Goodwill Industries of Dallas, Inc.

The mission of Goodwill Industries of Dallas is to provide training and employment to persons with disabilities and disadvantages to help them transform their lives through the power of jobs. We utilize a person-centered approach to job readiness, training, coaching and job placement to place individuals at employment within Goodwill and into jobs in the community.

We deliver key services and financial supports using a convenient and integrated approach in three overlapping areas:
*Employment --job readiness, job placement, and career advancement.
*Benefits and work supports --access to public benefits, tax credits, financial aid and other benefits to improve their financial security.
*Financial services -- workshops, classes, one-on-one counseling and access to well-priced financial products and services to help clients build assets.

Goodwill utilizes a person-centered approach to education, job readiness, training, coaching and job placement:

Our Donated Goods program provides employment by offering work through the recycling and reselling of material donations in our West Dallas location and 18 stores throughout the community. Every dollar that is generated from our retail stores is invested back into this area of the business to create additional employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities and disadvantaging conditions.

Our Workforce Development Program, providing a wide range of assessment, education, job training, coaching and career placement, is subsidized by public financial contributions.

Since 1924, Goodwill Dallas has provided job training and employment to individuals with disabilities and disadvantaging conditions ages 14-65+ in Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Kaufman, Navarro, Rains and Rockwall Counties, including persons:
• With physical challenges or cognitive disorders;
• Who are intellectually challenged with lower than average IQ;
• With limited education and work history;
• With criminal backgrounds;
• At-risk or adjudicated youth;
• With living conditions at or below poverty level; homelessness, toxic neighborhoods and dysfunctional family environments;
• With a history of welfare dependency.

Center of Excellence Award: Goodwill Dallas was one of three Goodwill agencies nationwide selected to receive a 2014 Goodwill Family Strengthening Center of Excellence Award and funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, recognized for a corporate philosophy and forward-thinking practices that promote economic self-sufficiency with a family-inclusive approach.

In 2019, Goodwill served over 4,800 people through employment and training programs, with 1,574 people placed into jobs earning an estimated $20.7 million in wages.

The landscape of poverty is changing, but our perceptions have not. We think of poverty as inner-city decline, soup kitchens, and homelessness. Historically inner-city poverty rates have been higher, but, today, suburban middle-class households are the fastest growing poor population in the nation. Since 2000, the suburban poor population has grown by 64%, accounting for more of the nation’s poor than inner cities.

As the population grows and diversifies, our resources will be tested in ways never anticipated leaving some of the population vulnerable, while most community based anti-poverty efforts continue to focus on urban areas. Our solution remains to innovate, sustain and grow, expanding into areas north and east of central Dallas.