| Supported Employment

Goodwill Wins Multiple Awards at Annual IPS Awards

Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin, several members of Goodwill’s Individual Placement and Support (IPS) team and one of Goodwill’s employer partners have been recognized for their achievements in helping people with mental health concerns better their lives through employment.

IPS is an international evidence-based program that helps people with mental illness and/or substance use disorders find and keep jobs. The program can also assist with educational goals that will lead to employment. Goodwill operates IPS services throughout Milwaukee County.

The IPS Awards are given out each year at the annual Wisconsin IPS Learning Collaborative Conference. Winners are nominated by their peers, supervisors and community partners.

Goodwill was recognized in the following categories:

Shawn lives by himself and enjoys the connections he has with his church, watching TV (Knight Rider is his favorite) and daydreaming.

Goodwill's Individual Placement and Support (IPS) program is a partnership with the Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division, Wisconsin Division of Rehabilitation (DVR), the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and the University of Wisconsin - Madison.

Crystal was a young teen mother when she began working at Goodwill. Faced with the challenges of a baby to care for, her job attendance began to suffer. After talking with the Goodwill management team, Crystal focused on how to improve her situation and entered Goodwill's Career Path program. Now Crystal enjoys a healthy work-life balance and providing for her son. When you shop and donate to Goodwill the revenue from the sale of donated goods helps people like Crystal overcome barriers and gain independence.

Ron

For Ron, working at Goodwill is the best job he's ever had. He's seen first-hand how Goodwill saves lives. As a Director of Goodwill's Supply Chain, Ron oversees an operation of 75 people, and each person has a story to share. For some it's about transformation, for others it means overcoming hardships as well as gaining dignity and independence.

Barriers to employment can take many forms. For some, child care or transportation issues can make it difficult to find or keep a job. For others, it may be a language or literacy issue. Serving people with disadvantages is a part of the Goodwill mission, and Keishla is an example of what happens when barriers are broken.

While living in Puerto Rico, Keishla graduated with degrees in forensic science and chemistry but was unable to obtain meaningful employment and was struggling to support herself. Faced with fear and limited career options after graduation, Keishla was determined to move her life forward and made the difficult decision to leave her family in Puerto Rico and move to Wisconsin for a fresh start.

A Bright Future Ahead

If you ask Musetta about her future dreams, she does not hesitate with her response. “I want to get my degree in child care. Then I want to move to California and work in child care.”

Making People Smile

“Demetrius brings a positive energy to work everyday!”

The name’s Fun…Mr. Fun

Whether it’s sharing laughs with his coworkers at Serb Hall, riding his bike around Milwaukee, or playing basketball, Joey has a good time in any situation- even cleaning his house!

Gino's Success Story

Working Hard at Hardee’s

Gino is a man of many talents and as he started his path with Goodwill’s Work Services program, he soon expressed how he wanted something different and more for himself. Gino was able to find that at Hardee’s Restaurant. As a combined food preparation and service worker at Hardee’s, Gino assists with food preparation, unloads trucks and puts items away, double checks the inventory sheet, changes ice/soda machines, brings food out to the customers and helps out with keeping the lobby area clean, especially during the very busy classic car shows.