Member News

Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and New Jersey offers workforce development services, youth and community programs and retail and business opportunities to diverse populations across the region. In 2009, the organization helped more than 164,000 people search and train for careers in industries such as banking, IT, and health care, to name a few, and get the supporting services they needed to be successful, such as English language training, additional education, or access to transportation and child care. More than 13,000 people obtained meaningful employment in 2009 through their participation in these programs.

The investment to support this initiative was $28 million in government grants and fees for employment services. These people were placed in competitive employment and went on to earn $274 million in their first year of work and paid $54 million in taxes. The savings in public assistance to taxpayers was $107 million. That is a ROI of $407 million in salaries and wages, a meaningful contribution to their communities as productive, tax-paying citizens.

To keep the organization functioning at its highest potential, Goodwill uses more than 100 scanners at sites scattered over the New York metro area, by job coaches, counselors, assistants and even the receptionists. The receptionist scans the clients Goodwill issued ID cards when they arrive at the facility; the counselors scan any paperwork that the client has that proves they worked, attended training or applied for jobs over the previous week; and assistants scan forms that the clients fill out as part of their job coaching and counseling. It is estimated that the scanning volume of the Goodwill New York metro offices is nearly 1,000 pages a day on some devices, keeping the organization efficient and streamlined.

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Raphael Badagliacca, president of SpaceMaster, is author of a new play, GPS, which had a week-long showing at Theatre 54, as part of a presentation of 14 new short plays. Badagliacca is also author of two books: The Yogi Poems and Other Celebrations of Local Baseball, and Father's Day Encounters with Everyday Life.