes, cover letters and complete on-line applications for employment. The lab also contains extensive career and labor market information, including career development videos in both English and Spanish. Space has been allocated to conduct and videotape mock interviews, so that participants can critique their performances and improve their interviewing skills.
A Goodwill Job Developer/Job Placement Specialist reviews each inmate's employment history and assist in further refinement of their vocational goals. Inmates with limited work experience may be referred to Goodwill's GOAL program for short-term transitional employment.
Goodwill to Recycle Computer Donations
Each year, tens of millions of outdated or non-working computers and other electronic products such as monitors, printers, scanners, and fax machines are discarded by individuals and corporations. Goodwills all over the country are proactively creating solutions for the mounting surplus of computers, monitors and other electronic items they receive - more than 200,000 computers alone are donated each year.
Goodwill Industries of Central Florida is embarking on a new program to de-manufacture non-working equipment into recyclable components, in an effort to combat rising landfill disposal costs. At the same time, Goodwill's job training and career services are being expanded through positions in this new venture, and new jobs are being created for people in the Central Florida area. Additionally, revenue will be generated through the resale of the computer equipment, which in turn will help to fund vocational programs for people with disabilities and disadvantaging conditions in our community.
For more information on Goodwill's E-Waste Program, contact Mark Martin at mmartin@goodwillcfl.org, or (407) 235-1572.
Watch Goodwill's E-Waste video below for more information.
Goodwill Celebrates Opening of Newest Self-Sufficiency Job Center in Rockledge
On October 28, Goodwill Industries of Central Florida held a grand opening for its newest Self-Sufficiency Job Center in Rockledge, Florida. Board members, community partners, and Goodwill staff came to celebrate Goodwill's success in Brevard County and the growth of our services and programs in this area.
The Rockledge Job Center provides many of the same services as Goodwill's other six Self-Sufficiency Job Centers, including postings of current job openings, faxing and copying capabilities, a bank of telephones to call employers, and a “Hello Line” message phone for participants without a personal phone. In addition, the new center will offer “Job Club," a three-day employability skills class each month. Those who complete the Job Club are ready to go to work: they receive a resume and a voucher to be used in a Goodwill store for an outfit suitable for job interviews. As an added benefit, the Center has a bi-lingual staff.
The cost for accessing these crucially needed services?? Free!! The Rockledge “mini” Self-Sufficiency Job Center is one more way that Goodwill turns your donations into programs that provide much needed employment assistance to the community.
B.E.S.T. Computer Skills Training Program Has Moved!
Recently, the B.E.S.T. Program, Goodwill's computer skills training program, moved from its location at 515 West Central Blvd., where it was formerly co-located with the Orlando Self-Sufficiency Job Center, to Goodwill's Main Facility at 7531 South Orange Blossom Trail. The program is now housed at this site in a new, much larger classroom.
The Orlando Self-Sufficiency Job Center is still available at its current location to answer any questions and accept applications for the B.E.S.T. Program. Their vocational services are available for job seekers Monday through Friday. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, but we look forward to serving our B.E.S.T. students in our new location!
Our new address is:
B.E.S.T. Program
Goodwill Industries of Central Florida
Vocational & Community Services
7531 South Orange Blossom Trail
Orlando, FL 32809
You can reach us at our new location at:
Phone number: 407-235-1500, ext. 409
Fax: 407-235-1520
GoodWorks Program Moves to Orange County Work Release Center
Since April 2008, Goodwill's GoodWorks program, housed inside Orange County's 33rd Street Jail, has provided vocational services for inmates in the jail. Since its inception, the program has provided Job Club and other services to almost 1,100 inmates. And, of the more than 200 who have continued with the program after they were released from jail, 40 have been placed into jobs in the Central Florida community.
The success of the GoodWorks program inside the jail came to the attention of the staff at the Orange County Work Release Center and the GoodWorks program was also asked to provide Job Club to the inmates housed there. Inmates housed at the Work Release Center are deemed to be responsible enough to work outside the facility, and are required to find and maintain jobs to continue to stay at the Center. To date, 173 inmates at the Work Release Center have completed the Job Club and twenty-one have obtained employment.
The GoodWorks program has recently re-located to the Orange County Work Release Center. At this new location, the program can better serve inmates who are closer to their release dates, providing them with employability skills, resume preparation, and interviewing skills. Additionally, they receive a good dose of self-confidence and the assistance with job placement they need to successfully complete their sentences, and make a successful transition back into the community. Goodwill is excited about the move and feels it will be beneficial to both our GoodWorks Program and the Orange County inmates we have been serving!
Goodwill's 2009 Truck Promotion Best Ever!
Each year during the Christmas season, Goodwill cashiers have an opportunity to earn prizes for selling paper trucks for $1.00 each, and the proceeds are used to help fund Goodwill's vocational programs and services. Cashiers from all six counties compete with each other to see who can sell the most, and earn the best prizes. This year, over 10,350 trucks were sold at $1.00 each, making it the most successful truck promotion since the first promotion, nine years ago.
Special congratulations to Ms. Peggy Bruhn, customer at the Port Orange store, who won the drawing for the $100 Goodwill Bonus Bucks!
Thanks to all who contibuted to the success of the 2009 Truck Promotion!
Goodwill Stores Open President's Day
February 15 is President's Day. Although the administrative offices of Goodwill Industries will be closed, Goodwill stores will be open regular hours.
Come in and find some President's Day Bargains!
Goodwill's 2009 Annual Report Now Available
Be on the lookout for Goodwill's 2009 Annual Report, which was recently released. The theme of this year's publication is "One at a time. . . We can make a difference.”
Goodwill Provides Medical Equipment to Earthquake Victims
We are all aware of the devastating earthquake which took place in Haiti earlier in February. The latest news tells us that the earthquake took the lives of over 200,000 people. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of people were injured, most of them severely.
Shortly after the earthquake, Goodwill Industries of Central Florida received a telephone call from a group of physicians from Brevard County who planned to travel to Haiti, providing medical supplies and assistance to the people there. They asked if Goodwill would be willing to donate medical equipment for the many survivors there.
Goodwill immediately went into action, collecting over $10,000 worth of crutches, wheelchairs, walkers, and other medical equipment from each of our stores. The supplies were gathered both at the main facility and at the Rockledge store, and will be subsequently picked up by the physicians' group to be flown to the make-shift medical facility in Port au Prince. Here, volunteer physicians are treating the injured with critical medical procedures, and it is reported that the vast number of life-saving surgeries consist of hand, arm, and leg amputations. Shockingly, most of these are done with little or no medication or anesthesia because there is none available, but the procedures are necessary to save lives. The medical equipment Goodwill donated is very much needed by these patients, and we are privileged to have been able to provide these items to the Haitian community.
We continue to pray for the victims of the earthquake disaster as they struggle to recover from this tragedy.
Introducing GoodGuides - Goodwill's Youth Mentoring Program
Goodwill Industries of Central Florida has joined the many Goodwills throughout the nation who are participating in GoodGuides, a youth mentoring program instituted by Goodwill Industries International.
GoodGuides connects students with caring, qualified mentors to encourage healthy behaviors, promote successful outcomes, and build stronger communities. Mentors meet with their mentee on a weekly basis to assist with homework, talk, listen and encourage the individual, play games, or other activities. The purpose of the program is to provide support and friendship to a young person to develop the confidence necessary in school through a tutoring or mentoring relationship. It also provides mentors the opportunity to make a difference in the life of an individual.
For more information on Goodwill's GoodGuides program, contact Ruben Malave at (407)235-1500.
Goodwill Hosts Orlando Community Forum on Re-Investing in Youth Success
Goodwill's media room at the main facility was at its full capacity on the evening of January 28, with almost 150 community leaders, including Deputy Secretary Rod Love from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, Assistant Secretaries Greg Johnson, Darryl Olson, Julia Strange, and Rex Uberman, from the Department of Juvenile Justice. These individuals gathered at a forum to review the future of Orange County's juvenile justice program. Sheriff Jerry Demings gave the opening message, recognizing local youth service providers and community leaders. Some of the topics of the meeting included:
- Trauma Informed Care
- Disproportionate Minority Contact
- Chaplaincy Services
- Zero Tolerance Initiative
- Juvenile and Alternative Initiative
Ms. Marilyn Gordon, Goodwill’s Director of Vocational and Community Services, spoke of Goodwill’s newest youth initiative, which is a youth mentoring program called GoodGuides. This program is part of a national youth mentoring project, spearheaded by Goodwill Industries International, which connects students with caring, qualified mentors to encourage healthy behaviors, promote successful outcomes and build stronger communities.
Presentations at the forum also included a view of the Department of Juvenile Justice youth programs including:
- Prevention and Victim Services
- Residential Services
- Detention Services
Special emphasis was given to Goodwill’s Project COMPASS, a partnership between Goodwill and Orange County Public Schools, which helps to point youth offenders in the right direction through classroom instruction, job clubs, work experience and community involvement. Students attend school at Goodwill, with their goals to include successful employment, readjustment back to their old school, and/or graduation from the program with receipt of a high school diploma. This program began over thirteen years ago, with the assistance of the late Judge Bob Wattles, and has since served over 940 students. Goodwill provides classroom space for about thirty students, as well as a program manager and assistant, who assist the OCPS teachers with the students and help to provide counseling and career services for them.
Goodwill to Host 2010 LIVE Clarkenomics WDBO Radio Airing at Goodwill
Everyone is affected by the issues facing our country today. Where do we go from here? How do we recover? There's no better time than NOW to talk money!
For ten years, renowned radio and TV host Clark Howard has been helping people buy smart, save right and keep from getting ripped off. On May 6, 2010, Goodwill Industries of Central Florida will have the opportunity to offer Central Floridians information that matters during a special, live presentation of Clarkenomics, to be hosted at Goodwill's main facility at 7531 S. Orange Blossom Trail. The live show will take place from 1:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M., and the public is invited to join the audience during the event. Afterwards, a Town Hall meeting will be held from 6:00 to 9:00 P.M. 
We are excited about this upcoming event in which Clark Howard will field questions, offer his perspective and help people learn how to be financially fit in the current economic landscape.
For more information on the program and how to obtain tickets, visit WDBO's website.
Goodwill Industries Hosts Clark Howard Radio Show
For ten years, renowned radio and TV host Clark Howard has been helping people buy smart, save right, and keep from getting ripped off. On May 6, Goodwill Industries of Central Florida had the opportunity to offer Central Floridians information that matters during a special, live presentation of Clarkenomics, sponsored by local radio station WDBO News-Talk Radio, and hosted at Goodwill's main facility at 7531 S. Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando. The public was invited to join the audience during the afternoon event, and that evening, a public Town Hall meeting was held in Goodwill's media center. Attendees earned tickets to the shows by making a donation to Goodwill Industries.
Hundreds of Central Floridians attended the two events, and comments from the audience included, "Clark Howard is the guru of financial independence . . .” and “I'm so glad I attended this event. Goodwill provided a comfortable state-of-the-art center in which so many people learned the tricks of managing their money . . .”
Goodwill is indeed privileged to have had the opportunity to host this event.
For more information, contact Ms. Judith Pariseau, Vice President Marketing and Development, at (407) 235-1563 or email to jpariseau@goodwillcfl.org
Happy 4th of July!
Goodwill wishes you and your family a very happy and safe Independence Day. Goodwill's stores will be open their regular Sunday hours, from 10:00 A.M. until 6:00 P.M, so be sure to stop by for special 4th of July savings!
Goodwill's administrative offices will be closed on Monday, July 5th, in observance of the holiday.
Come to the Community Resource EXPO for People with Disabilities
Goodwill and partners from the disability communities are hosting a FREE event, open to persons with disabilities and their families. On July 14, 2010 at the Goodwill's main headquarters located at 7531 S. Orange Blossom Trail, from 9am-1pm, community resource representatives will provide valuable information, to individuals with disabilities.
Through funding from the Real Economic Impact Tour and the Darden Foundation, community partners are able to increase their outreach and services to individuals with disabilities. The event provides community organizations an opportunity to share information on available government benefits, employment, housing, transportation and asset building. Mr. Preston Cook, Manager of the Orange County Office of Emergency Management will present a keynote address to the participants.
Throughout the event workshop presentations will feature: What Does a Bank Have to Offer?, Are You Disaster Ready?, How to Jumpstart Your Career?, and Do You Know Your Community Resource Phone Numbers: 211,311, 411,911?
The Community Resources Expo offers an opportunity for dialogue about effective strategies for achieving economic security and independence for hundreds of Central Floridians with disabilities.
For additional information on this event, please contact: Goodwill Industries of Central Florida, (407)-235-1500.
