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KEONE'S STORY

30% - Goodwill students with no high school diploma or GED

What got me in was I was a drug addict doing all the things that come with being a drug addict — robbing, stealing, doing underhanded stuff,” Keone said. “I wasn’t always like that. I just got hooked on drugs and then everything else went with it.”

Today Keone has built a sterling reputation as a hard worker and standout manager at the signs and barricade company he works for. But earning a living wage as a productive member of his community wasn’t always Keone’s way.

Keone alienated the people he cared about, lost his friends, his family and felt like he had nothing to lose when he made the decisions that landed him at the Monroe Correctional Facility.

With the urging of his grandmother and grandfather, Keone began turning his life around while incarcerated.

“I thought, ‘All right, let’s get a GED. Let’s go get this done,’” Keone said. “I didn’t really make a list. I just got everything done there that they offered.”

But months before his release, Keone found one more beneficial course that would prepare him for life after prison. He took Goodwill’s New Connections class, which equips inmates for a successful transition into the job market.

“The overlying thing was just that somebody else cared,” he said. “Someone else is coming in here and volunteering their time and cares enough to help others along.” - Keone

“It gave me another perspective to look at,” said Keone of New Connections. “It’s a perspective of someone who is actually like, ‘Look, this is what employers are looking for.’”

Keone was determined to change his life when he joined Goodwill’s New Connections class, but the program made him think of how he was going to accomplish that.

“The overlying thing was just that somebody else cared,” he said. “Someone else is coming in here and volunteering their time and cares enough to help others along.”

And Keone was able to pay that thinking forward when he recently hosted a hiring event at South Everett’s Job Training and Education (JTE) Center, helping build-up a community he once negatively impacted.

SUCELLY'S STORY

99 - Native languages spoken among Goodwill students

Sucelly has always cherished the most important advice she’s received. Between the hardships of being raised by a single mother new to the United States, and the constant barriers obstructing her path to better economic opportunity, a message from Sucelly’s mom endured.

“She would say to us,” said Sucelly of her mom, “even when we were little, you have to study hard.”

Sucelly, who was born in Guatemala, completed a dangerous journey to the U.S., where she was reunited with her mom at 9 years old. She didn’t have much growing up — only the love of her mother and sister, and at times her family was on the brink of homelessness.

Despite English being her second language, she excelled academically. In the sixth grade, Sucelly was offered a scholarship to a school but couldn’t go due to lacking resources.

"They help with everything. They just showed me the pathway to start going to college. I am just thankful for meeting Goodwill.” -Sucelly

Strong grades in high school made her eligible for scholarships to four-year universities, but she was crushed when her mom revealed she was ineligible to attend college.

“Even though I knew my limitations, that didn’t deter my drive to learn,” said Sucelly, who graduated from high school in 2009. “I got depressed because I wanted to continue my education, but I couldn’t. There weren’t any type of resources accessible.”

That changed nearly six years later when Sucelly discovered Goodwill. She put her college dreams on hold and was working hard to pay for her bills while raising a young daughter when her cousin told her about Goodwill’s Community College 101 course, which guides prospective students through the college process, helps find funding and provides individualized support from Goodwill staff.

“They told me that they could help me,” Sucelly said. “I was so excited I was about to start college. They help with everything. They just showed me the pathway to start going to college. I am just thankful for meeting Goodwill.”

Sucelly is working to earn her Associate of Technical Arts degree in Computer Information Systems at Everett Community College and works tirelessly as a mother, wife and student to provide her family the life she didn’t have growing up.

MITZI'S STORY

43 - Average age of Goodwill students

Mitzi’s Goodwill journey started with a thrifted 99-cent United States children’s puzzle.

After moving from Eastern Washington to the Kitsap Peninsula years ago with three younger kids, only the belongings they could fit in their pillowcases and a box of homeschooling supplies, a puzzle is what Mitzi gifted her adult son for Christmas. It’s all she could afford.

Mitzi, a dedicated mother of seven, who for 17 years home schooled her children, had divorced following 31 years of marriage and moved to Western Washington. She had nowhere to live, no income and no clue how to find work.

“The whole reason Goodwill exists is because of (job) training. I remember not only not having a job, but not knowing how to go about getting a job. That’s a pretty hopeless feeling. They’ll sit down with you elbow-to-elbow and will show you how to make your resume and how to apply for jobs. That gives you hope.” -Mitzi

With low self-confidence and three-plus decades out of the workforce, she felt hopeless.

“When I was buying the puzzle (at Goodwill) I saw the sign,” Mitzi said. “Job Training. I thought, ‘I wonder if I can afford the training?’ Then when I found out it didn’t cost, I just thought, ‘This is awesome.’”

A job is what Mitzi needed to become self-sustainable. She was selected for Goodwill’s Retail and Customer Service Program and chose Bremerton’s Job Training and Education Center for her nine-week course.

On her final day of in-store training, Bremerton’s store manager offered Mitzi a position.

“I just remember I could feel my jaw drop open,” Mitzi recalled. “‘They want me? They actually want me?’ I had a job, and then I could take care of my kids. It was huge for me to take that step, because I didn’t know how to do that. I went from living with my mom to being married, and I never knew how to stand on my own.”

Mitzi, a sales associate, is nearing her sixth-year anniversary at Goodwill’s Bremerton location — a place she refers to as home.

“The whole reason Goodwill exists is because of (job) training,” Mitzi said. “I remember not only not having a job, but not knowing how to go about getting a job. That’s a pretty hopeless feeling. They’ll sit down with you elbow-to-elbow and will show you how to make your resume and how to apply for jobs. That gives you hope.”

FREDDY'S STORY

63% - Goodwill students who are refugees or immigrants

Freddy took a leap of faith and landed at Goodwill.

Freddy came to the United States with no knowledge of the culture, the English language or any idea of how he’d start a new life.

More than a decade ago he was in the Catholic seminary training to be a priest in his home country of the Democratic Republic of Congo, when he developed a deep desire to help his fellow countrymen.

“This program helped me a lot with my situation as an immigrant. They were sensible with my problems. My case manager and I met every week and helped me build confidence. This is the right place that can help everyone who needs, because I can testify that Seattle Goodwill changes people’s lives.” -Freddy

He saw a rich land brimming with valuable precious minerals, yet he looked around and saw impoverished people who lacked essential human rights and justice.

“I said, ‘I think I have another calling. I have to quit the seminary, so I can bring change in our society’” Freddy recalled. “This is the reason I decided to fight for justice and human rights. I just decided to start with political action.”

In 2011, Freddy ran for political office and afterward helped organize rallies.

“When people tried to speak louder and organize a rally, we had a problem,” Freddy said, “and I decided to move to the U.S. to save my life.”

Freddy left behind his family when he arrived on the East Coast on September 19, 2015. He lived out of a hotel for two weeks before arriving in Seattle, wherehe connected with Goodwill days later.

“When I first came life was very hard for me, and when I started my first English class at Seattle Goodwill everything changed in my life,” Freddy said.

Freddy took English for Speakers of Other Languages courses. He also took Goodwill’s Cashiering and Customer Service course, refreshed his computer skills through Goodwill’s Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint classes and performs community outreach as a Goodwill Ambassador.

“This program helped me a lot with my situation as an immigrant,” Freddy said. “They were sensible with my problems. My case manager and I met every week and helped me build confidence. This is the right place that can help everyone who needs, because I can testify that Seattle Goodwill changes people’s lives.”

Left to right: Derryl E. Willis, Board of Directors Chair; Daryl J. Campbell, President & CEO

A letter from our President & CEO, Daryl J. Campbell, and Board of Directors Chair, Derryl E. Willis 

“Now, as a nation, we don’t promise equal outcomes, but we were founded on the idea everybody should have an equal opportunity to succeed. No matter who you are, what you look like, where you come from, you can make it. That’s an essential promise of America. Where you start should not determine where you end up.”

- Barack Obama

Together we do our best to help people connect to opportunity in their life and work. We provide services and workplace skills training that put people on the path to better outcomes. This past year over 11,500 individuals experienced more opportunity and growth through our Job Training and Education Programs.

To celebrate our students’ successes, we asked them what opportunity means to them so we could share it with you in this year’s report. You will read how some students found opportunities in classes such as English, Retail and Customer Service Training or in our Youth Aerospace Program. Opportunity at Goodwill means access to services that helped students manage challenges in their personal lives and create more stability in their careers. It means more people took steps forward through our new training programs and workshops.

You, our dedicated partners, allow us to provide our students with education and programs, all free of charge. You make a difference with your time and financial support which benefit our students—and enrich the whole community. The student stories in this annual report wouldn’t be possible without your support and involvement. Thank you.

                                                           

Daryl J. Campbell, President & CEO                     Derryl E. Willis, Board of Directors Chair

Our Mission: To provide quality, effective employment training and basic education to low-income individuals with significant barriers to economic opportunity. Because jobs change lives. 

Finances

Seattle Goodwill Industries is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to job training and education

We strive for efficiency with the resources you entrust to us. This year 79% of our expenditures, after cost of the retail program which provides major job funding, was spent on job training and education classes and services. Thank you for being partners in our efforts in positively changing lives.

Impacts and Outcomes

Student stats

Partnerships

Pictured above, left to right: Dr. Kevin McCarthy, President; Angel Reyna, VP-Instruction; Jacob Jackson, Executive Dean-Workforce, Trades and Economic Development; Doug Medbury, Dean-Culinary Art.

Renton Technical College

When Seattle Goodwill CEO Daryl Campbell first approached Renton Technical College (RTC) President Kevin McCarthy about a potential partnership that would expand Goodwill’s Youth Aerospace Program (YAP) to Renton, there was little debate.

“It was the easiest decision I got to make all year,” Kevin said.

The RTC President learned of the YAP’s success in Everett and felt his institution could provide the programming needed to expand and help create better economic opportunity for those seeking it.

The YAP is a two-year program preparing high school seniors for a career in aerospace/advanced manufacturing. It provides a smooth transition from high school to college, builds strong soft-skills and connects students with future career opportunities.

“Changing people’s lives is very complex,” said RTC Vice President of Instruction Angel Reyna, “but we are in the business of doing that and so is Goodwill. If you can be in alignment with another organization that can help fulfill that mission, we are all in.”

Students participate in service learning, team building and network with aerospace professionals. They attend weekend workshops and receive college readiness assistance their senior year, and after graduating students begin college course work. RTC provides an outstanding learning space near campus, and Goodwill supplies wrap-around services to ensure students thrive.

Many of the students selected for the YAP have dealt with or are still dealing with significant barriers to better economic opportunity, but Kevin said the collaborative effort between Goodwill and Renton Tech offers students a positive outlook on the future.

“I think the key for a lot of people trying to enter the economy is just the feeling of possibility and being exposed to things they could imagine themselves doing,” Kevin said. “This is the type of program that allows that. They can see there are jobs for them.”

Pictured above: Boeing volunteers and students in front of Seattle Goodwill's Administration Building.

Boeing

Through the years Boeing has served as a dedicated supporter and partner to Seattle Goodwill and its mission.

“We really try to think about people who have everything they need to be great workers and manufacturers in aerospace but have something between them, some big barrier in their way,” said Sam Whiting, Director of Boeing Global Engagement. “We work with partners like Seattle Goodwill to create paths around those barriers.”

Boeing’s financial support of Goodwill dates back to 1985. The company, in more than three decades, is approaching a total gift amount of $1.3 million.

Besides financial support, Boeing has established a strong track record of volunteerism at Goodwill. A Boeing executive has sat on the board of Seattle Goodwill Industries since 2002. Currently, that seat is held by Boeing Capital Corporation President Tim Myers.

Boeing’s support helps students like Asia, a participant in Goodwill’s Youth Aerospace Program (YAP). She was a bright student in high school, but needed direction and help charting a career path. She needed an opportunity which came when she found Seattle Goodwill.

Two years later, thanks in large part to the Youth Aerospace Program, Asia has developed the social and professional skills that will set her up for success in the aviation and manufacturing industry.

Boeing’s partnership has been integral to the success of the YAP. Students are exposed to industry professionals, while Boeing opens its doors and offers a glimpse into what a career in aerospace would look like.

Besides the YAP, Boeing has donated 2,375 volunteer hours and was title sponsor of the most recent annual Glitter Gala, which raised more than $520,000 for Goodwill’s free Job Training and Education Programs.

“We want to be sure we can support programs that are providing exposure to the aerospace industry,” Sam said. “Getting students into high-quality programs like this paves their way to the jobs that they are dreaming of, and strengthens the aerospace industry with qualified professionals.”

Pictured above, left to right: Cory Armstrong-Hoss, Associate Executive & Director and Meg Fuell, Child Care Coordinator.

YMCA Casino Road Academy

Cory Armstrong-Hoss, Associate Executive & Director of the YMCA’s Casino Road Community Center in Everett, wanted to create an English language class several years ago when he turned to Seattle Goodwill for advice.

That morphed into a partnership between Goodwill and the YMCA, and later Edmonds Community College. All three organizations work together to serve marginalized and low-income families and individuals seeking better economic opportunity through education.

Goodwill teaches three free English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes at the Casino Road Academy while offering its full breadth of case management access and wrap-around services.

“Goodwill has been wonderful in so many ways,” Cory said. “There is a certain magic of all those folks working together in order to do what is best for the families. And there is a certain magic witnessing the transforming of folks who didn’t think they had hope until they stumbled upon this academy. It leaves me pretty speechless most of the time.”

Thank you to our generous Goodwill financial donors and our agency volunteers during fiscal year 2017 (2016-17).

See the full Annual Report (PDF) | See our Financials (PDF) | 2016-17 Financial Supporters