Last year, Goodwill diverted more than 32 million pounds of product from landfills. Goodwill Dallas was founded in 1923 following the start of the first Goodwill Industry which was established in 1905 in Massachusetts by Methodist minister Dr. Edgar J. Helms. He said, “Friends of Goodwill, be dissatisfied with your work until every unfortunate person in your community has an opportunity to develop to his fullest usefulness and enjoy a maximum of abundant living.”

Goodwill Dallas prioritizes sustainability throughout the organization from reducing paper use to large scale goals of minimizing the number of textiles that end up in the trash. The best environmental outcome for any article of clothing or hard goods produced would be for it to be used again by someone to extend its shelf life.

The Goodwill team works hard to implement their strategic plan with four core values: respect, integrity, commitment and improvement. Community partnerships are critical to their success. Local businesses that allow for donation bins on their property help organizations like Goodwill reach donors easier and more frequently. School districts, colleges, faith communities and grocery stores can be a great source of donations.

At Goodwill, donations first come to the retail stores for shoppers to find unique treasures. After four weeks, goods that have not sold are sent to an outlet store that sells them at deeply discounted prices. If they still do not sell, they are sold to salvage buyers.

The mission of Goodwill Dallas is changing lives one job at a time, helping people with barriers to employment build skills, find jobs and grow their careers so that they can reach their full potential and experience lives filled with purpose, accomplishment and self-sufficiency. They offer a hand up, not a handout, to those in need.

Those barriers include individuals emerging from crises such as homelessness, addiction, incarceration, poverty or lack of education or skills to succeed in the workforce; and those with ,  physical, intellectual and/or developmental disabilities.

The Donated Goods Retail program provides employment via the recycling and reselling of material donations throughout 18 stores in an eight-county territory of north Texas, while keeping millions of pounds of reusable and unusable items out of our landfills. Every dollar that is generated from the retail stores is invested back into this program.

Employees that sort donated goods are trained to grade textiles and clothing according to a tiered structure so that customers can trust that they are pricing a Ralph lauren Luxury top differently than a Ralph Lauren polo. Goodwill also stays current with seasonal trends by back-stocking specific donations throughout the year. For example, storing winter clothes in the summer months to fill stores with coats, sweaters and boots when the weather turns cold, and vice-versa.

Workforce Development programs help individuals build skills, find jobs and grow their careers. Goodwill has mobile career sites to provide assessment, education, job training, coaching and career placement for clients. Goodwill also provides employment and skill training to individuals with severe intellectual and developmental disabilities through an Individualized Skills and Socialization training program. Online resources provide 14 digital skills courses and more than100 courses on the Goodwill Learning and Development platform.

The biggest challenge is competition for material donations and shoppers, including for-profit thrift stores, e-commerce, and other non-profits. Another challenge is the ability to pay or provide career pathways to clients to earn competitive wages on a sustainable basis. If our business and the greater economy isn’t thriving, then it’s difficult to help our employees and clients earn the best possible wages.

Goodwill Industries of Dallas, Inc., is located at 3020 N. Westmoreland Rd., in Dallas. For more information, call 214-638-2800 or visit GoodwillDallas.org.