We are more than just your local thrift shop! For 100 years, Goodwill Dallas (GWD) has been changing lives, one job at a time. Today we serve eight counties across North Texas, including Dallas, Ellis, Kaufman, Navarro, Rains, Rockwall, and parts of Collin and Denton counties. Goodwill is a place of hopes, dreams, and second chances. When North Texans donate to Goodwill, they give individuals and their families the opportunity to earn a living wage, build stronger communities and enrich their lives. Goodwill utilizes a person-centered approach to job readiness, training, coaching, and placement within Goodwill and in the community with our Employer Partners.
Our Career Services Team guides job seekers through the path from where they currently are to where they aspire to be. We achieve this by collaborating with each person to remove barriers to employment, getting them job ready, placing them into living wage jobs, and providing access to resources to retain the job. Our team offers a variety of digital and soft skills training to help with career advancement and increased economic mobility. We partner with Microsoft, Google, Coursera, and more to ensure skills gained are relevant and competitive in the current job market. Though our Career Services Team is one of three programs under the Goodwill Dallas Mission Services umbrella, it is the backbone of individualized client services within Goodwill and the community.
The COVID-19 pandemic encouraged our team to think about how we serve the Dallas community and how we can transform our service delivery model. Last June, we closed our traditional Career Centers attached to our stores and pivoted to a Mobile Service Delivery approach after discovering that transportation was a leading barrier to receiving services within our stores. We needed to be IN the community. In August 2022, we launched our first mobile site at the Stewpot. In Q1 of 2023, we launched six new sites at The Bridge, Austin Street Center, Pacifica Apartment Community, and the Community Supervision Divisions and State Correctional Facilities. The diverse locations allow us to provide services to a substantial portion of North Texas’ unhoused, veteran, immigrant, and second-chance community. This model enables us to focus on job readiness and sustainability while addressing the digital literacy gap in a technologically evolving job market. Additionally, mobile service delivery allows us the opportunity to collaborate with other organizations to better support our clients. For example, at Austin Street Center, clients work on their housing plan while pursuing digital literacy certifications in our classes three days a week and working with our Success Coach to be job ready. We not only serve the Dallas community, but we also invest in our staff by connecting them with resources to promote employee well-being and sustained success inside and outside of the workplace.
GWD is mission integrated, meaning many of our clients served become employees. In Q1, we launched GoodLife, an employee-support program ensuring that our staff can be successful post-hiring. GoodLife offers GWD employees facing various life challenges and hardships free access to resources. We have dedicated GoodLife Success Coaches who provide employment support, referral assistance, and case management. Mary was in the middle of a dispute with her property management company regarding rent and fees. A GoodLife Success Coach helped her gather the appropriate documents, develop a plan, and worked with her on how to advocate for herself in court. She won her case, which included a monetary award. Mary remains safely housed in her apartment and continues to be a productive member of the GWD team. Without support like the Goodlife Program, this issue would have continued to affect her work life and have a long-lasting impact on her credit score.
Last quarter, we served 639 new clients, launched five new mobile service sites, distributed 75 computers to help close the digital divide in Dallas, and placed 180 individuals into jobs. We are excited to see what the remainder of our 100th year of serving the Dallas community brings.
To learn more about our Career Services or register, visit GoodwillDallas.org/CareerServices.
If you are interested in becoming a partner, please contact Jill Young at Jillyoung@GoodwillDallas.org.