News

• Goodwill and Family Circle Magazine Partner for Donation Drive
  Help Goodwill and Family Circle Magazine collect five million pounds of donations for back-to-school clothing drive.
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• Jackson Diamond Jaxx Collaboration with Goodwill a Big Success
  Diamond Jaxx fans cleared out their clutter and cleaned their closets and gave their gently-used items to Goodwill during the Jaxx's Christmas in July event.
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• First Session Summer Students Have Graduated
  Goodwill graduates have completed retail training to prepare them to enter customer service jobs.
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Success Stories

Don’t let his shyness fool you. It only lasts for about five minutes and then Tim’s personality bursts into the air. Full of laughter and conversation, Tim talks about the Titans, his job, and just about anything with enthusiasm. Tim started out working at Goodwill unloading the trucks for a little over five years. When he expressed an interest in working outside of Goodwill, his case manager jumped onboard and helped him find a job at Kroger. After only a short period of time, Tim worked independently without the daily help from Goodwill. “They keep me busy a lot,” says Tim.

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The smile glows across her face then swells and dives into the crinkles around her eyes. She radiates happiness. Ann smiles continuously, as if each thought that enters her mind calls upon a memory that wraps her heart in a cloud of strength, peace, and joy. All this, conveyed just through facial expression. Ann Pigg can’t speak. She lost the ability to use her vocal cords when a stroke, triggered by stress, cut off blood supply to her brain. Ann has a blood disease that causes the white blood cells to die then clot, which makes her susceptible to strokes. She’s had two, the first one very mild. She lost her ability to speak for a while, but regained it after speech therapy.

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The change in Tammy has been nothing less than amazing. After graduating from the West Virginia School of the Blind, she struggled to find sustainable work. That along with the death of her mother left Tammy angry and bitter. In the darkest times she felt like a failure with very little hope. After losing another job, Tammy decided to give Goodwill a try. She was given an opportunity to work hanging clothes at the Goodwill production plant where she has blossomed. With the help of supportive coworkers and supervisors, Tammy’s attitude toward others and even about herself began to improve. She takes pride in her work, hanging more than 1,000 pieces of clothes per day. That work ethic earned her the 2006 Donated Goods Processing Employee of the Year.

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No furniture. No dishes. No towels. No family pictures. No drawings her children made when they were young. Nothing. Gretchen Harvey arrived in October 2005 with just a few changes of clothes. She lived her entire life in New Orleans, but calls Clarksville home now. It has been a long, hard year for the Hurricane Katrina evacuee forced to rebuild her life from scratch. “I wasn’t going to leave,” said Gretchen. “We just evacuated a few weeks before and nothing had happened. But overnight the storm went from like a category 2 to a 4, and the family wouldn’t leave anyone behind.”

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“I used to be a fashion model,” says Jan. In the 1990’s, Goodwill held a fashion show featuring Goodwill clients—a memory that sticks out in Jan’s mind as she thinks of Goodwill’s 50th anniversary and its importance to her. “We’ve grown up with Goodwill,” says her mother, Jane. After Jan attended a private school for children with Down’s syndrome, the Gifford family found Goodwill and found a lifetime partnership.

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Rising above the noise from the loading docks and the forklifts at the 10th Ave. plant can be heard a booming laughter - laughter that had been missing at the end of 2006. Jason Tate was born with cerebral palsy and suffers from a heart murmur. While some may have lost hope, Jason’s mother, Linda, had plans for her son. “Some people may stay hidden, but I wanted Jason to be out in the world. I pushed for him to be mainstreamed. Some people resisted, but I kept pushing,” said Linda. Linda and Jason first heard of Goodwill while he was attending Antioch High School. A teacher gave Jason information about Goodwill’s Summer Youth Program, which helps teenagers with disabilities find summer jobs in the community. Jason worked as a stocker at Kroger and enjoyed

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A self-titled “adrenaline junkie,” James Wright wanted to experience it all. From rock climbing to flying planes to skydiving. He loves to feel the rush. Now, he misses the rush. In 2002, James’s parachute collapsed and left him flailing through the air before he hit the pavement—headfirst. Suffering from massive brain injuries, James was in a coma for 17 days. “They thought he might not wake up,” says his mother, Mary Wright. When he did come out of his coma, James had to start at the beginning. He was in extensive therapy for one year learning to walk, talk, and eat all over again. “It was almost like he was a baby again,” says Mary.

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When you meet Pamela, you’ll be struck by two things—her obvious happiness and her happiness to see you. Pamela can’t contain her joy. It explodes in her big grin that instantly has you grinning back. And when she speaks, she’s almost breathless, ready to tell you all the things she loves. Baking teacakes. Watching soap operas. Working with friends at Goodwill. And learning to operate a computer through Goodwill’s training.

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Being blind has never been an excuse for James. He was raised to take care of himself. James has never asked for a free ride. All he wanted was a chance to make a living just like everybody else. James came to Goodwill after being turned down for jobs before he could even really apply. A store manager focused on James’ abilities and almost immediately put him to work hanging clothes. A few months after he was hired a Goodwill Career Counselor helped James get “Artie.” Artie is James’ second Seeing Eye Dog and is James’ constant companion and friend.

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Similar to successful salesman, Johnny enters the room graciously, attracting attention with his warm greeting, recognizing those Goodwill friends not seen for years. When Goodwill helped Johnny land a job at Target over 12 years ago, Johnny’s life blossomed. According to him, Johnny was not always so outgoing and suave. “I used to wonder if people looked at me funny,” he says. Because of the job he obtained at Goodwill and the opportunity presented to him with Target, Johnny now enjoys dealing with the public and being social. Starting out working on an assembly line at Goodwill, Johnny now runs Target’s switchboard and mans the dressing room.

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“Restructure” and “redesign” are two very bad words in the mind of Roena Davis. Those two adjectives recently cost Roena her job as a sales coordinator at McGraw Hill. “They were basically trying to save money,” says Roena. McGraw Hill shut down two of its nine regional offices, one here and one in New Jersey. Just one day after Roena had hand surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome, she received a letter in the mail announcing her layoff. “It was pretty devastating—when you get near retirement and you’re a dedicated worker,” says Roena.

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From coast to coast, Paul Goldsborough searches for the smiling “G.” Full of energy and quick to compliment his teammates, 60-year-old Paul Goldsborough says he loves to work at Goodwill. “I like my job and I’ve got a great team that helps,” he says. In fact, Paul loves to work at Goodwill so much, he’s dedicated several years of his career to four different Goodwill locations—Orlando, Fla.; Fort Myers, Fla.; Portland, Ore.; and now Spring Hill, Tenn. Paul and his wife, proud grandparents of four, are movers and shakers. Wherever the grandkids go, the grandparents follow. “She wants to be near those grandkids,” says Paul. And from the way he talks, it’s easy to see Paul puts his wife, Nancy, first. “I just want to make her happy.”

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If there is a game on TV, Lambus is probably watching it. He loves sports, especially his hometown teams from St. Louis. But life hasn’t been all fun and games for Lambus. His past is checkered with drug abuse and problems with the law, but that is exactly where it all is - in the past. Lambus came to Nashville looking for a fresh start. He got the opportunity at Goodwill. Lambus started as a production worker and has gradually worked his way up to supervisor. Along the way he has learned a lot about life from some of the most challenged workers at Goodwill.

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Cordell never forgets a face or a name. It’s a gift that most could never claim, but that is part of Cordell’s charm. After attending special education classes, Cordell graduated high school and needed a job. He would often come with his mother to shop at Goodwill and one day she asked if there was a job for Cordell. There was more than job. There was a new home. Cordell makes new friends everyday with is his personal spin on customer service. He remembers every face, every name and every little bit of information he learns from a conversation. Cordell is also always quick with a smile and knock-knock joke which endears him to coworkers and customers alike.

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As the world’s most wealthy country, Americans have a lot to be thankful for—prosperity, freedom, and the chance to live the American dream. For many people with disabilities, getting a shot at the American dream comes to a standstill when trying to enter the workforce. According to the Office of the Disability Employment Policy, 70 percent of people with disabilities are unemployed. But for the 30 percent who do have jobs, earning that paycheck means dignity and independence—and something to be thankful for. Robert Thompson knows just that feeling. “They (Goodwill) don’t use my disability against me,” says Robert who is blind in his left eye and has a learning disability. Robert has worked at a Goodwill store in Nashville for almost two years now.

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