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Left to right: Broderick Smith, Board of Directors Chair; Daryl J. Campbell, President & CEO

"Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome" - Booker T. Washington

A message from our President & CEO, Daryl J. Campbell and Board of Directors Chair, Broderick Smith

Goodwill students, volunteers and supporters inspire us every day, and we hope that allows them to inspire others in our community. This past year has been full of changes and growth, and we remain extremely proud of Seattle Goodwill’s ability to achieve the best for the students in our Job Training and Education programs.

This year Seattle Goodwill served 13,375 individuals in our programs and helped 1,720 find employment. Our mission services operate out of five Job Training and Education (JTE) Centers throughout Western Washington. We continue to develop a regional approach that will allow us to bring Goodwill’s programming and services into other communities throughout each county, expanding our impact even further over time. Regionalizing our job training program model will allow us to serve even more people in need who aren’t able to access a Goodwill JTE Center.

While we celebrate the accomplishment of serving more people than ever before, and as we continue to be inspired and motivated by our students, we know there is still much more work to do. 

The future is in your hands. And if we want to continue to push for better outcomes and help more people well into the future, we know that we must focus even more of our energy and resources on the people who drive that success. 

The stories shared here represent a small percentage of that total, but we hope  you will take the opportunity to learn firsthand about these special people, their experiences and their accomplishments. You will quickly understand just  how vital a job is to their lives.

As you read this report, consider, too, how vital each and every one of you is to Goodwill and our mission. Your support has made a significant contribution in the lives of people you may never meet. As we build on this past year’s excellent performance and head into the next year with healthy momentum, we are grateful and inspired by all those who make Goodwill the absolute best place it can be.

                                                     

Daryl J. Campbell, President & CEO                           Broderick Smith, Board of Directors Chair

PARTNERSHIP: Comcast NBCUniversal

Seattle Goodwill Industries and Comcast NBCUniversal own a shared commitment to improving our community.

“Our values are so aligned,” said Diem Ly, Comcast Director of Community Investment. “Goodwill wants to help individuals by empowering them and offering the opportunity to live their best lives possible. We (Comcast) want to uplift the disenfranchised and marginalized communities, and give them the resources they need to make a positive impact in their lives, their families and the places they live.”

Comcast has done just that through its support of Goodwill. For more than eight years, Comcast and Goodwill have partnered to provide opportunity to underserved populations.

Goodwill is one of the most robust, successful workforce development nonprofits in the state, and we have been collaborating for years. - Diem Ly, Comcast Director of Community Investment

Comcast first supported Goodwill through its digital literacy initiative.

Many Goodwill students don’t have home access to basic internet or computing devices. Comcast’s digital literacy grants have integrated technology into all of Goodwill’s job training programs, helping students become more comfortable with technology – a must in order to succeed in today’s society.

“The Goodwill partnership is one of our most extensive in the region,” Ly said. “Goodwill is one of the most robust, successful workforce development nonprofits in the state, and we have been collaborating for years.”

Most recently, Comcast has shown its community commitment by providing funding for Goodwill’s redesigned Retail and Customer Service Program.

The program, called Retail 2.0, served 129 students last year, with 76 earning employment. During program sessions, students toured a Comcast Xfinity retail store, met current employees and received interview experience.

“Goodwill’s mission is to provide livable wage employment to its students,” Ly said, “and this matches Comcast’s larger community investment imperative: to provide a deeper connection between employees, customers and the community as a whole. When you provide jobs and opportunity, you provide independence, which ripples throughout the community and builds momentum for change.”

PARTNERSHIP: City of Seattle

It’s no secret education is the foundation to livable wages and promising futures.

Seattle Goodwill has been identified by The City of Seattle as a community organization that shares a vision of educational equity, helping students with barriers who are often the first in their family to attend college.

“It is important for the growth and health of our community that all of its members have access and opportunities to careers and jobs that will allow them to continue to live in a city that is becoming more and more expensive to live in,” said Clarence Dancer, Jr., Postsecondary Policy Advisor for the City’s Department of Education
and Early Learning (DEEL).

Together, the City of Seattle and Goodwill are charting bright futures for our community youth. - Clarence Dancer Jr., City of Seattle Postsecondary Policy Advisor

Shared visions between the organizations have yielded multiple collaborations that already have proved beneficial for community youth.

Goodwill last year partnered with The City through Goodwill’s Youth Year-Round Program (YYRP) Goes to College and also played a pivotal role in the City’s Seattle Youth Employment Program (SYEP).

YYRP Goes to College helped transition 30 Seattle-area high school graduates into college last summer. Seattle Goodwill is now supporting over 100 college youth that are still enrolled and making progress. The program helped seniors with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) process, worked on crafting personal statements, helped graduates apply for college and enroll and register for classes.
All 30 enrolled in college and began classes last fall.

The SYEP affords youth from low-income households invaluable work experience through summer internships at participating organizations. Goodwill was one of many community organizations that participated in this program. The goal is to provide young adults opportunity to develop skills to be competitive in the job market. Goodwill last summer hosted 30 interns and held regular trainings for all SYEP members at Goodwill’s flagship Job Training and Education Center.

“This is the exact direction that Mayor Durkan is moving towards,” Dancer said. “With the Seattle Promise program being initiated and other college job readiness programs the City is looking to implement, this program and partnership is right in line with where we are going as a City and a Department.”

VOLUNTEERING: Carol

My inspiration: “I’m inspired to volunteer because Goodwill helps people become independent. If you give a man a fish, you can feed him for a day. If you teach him how to fish, he will eat for a lifetime. That is really the thing that inspires me – making people self-sufficient.”

No matter how rewarding Carol’s career was, she always felt something was missing. She desired an impactful contribution to her community.

“One thing that I’ve totally got here that I haven’t had before is that I’m working toward something that has real value to society,” Carol said. “I always worked for private companies that weren’t really socially engaged. Here is the total opposite. We are a nonprofit focused on helping people.”

Two-and-a-half years ago, Carol moved with her husband from Brazil to Seattle. She left behind a great career working for a new media programming business.

While Carol’s husband began his career with Amazon, Carol was in a holding pattern waiting for her work permit. To keep her skills fresh, Carol decided to volunteer.

When you work for a place like Goodwill, everything kind of fits. - Carol

Carol landed a role on Goodwill’s Philanthropy team and discovered the self-fulfillment she’d been searching for.

“When you work for a place like Goodwill, everything kind of fits,” Carol said. “It keeps me busy and keeps me from getting rusty. The (employees) are all very engaged in the mission of the company. This is something that I never saw in any company I’ve worked for, so it’s really refreshing.”

Carol has made a profound impact since she began volunteering in June 2016. She’s dedicated tremendous energy toward compiling and reporting on volunteer hours, completing data input and analysis and updating Goodwill’s volunteer exit survey. Carol’s also developed and taught Microsoft Excel classes for Goodwill’s employees and has reported volunteer survey findings.

Carol was recently selected Volunteer of the Year for her service and commitment to Goodwill’s mission.

“One of the things that I most admire about Goodwill is the fact it is not just handing out things,” Carol said. “It is helping people be independent. That is really the thing that inspires me – making people self-sufficient and helping them take care of themselves.”

INSPIRATION: Dominique

My inspiration: “I am inspired to change the world. I just have that drive, and I watch my son and see that strength and I see other kids and the strength they have. It just drives me to make a difference in the nursing field.”

Dominique, with her 4-year-old son looking on, stood behind a podium and addressed a packed room of fellow Goodwill program graduates during a ceremony last summer at Seattle Goodwill’s Administration Building. Fighting back tears, she delivered an inspirational message of determination and hope.

Every graduate that day had an achievement to be proud of. For Dominique, though, earning her High School 21+ (HS21+) diploma was more than a decade in the making.

“It felt really good, because my son kept saying, ‘Congratulations,’” Dominique recalled. “Every day still, ‘Happy congratulations, mommy.’ My kids encourage me a lot, and to share that moment with him … He was just smiling and happy.”

Dominique has been playing catch-up ever since she gave birth to her daughter at 17 years old. Raising an infant ended her pursuit of a high school diploma. She’s tried earning her degree multiple times since, but the barriers of being a single mom always proved too difficult.

Adding to Dominique’s full plate was the birth of her son in 2014. He was born with club feet, and Dominique was crushed when in 2015 he received a cancer diagnosis.

I told myself I have to do it. I have no other option. - Dominique

But through hardship came inspiration.

“I tried getting my GED without the help of Goodwill a couple of years ago when I had my son,” Dominique explained. “It didn’t work out because of school, and I kind of got discouraged.”

Drawing inspiration from her son’s health complications and his unwavering positive attitude, Dominique committed herself to improving her life and reignited her passion to work in the medical field. She also desired to be a positive role model for her teenage daughter, who looks up to Dominique.

“I decided to go back and get my diploma,” Dominique said. “I said, ‘You know what? I am not going to quit.’ I told myself I have to do it. I have no other option. My kids look up to me. I am going to be the best that I can be for my kids.”

So Dominique visited her local Goodwill Job Training and Education Center.
Staff pushed her toward earning her HS21+ diploma, provided critical support services and offered emotional support when she was down.

“I felt so comfortable at Goodwill,” Dominique said. “They were there to help, and I never really had that before. It’s all about encouraging and lifting people up. I can’t really explain the feeling, but when you feel it, you just engage with it. When I felt that, I knew I was going to finish.”

Dominique obtained her diploma and went a step further. She enrolled in college and is working toward her nursing degree. Goodwill supported Dominique by identifying the best schooling options available.

The cancer Dominique’s son had is in remission, and he recently underwent a surgical procedure to help cure his clubbed feet. Although Dominique’s life is hectic with school, work and raising two children, she takes solace in knowing Goodwill is always there to help.

INSPIRATION: Lazon

My inspiration: “Goodwill customers inspire me because I know a lot of them look forward to me doing the greetings and stuff. A lot of them come to me and tell me it changed their whole day, so I would have to say the customers of Goodwill that support Goodwill’s mission and support everything that Goodwill does.”

Lazon’s barriers kept mounting.

He cascaded into a deep depression after his mom and dad passed away in a three-month period. Several misdemeanors prevented him from passing background checks and finding work. His marriage failed.

Lazon had lost all his drive.

“I just knew bills were piling up,” Lazon said. “I was on Social Security, and doctors had been telling me that I had been through so much life trauma that it will probably be impossible for me to return back to work.”

So Lazon drifted city to city. For years he was homeless on the streets of Los Angeles’ Skid Row and Seattle’s Pioneer Square.

“I was surviving from stealing from stores and stuff,” Lazon explained. “I got to this point in psychosis that I got comfortable around homeless people. I used to pray, ‘God, I wish that I didn’t have to do this, that I could really earn some money.’”

That opportunity for Lazon came through Goodwill. Back in Seattle, Lazon met his wife, who motivated him to achieve more for himself. She convinced Lazon to try one of Goodwill’s free Job Training and Education (JTE) programs.

There have been so many great things that have happened to me because of Goodwill. I just think, ‘What if it wasn’t for that training program? Where would my life be?’ - Lazon

Out of work for nine years — nervous and skeptical — Lazon entered Goodwill’s Seattle JTE Center.
He enrolled in the Cashiering and Customer Service Program and met with a Goodwill Case Manager, who helped Lazon orchestrate a plan to address his barriers one-by-one.

His mental and physical health improved, and he was offered access to transportation and other necessary services so he could focus on his training.

Lazon began applying to jobs after graduation, which he said was a milestone moment in his life.
But his criminal background
prevented immediate employment. He utilized the skills he learned in Goodwill’s program, interviewed well and ultimately was offered a job at Redmond’s Goodwill store.

“I just made a whole mess of my life in my depression,” Lazon explained. “I didn’t need more mental-health counseling. I didn’t need more medication. The thing I needed was a chance to get my life in the right direction. There have been so many great things that have happened to me because of Goodwill. I just think, ‘What if it wasn’t for that training program? Where would my life be?’”

Lazon was hired, and with added motivation from the birth of his daughter, he has excelled in his cashiering role.

“I’ve got my license back, paid off my old child support,” Lazon said. “God gave me my whole life back. When I drive to work, I think, ‘Man, I was just at Pioneer Square and on Skid Row.’ Now I have a job. I have a purpose. I wouldn’t have been able to do it if I didn’t have Goodwill help put me on the right track.”

INSPIRATION: Hanna

My inspiration: “I am inspired to help people because I got this help from Goodwill. I feel it has helped me and maybe it motivates me. I just moved to another country. All my life, broken. I learned everything new: food, feelings, dress. I want to get support for people so others can have good future and feeling like I got from Goodwill.”

To most Americans, obtaining documentation such as a driver’s license is a fairly mundane task — fill out paperwork, get your license
and leave.

But for non-English speaking new American immigrants, such as Hanna, the process is riddled with obstacles.

“When I have a driver’s license test,” Hanna explained, “and I go to the place where I have the permit test, this man tell me, ‘Have a seat.’ And I stand. I thought, ‘What does he mean, have it? How can I take this seat and keep the chair?’”

It’s a small sample, but a poignant illustration of daily barriers non-English speakers face navigating a new life in a foreign country. Breaking down these barriers are critical for new Americans to gain education and employment.

Hanna, who emigrated from Ukraine in February 2017 with her husband and two sons, has accomplished plenty since moving to Bellingham
and largely credits Seattle Goodwill for her successful assimilation and positive outlook.

“When I come to America, my life, all my life changed,” Hanna said. “It is very hard. All my friends in my country, all my experiences, it doesn’t work (here). And many people when they come to America or a different place, they leave and then come back, but I see Goodwill help me stay here and feel comfortable, feel more relaxed, feel like at home.”

Hanna, like many immigrants, came to the US searching for more opportunity and a better life for her family. She also wanted to avoid military conflict in her home country, especially with her 17-year-old son approaching military duty age.

So when Hanna received a Green Card in 2016, her family moved to the United States. But Hanna and her family, who speak Russian, had limited to no English-speaking ability.

Hanna first tried learning English through college courses, but soon realized the class structure was focused more on assignments and test results rather than providing practical English lessons she could use to better
navigate life.

When we go to the store, I understand what people mean, what they want. - Hanna

“One rainy day I came to Goodwill and felt like it is my place,” said Hanna, who called Goodwill’s Job Training and Education (JTE) Center in Bellingham her second home. “Goodwill teach me to understand people, not for test, not for points.”

Hanna took Goodwill English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses and soon found her vocabulary expanding and ability to understand conversations drastically improving.

Besides free ESOL courses, Goodwill’s support services covered Hanna’s deposit on her family’s new apartment and paid for Hanna to get an eye exam and new glasses. Instructors and Case Managers also educated Hanna on important details of American life,
such as how to buy health insurance and file taxes.

Hanna began taking nursing classes at Whatcom Community College in September 2017 and by the day is improving her English.

“There are people I know who came to America at the same time but in different areas,” Hanna explained. “I know a woman in Bellevue, and she sends me messages and cries, ‘I want to go home. I don’t understand people.’ I told her to go to Goodwill, because Goodwill helps. Goodwill helped me relax, helped me stop worry, help me stop being afraid.”

INSPIRATION: Brycen

My inspiration: “What keeps me going is knowing I can now make choices for myself and start my own life, rather than fall victim to other people’s choices. I’m inspired by the idea of helping others achieve a good life for themselves and their families. By teaching, I feel this has an effect on the choices our youth make in the vital years they are in.”

Brycen, looking for life direction, joined Seattle Goodwill’s Youth Aerospace Program (YAP) four years ago as a high school student. The program transformed his life.

Now he’s the one creating change by working with Goodwill students as a Program Specialist for YAP.

“It gets deep sometimes and emotional, because I was just there,” said Brycen of his conversations with current YAP students. “I worry about our students, but I’m super excited because I know what this program can do.”

For Brycen, YAP gave him hope for a better future, and that vision is slowly coming into focus.

Brycen left California five years ago, leaving behind a toxic environment, and moved to Washington with his mom and brother for a new life. He joined YAP, excelled and last summer graduated from Everett Community College with his Associate Degree in Advanced Manufacturing.

But Brycen faced challenges throughout. His mom fell ill in 2017, and Brycen was forced to provide for his family. He was left in charge with finances, finding affordable housing and helping his mom and brother stay afloat. 

YAP offered Brycen invaluable resources, and it opened his eyes to a trade that could change his and his family’s income. It also helped him discover a new passion — teaching.

Even after Brycen graduated from YAP, he routinely checked in with Goodwill staff between his college courses and part-time job. He jumped at the chance to join Goodwill when a job opened for a YAP Program Assistant in spring of 2017.

Brycen was hired and for the next year-and-a-half mentored students. Then in summer of 2018 he had an eye-opening experience while leading the program’s AeroLabs week — an in-depth, hands-on project culminating with a presentation at a local Boys and Girls Club. He saw the impact his instruction had on students. He saw how students reacted to the life lessons he shared. Brycen saw an opportunity to make a difference. He was hooked.

It’s interesting to think my life has been changed by Goodwill, and now I’m changing lives. - Brycen

“There are several students currently that when I talk to them and they answer me, I am blown away,” Brycen said.

“It’s a great feeling to plant that seed and see something grow. It’s interesting to think my life has been changed by Goodwill, and now I’m changing lives.”

Brycen received a promotion to Program Specialist in October 2018. He’s gaining teaching experience at Goodwill and has built a strong resume for a career in aerospace. Most importantly, with Goodwill’s help, he can now see a path forward.

“All my life, it’s just been surviving,” Brycen said. “It’s been getting the next thing done and moving onto the next (problem). Now I’m 21 years old and pretty much working a dream job that I just love. I really lucked out being with Goodwill.”

INSPIRATION: Maxina

My inspiration: “My clients inspire me. They remind me of me. Some we get that are in jail, they come from off the streets and under bridges. They remind me of where I came from and how hard it was for me. A lot of the inspiration that I feel
today is from the trials and the struggles that I went through with Seattle Goodwill. I had obstacles that I still had to face, but I had people there for me.”

Maxina still remembers sleeping on streets, supplying her drug habit by any means necessary and thinking she wouldn’t live to see her 27th birthday.

That life — a dark, harrowing past spent largely in the prison system — feels light years away now.

But every Monday-to-Friday that Maxina wakes up and drives to her work in Skagit County, she vicariously revisits her past.

“My clients, they remind me of me,” said Maxina, who works as a Chemical Dependency Professional Trainee at Pioneer Center North (PCN), an in-patient treatment facility in Sedro-Woolley. “They remind me of where I came from and how hard it was for me. Without Goodwill’s help, guidance and belief in me, I probably would not be where I am with PCN.”

Maxina’s journey has been arduous and rife with suffering. She grew up in a dysfunctional home where for years she endured abuse. Maxina left as a teen, resorting to a gang life filled with crime. A final conviction in 2005 landed her a 129-month prison sentence. 

Maxina, removed from society, committed herself to change. She took nearly every class offered to her. She knew education was her ticket to a better life, but upon release in 2012 Maxina re-entered a world that only saw her past.

That’s when she first made contact with Seattle Goodwill.

“I went through (Goodwill’s) Re-entry Program in Bellingham,” Maxina said. “When I got out of prison it started with Goodwill. It was my first time back in society, and the first time I wasn’t rejected. Being able to engage with people at Goodwill, that was a confidence booster. That kept me on a path.”

Receiving the support she needed from Goodwill, Maxina — a proud Nooksack Native — enrolled at Northwest Indian College in 2013. She didn’t take a single quarter off and graduated with her Bachelor of Arts in Human Services in 2016.

But Maxina learned during her job search that her record was a large barrier to her finding employment. Frustrated with her inability to evade her history, Maxina visited Goodwill’s Mount Vernon Job Training and Education (JTE) Center in 2017.

“Mount Vernon gave me a volunteer position in JTE,” Maxina explained. “I tried to get jobs everywhere. It was my record that prevented me, so becoming a volunteer — answering phones, talking to students, helping them fill out job applications — that gave me that oomph.”

Meanwhile, Maxina began working at Goodwill’s Mount Vernon retail store. The job provided an income while she searched for work in the Human Services field. 

From Goodwill, Maxina was provided vouchers for interview clothing. She kept her skills fresh as a volunteer and developed valuable Goodwill mentors.

Finally, after a year working to clear her background, Maxina received a job offer at PCN.

“Every time a door was closed, I went to find a new one,” Maxina said. “I kept knocking. There was one point I thought I wasn’t going to get there, but Seattle Goodwill has been a great light of my path.

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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. 

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