This year, a new partnership between Day Services and Retail has Goodwill Store & Donation Center leaders “Inspired by People.” Several store leaders had the opportunity to spend a day working with our Clubhouse and Day Services participants at the Goodwill Center for Work and Training – Southwest Campus. By assisting with art projects, cooking classes, and even being a bowling coach for the day, store managers have had chance to see, first hand, the ways in which Retail revenue helps drive Goodwill’s mission of providing supportive services to people with disabilities or disadvantages who seek greater independence. Jason Hwang, Manager at Naperville, commented, “It was truly great to see how all of our hard work generating revenue for our mission pays off. I had a blast working with the group! I truly hope we continue to offer more of these experiences for our managers as I believe we should all have the opportunity to see and experience our mission in action!”
Through this experience, Retail leaders are better able to explain to their teams why their work is so important and day program participants have gotten the chance to make a few new friends. The Retail Training and Development team plans to send more leaders to work directly with program participants this year.
Day Services Program Manager, Jennifer Houston, says of the experience, “It has been wonderful to have so many leaders spend time with our participants. We love giving others the chance to immerse themselves in our portion of the mission. I would encourage any Goodwill leader that is interested in experiencing the mission for themselves to spend a day with our programs.”
