Goodwill Industries of Southern California

1 Continue to be a leading provider of quality training & employment services for people with the most significant barriers to employment. Serve 86,000 vocationally challenged people in SoCal over next 3 yrs.

2 Grow quality job placement in growth industries from 5,500/year to 8,000 in 2019. Refine/implement comprehensive program design with measurable impact on persons with disabilities & ensure inclusiveness & sustainability.

3 Provide quality work experience to approx. 3,000 at-risk youth, persons with disabilities & vocationally disadvantaged over next 3 yrs.

4 Increase number of job seekers receiving certificates & credentials. Goal: 6,500 over 3 yrs.

5 Expand mobile services to maximize outreach to job seekers throughout territory.

6 Expand large-scale strategic partnerships creating customized training for job seekers with focus on sector employers. Expand/implement apprenticeships/career pathways.

7 Maximize environmental &sustainability efforts throughout organization.

Provide job seekers skills training, paid work experience & placement to stable, career-oriented jobs with livable wages.

Specialized sector-focused training & increased partnerships—A 16-wk. accelerated training program in partnership with Northrop-Grumman & Antelope Valley College enables participants to earn an aerospace mfg. college credential. 20 units of credit are built into the credential so they can continue their education post-program. Interviews with local employers such as Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin are guaranteed to grads, who are eligible for entry-level jobs paying $15-$18/hr. After several years they can earn as much as $25/hr. This program has waiting list of 1,000+.

Opportunity for “left behind” persons—With the City of L.A. we work on a Skid Row pilot project to house & place homeless to transitional jobs. Partners focus on rapid housing. Goodwill provides job prep & placement. Key strategy: placement to Goodwill jobs offering work experience in a supportive environment. 26 of 31 homeless participants placed in the 1st 3-months. Soon to expand to the San Fernando Valley & So LA.

Over the past century we have served more than one million job seekers in Southern California and placed tens of thousands unemployed men and women in good jobs. Our approach is simple: connect job seekers with employers. Sometimes the process takes a while because the people we serve may have enormous barriers to employment requiring time, support and resources. Our staff provides case management, career counseling, guidance and direction to help job seekers meet individual career goals. Resources include career goals assessment, pre-employment assistance with housing and other barriers, GED classes, soft skills workshops, career training in high-demand careers, work experience at a Goodwill business or external employer, job application and interview assistance, career placement, support services such as transportation assistance and help with professional clothing, job placement, and 6-month follow up.

Our network of programs and services to vocationally disadvantaged job seekers reach over 30,000 people every year. We complement the work of other social service organizations with our experience and expertise in employment, and have been doing so for many decades. Our territory extends 31,000 sq. miles from all of Los Angeles County (excluding the beach cities – Long Beach, Redondo Beach, etc. – north of Rosecrans Blvd.) to all of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. Within this diverse community, we provide services out of several career centers (privately and County/City-funded), programs for veterans (including one onsite at Fort Irwin Forward Operating Military Base), and several sites where we offer services for people with disabilities, disadvantaged youth, and persons with incarceration histories. Lately, we have begun to mobilize some of our services, equipping frontline staff with mobile devices and deploying them where our target population are located.

In 2016 we accomplished the following:

32,523 Individuals served
27,942 People accessed our basic services including hiring events, job listings in career resource centers, computers for resumes, printing, job search assistance and supportive services (career clothing, transportation assistance, etc.)
4,581 Individuals received intensive services, including career counseling, case management, job training and placement and retention support
1,236 People received industry-recognized certificates/credentials at no cost to them
4,568 Individuals placed to good jobs in the community
2,594 Individuals with disabilities served
1,265 Re-entry participants served (self-reported)
1,092 Youth provided mentoring, homework help, job preparation and career counseling
18,306 Unemployed and under-employed persons served
3,985 Homeless persons served