In 1902 Edgar J. Helms, a Boston minister, conceived the idea of collecting unwanted household goods and employing jobless men and women to refurbish them. Income from the resold goods paid the workers’ wages.

The system worked and the Goodwill method of self-help was born.

“Giving a chance, not charity”

Today Reverend Helms’ philosophy flourishes among more than 200 independent Goodwills in the U.S., Canada, and 22 other countries. As the movement spread during Goodwill’s first century, it became the world’s largest network of privately operated vocational rehabilitation and employment organizations. More than six million people have come through Goodwill’s doors to transform their lives and build independence.

National watchdog groups and publications including Smart Money consistently give Goodwill Industries high ratings for the prudent and innovative use of funds.

Goodwill in Northeast Indiana

In 1937, Reverend Harley Davis established Fort Wayne’s Goodwill with a store and sheltered workshop. Since that time, it has been helping people with disabilities and disadvantages gain self esteem and hope for the future through the “power of work.” Over the years, Goodwill has seen significant changes and successes, including the elimination of sheltered workshops and an emphasis on competitive job placement within the community. Adults and youth are evaluated, counseled, and trained each year with the goal of placing them in meaningful jobs. Each person placed into a competitive job is one more positive, functional, taxpaying member of the community. Based on their skills and abilities, Goodwill-placed individuals earn wages that range from minimum wage to $35 an hour.

Goodwill’s client target population is adult and youth with disabilities, which include: physical, visual, hearing, autism, brain injury, learning, psychiatric/psychological, and developmental, and vocationally disadvantaged individuals who are often displaced workers.

Although there are now numerous thrift stores in northeast Indiana, Goodwill is the only one that has both a 100-year history of success and a focus on creating competitive community jobs for people with disabilities and disadvantages.

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