Community Justice Center

L-Magazine 

STORY AND PHOTOS BY JODI FUSON

MAY 24, 2013 10:27 AM

Goodwill® Hosts Live Radio Remote

Goodwill Industries Serving Southeast Nebraska, Inc. is hosting a live radio remote with Chi from 106.3 KFRX on Sunday, May 19, 2013 from two to four in the afternoon at the Vine Street Location, 4555 Vine Street, Lincoln, Neb., 68503.

This is an opportunity for the community to meet and learn more about the partner agencies Goodwill works with. Donations to Goodwill help fund employment programs for individuals who face barriers to employment and includes Goodwill’s Job Connection computer lab located in Work Force Development’s One Stop Career Center. Donations to Goodwill also help fund other organizations’ employment programs, including Heartland Big Brothers Big Sisters, Lincoln Literacy, Community Justice Center, The Arc of Lincoln, and YWCA Job Outfitters. Representatives from all of Goodwill’s partner agencies will be in attendance and will have segments on the radio with Chi.

"We are thrilled to share this event with the public," said Amanda Herndon, Communications Coordinator for Goodwill. "Not only is it a time to bring out the family for a fun afternoon, but it’s a great time to hear from our program leaders about the awesome work they do because of funding from Goodwill."

The event will also include free popcorn, face painting for kids, and a drawing for two $50 and one $100 Visa gift cards. Clothing and houseware items with blue tags will be 50% off at all Lincoln and York Goodwill locations!

Thrifting Across America

Jim Gibbons

President and CEO, Goodwill Industries International

April 19, 2013

Beyoncé is Lending Her Voice for GOOD
Beyoncé partners with Goodwill® to Transform Lives

Goodwill Industries International is pleased to announce that Beyoncé Knowles-Carter will lend her voice to help raise awareness about Goodwill’s mission of transforming lives through the power of work. The announcement comes just as Beyoncé gets ready to kick off The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour today in Serbia.

"Goodwill helps people get back to work by providing education, job training and placement. I wanted to team up with an organization that puts people first and works every day to help them improve and re-establish their lives," said Beyoncé.
 

Beyoncé will encourage fans to support Goodwill by promoting donation drives at her North American concerts beginning on Friday, June 28, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Goodwill will host a mobile donation center onsite at 28 tour venues in 24 North American cities, collecting clothing, electronics and small household goods. The revenue from the sale of these donations will directly benefit local Goodwill agencies in their work to help people with disabilities and disadvantages, and anyone facing challenges to finding employment.

Beyoncé will also help build awareness of Goodwill’s mission through in-concert education, social media and online ticket auctions. Global charity auction site Charitybuzz.com will auction special ticket packages for The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour, with the revenue benefitting Goodwill.

Every 38 seconds of every business day, a person served by Goodwill is placed in employment. Goodwill promotes independence and dignity for people who need support to provide for themselves and their families. When people donate to their local Goodwill, they play a vital role in fulfilling this mission. Financial donations and the revenue generated from the sale of used goods helps to sustain skills training, career placement services and job opportunities, and support services such as career counseling, access to free tax preparation and financial coaching. Members of the public can do their part to support Beyoncé’s efforts by giving goods, giving financially, or giving their voice to increase awareness of Goodwill’s mission of transforming lives through the power of work.

Beyoncé will also support and advocate on behalf of other local charitable agencies involved in job creation and employment services during the overseas portion of her tour, to bring to light the importance of economic independence and an increased quality of life for those in need around the globe.

“We face a jobs crisis in the U.S. and around the world that threatens the future and the potential of our families and communities. Through Beyoncé’s platform, we will be able to increase knowledge of the positive impact Goodwill has on communities, the environment and the lives of the millions of people we serve each year through education and skills training, many of whom have been unemployed or underemployed for long periods of time,” said Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International. “We cannot begin to express our sincere gratitude to Beyoncé for her generous support of Goodwill and for showcasing Goodwill’s far-reaching programs and services that change lives each day.”

To learn more about the partnership, visit http://goodwill.org/give

Goodwill Industries to Host Donation Drives in Surrounding Communities Just in Time for Spring

Just in time for spring cleaning, Goodwill Industries Serving Southeast Nebraska, Inc. will be hosting donation drives in surrounding communities. Bring your gently used clothes, house wares, electronics, and furniture to the Goodwill truck and receive a tax receipt for your donations.  All of the drives will take place in the corresponding cities’ Wal-Mart parking lot from 9 am to 4 pm. Beatrice – April 6^th, Crete – April 13^th, Seward – April 20^th. Items that Goodwill cannot accept on these days include large appliances, exercise equipment, pianos/organs, mattresses, and desks. “This is an excellent opportunity for people who do not have a Goodwill store in their community to donate their used items after they complete their spring cleaning,” says Amanda Herndon, Communications Coordinator for Goodwill. For more information about the donation drives, call (402) 438-2022.

Goodwill Industries Serving Southeast Nebraska Inc.’s mission is willing workers employed and community resources maximized. Our programs support individuals with barriers to employment by providing services which equip them with the tools needed in order to obtain employment, thus adding to lower unemployment rates and less reliance on government assistance within the Lincoln community. Additionally, Goodwill contributes to ecological balance through massive recycling efforts of unsalable textiles and other products.

The community can support Goodwill all year long by donating their gently-used items, shopping at Goodwill Stores and making tax-deductible financial donations. The sale of donated goods remains the greatest source of funding for programs Goodwill provides. Learn more at www.lincolngoodwill.org.

Goodwill Industries Backs Lincoln Literacy
In Helping New Americans Find Jobs

Lincoln, NE – A yearlong project between Lincoln Literacy and Goodwill Industries Serving Southeast Nebraska, Inc., has helped dozens of New Americans – mainly refugees and other qualified immigrants – to upgrade their job-seeking skills with the goal of accessing services offered by Goodwill Industries at their Job Connection Computer Lab located at the One Stop Career Center in Gold’s Galleria in downtown Lincoln.

Over the year ending in February, the program reached 49 adult Lincoln Literacy students from 11 different countries. Many of them were able to put the new skills they learned to use in finding work.  Zam Lian, a refugee from Burma, says of his experience, "I like that class very much because that is very useful and helpful for me. …It is not easy to get the job in United States.” Prior to the class, he added, “I applied many kinds of work, but nobody hired me.”

Even in strong employment markets such as Lincoln, refugees like Lian find it difficult to land jobs, in part because their English language skills are weak but also because they lack knowhow about job-seeking, applying and interviewing, said Lincoln Literacy program coordinator Amanda Hefner. With classroom training supported by Goodwill, Lian got hired and has been working steadily for the past six months.

Participating students from around the world had positive things to say about their experiences, especially noting the helpfulness of both Goodwill and Lincoln Literacy staff.  Lincoln Literacy’s Executive Director Clayton Naff observed that without Goodwill’s financial backing and expertise many of the New Americans would remain jobless.

“Goodwill really lives up to their name,” he said. “For years, they have been focusing resources and staff on the most vulnerable people in our community and helping them to get on their feet and into jobs so that they can support themselves and their families. We are really grateful for the support of our programs that Goodwill has extended and for the collaboration in job-preparation in particular over the last year.”

Goodwill Industries has recently affirmed that it will continue its support of Lincoln Literacy’s programs in recognition that those who are literate in the English language today will be employable tomorrow.

About Lincoln Literacy:

Lincoln Literacy is an award-winning United Way organization based in Lincoln, Nebraska. Established in 1972, Lincoln Literacy provides English language and literacy instruction to more than a thousand adults and families living in Lancaster County. Many are refugees and immigrants from around the world. The mission of Lincoln Literacy is to assist people of all cultures and strengthen our community by teaching English language and literacy skills.  It does this by recruiting, training and deploying more than 300 community volunteers to work with more than 800 adults and over 300 of their children.

CLEARING THE CLUTTER LOWERS STRESS AND BENEFITS PEOPLE LOOKING FOR WORK 

Goodwill® Donations Fund Career Services for People Who Are Unemployed in Lincoln

 Lincoln, NE — Researchers at UCLA’s Center on the Everyday Lives of Families (CELF) say Americans’ preoccupation with possessions has created a "clutter culture," and that the chaos created by having so much stuff is a leading cause of stress. Luckily, Goodwill Industries® helps clear the chaos by accepting donations of gently used clothing and household goods and using the revenue to fund job training and other community-based career services for people with disabilities and other challenges to gaining and maintaining employment, such as child care, financial education, youth mentoring and transportation.

Subjects in a five-year study used words like"mess," "not fun" and "very chaotic" to describe their homes. Results of the study are published in a new book titled Life at Home in the 21st Century: 32 Families Open Their Doors.

"It’s no wonder that so many people view annual spring cleaning as cathartic and a stress reliever," says Lorie Marrero, Certified Professional Organizer®, author of the best-selling book The Clutter Diet and a spokesperson for Goodwill’s Donate Movement.

"From toys and trinkets to clothing and shoes, we tend to accumulate more than we need," she says. "Clearing the clutter and chaos can lift your mood and keep you on track in other areas of your life."

The clutter often finds its way to the closet first. According to a national poll featured in the April 2011 issue of ShopSmart magazine, women own an average of 17 pairs of shoes yet only typically wear three of those pairs on a regular basis. More than 13 percent have more than 30 pairs (not including athletic shoes).

But spring cleaning has benefits beyond tidier households and lower stress levels. Donating unwanted or rarely used items to Goodwill® generates revenue to fund job training programs and community-based services that can lead to jobs and fresh starts for people actively seeking work. Goodwill provides career services that anyone in Lincoln can use to boost their chances of getting hired, including assistance in writing résumés, job interview practice and access to job leads with leading employers.

"We’re a nation of consumers and sometimes that leads to over-consumption," says Amanda Herndon, Communications Coordinator for Goodwill Industries Serving Southeast Nebraska, Inc. "By donating items you no longer use, you extend the lifecycle of goods and, in the process, help fund important Goodwill programs that put people to work and strengthen families."

Visit www.lincolngoodwill.org/locations/ for a Goodwill location near you.

Goodwill® Funds Peer Agencies' Employment Programs

Beginning in 2013, Goodwill Industries Serving Southeast Nebraska, Inc. will expand the number of agencies it provides funding to for existing employment services and readiness programs in the Lincoln community. A donation to Goodwill is tax deductable and will not only support Goodwill’s employment programs, but several other programs that complement Goodwill programs throughout the city.

"Goodwill recognizes that services provided by peer agencies prepare people served by Goodwill to better succeed in Goodwill’s employment programs" said Joanne Pickrel, CEO for Goodwill Industries Serving Southeast Nebraska, Inc. "Great community support from Goodwill donors and shoppers makes this possible," Pickrel concluded.

Goodwill continuously strives to expand its services to meet the needs of those who face barriers to employment. "Duplicate programming can become an issue and make it more difficult for individuals to navigate through services available to them," explains Sarah Murtagh Goodwill's Director of Employment services. "By supporting agencies already providing services that align with Goodwill's mission we do a better job for the people we mutually serve." said Murtagh. Beginning in 2012, Lincoln Literacy and Community Justice Center were offered funding by Goodwill. In 2013, Goodwill has expanded support to include Heartland Big Brothers Big Sisters, The Arc of Lincoln and YWCA Lincoln’s Job Outfitters program.

For more information about services provided by Goodwill and these other agencies, visit www.lincolngoodwill.org/programs-and-services/.

UNL Advertising and Public Relations Capstone Class Delivers Great Ideas to Goodwill

Senior advertising and public relations majors from the UNL College of Journalism and Mass Communications presented three distinct integrated marketing communications campaigns to Goodwill in Lincoln on Tuesday, December 4, 2012.

"This capstone class places the students in the roles found in real world scenarios, including dealing with unique business models and client feedback," according to Stacy James, their professor.  "They need to be prepared to deliver a strategic campaign and tell why it will produce the outcomes the client desires."

Students met with Goodwill staff at the beginning of the semester to gather information with the goal of building awareness about Goodwill programs.  Then, with the guidance of Professor James, set out to apply what they have learned about IMC campaigns from demographics research to creating the messages and budgeting for the paid, owned and earned media recommendations.

"We had a great team experience coming up with ideas this semester!" said senior ADPR major Paden Unruh after the projects were complete.  The students turned over digital files and materials that are media purchase ready for Goodwill.

"Choosing which campaign to use first will not be easy," said Joanne Pickrel, CEO for Goodwill in Lincoln.  "What made this project even better is that one of the students approached me to share that learning about Goodwill moved her to refer a loved one in another state to Goodwill for services.  We hope this project keeps Goodwill on their minds and the minds of our customers and donors for a long time," Pickrel concluded.

Fashion Takeover at Goodwill

The Reveille

The Student Voice of Nebraska Wesleyan University

November 29, 2012