Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee

Founded in 1957 as a not-for-profit, Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee's mission is:  We sell donated goods to provide employment and training opportunities for people who have disabilities and others who have trouble finding and keeping a job.  We welcome everyone, as long as he or she wants to work.

At Goodwill we believe in giving a hand up, not a hand out; a saying coined by our founder, Edgar J. Helms.  After doing missionary work in the slums of Boston in the early 1900s, Rev. Helms found that the people he worked with often needed help, but did not want to take something without giving something in return.  He realized how important it was for those in need to maintan their dignity and recognized that if they could pay a small price or perform a task to get the items needed then they were well served.

Goodwill accepts gently-used household items that donors no longer want, need or use.  Those items are sold in our retail stores or online through shopgoodwill.com  The revenue from the sale of donated goods helps fund our job training services and programs.  In addition to our retail sales, Goodwill depends on several other revenue sources.  Our Goodwill is the only Goodwill in the U.S. with a professional sign shop onsite.  Sign Solutions offers offers design and printing services for every size business.  To find out more, please visit goodwillsignsolutions.com. Goodwill also receives state and local grants which help fund our programs.

Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee is based in Nashville, Tenn. The agency employs more than 1400 people and serves 46 counties throughout middle and west Tennessee.  We operate 32 retail stores, including an outlet store, 60 donation sites and 15 Career Solutions offices.  Goodwill is middle and west Tennessee's largest employer of people with disabilities with more than 80 percent of our workforce reporting some type of disability or disadvantage. 

Although affiliated with Goodwill Industries International in Bethesda, Md., we operate independently through our own governing board of directors.