3Q_Ambassador_2009_web

Ambassador A Publication of Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, Inc. | Fall 2009

Shopping Online Browse and buy from Goodwill @ home.

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Donations in Top Ten

Our business is changing lives.

Nashville Teens at Work 1

Ambassador | Fall 2009

Goodwill Night on Broadway

Vice Chairman:

Tammy Glass, Vice President of Finance Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, Inc.

Robert McNeilly, III, President and CEO SunTrust Bank

Secretary:

Donna B. Yurdin, Owner Credo Management Consulting

Donations in Top Ten................................p.4

Goodwill Night on Broadway....................p.5 Nashville Teens at Work............................p.6

Kathryn S. Gibson, Accounting Manager Vanderbilt University Medical Center Department of Finance

IT Team Goes Green..................................p.8

cover story

Legal Counsel:

Christopher S. Dunn, Attorney Waller, Lansden, Dortch & Davis, LLP

J. Mike Bishop Asst. Vice President Pharmacy Services Health Trust Purchasing Group William H. Cammack, Trustee Chairman Equitable Trust Company Steele Clayton Partner Bass, Berry & Sims, PLC David Condra Chairman Dalcon Enterprises Gary W. Cordell Consultant Robert W. Duthie Founder Duthie Associates, Inc.

Deborah Y. Faulkner Inspector General State of Tennessee TennCare John C. Greer Vice President TennComm, LLC L. Hall Hardaway, Jr. Chairman (Retired) The Hardaway Group Jeffrey A. Hoffman Richelieu America, Ltd. Decosta Jenkins President & CEO Nashville Electric Service Robert B. Kennedy Vice President First Horizon Insurance Group, Inc. James L. Knight, Trustee President (Retired) Check Printers, Inc.

R. Craig Laine Rinaldo Group, L.P. Kevin P. McDermott Partner KPMG LLP

Fred T. McLaughlin, Trustee Branch Manager, Sr. VP Investments Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc. Thomas S. Stumb President Nashville Bank & Trust

John Tishler Chairman Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP George Van Allen President Nashville State Community College

Most donations are sold in our stores. But there are other treasures that are up for bid on onlinegoodwill.com, too.

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Twitter, YouTube & Facebook................p.12 Ford’s Lessons for Goodwill...................p.13 Goodwill Earns Peer Approval...............p.15 Project Organize........................................p.16

meet jane

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Cookeville career counselor Jane Byers offers compassion and hope to her clients.

President & CEO - David Lifsey Sr. Director of Marketing & Community Relations - Karl Houston Writer & Editor - Suzanne Kay-Pittman Art Director & Photographer - Scott Bryant Contributors - Matt Gloster, NaTisha Moultry, Ed O’Kelley, Susan McCullen and Ann Marie Sisk

Ambassador is a quarterly newsletter published by Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, Inc. 1015 Herman St. Nashville, TN 37208 For the nearest retail store, donation center, or Career Solutions facility, please call 615.742.4151 or visit giveit2goodwill.org.

The Ambassador provides its readers with stories about the events, activities and people who support the mission of Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee. We are pleased to provide you this information and hope you will share our publication with others. Please note, the opinions expressed in the Ambassador do not necessarily reflect an opinion or official position of the management or employees of Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, Inc.

Goodwill’s Mission: We sell donated goods to provide employment and training opportunities for people who have disabilities and others who have trouble finding and keeping jobs.

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Ambassador | Fall 2009

Ambassador | Fall 2009

Betty Johnson, Vice President of Employment Services Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, Inc.

Ambassador INSIDE

Treasurer:

J. B. Baker President & CEO Volunteer Express, Inc.

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Other Officers:

David Lifsey, President Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, Inc.

Board of Dir ectors

Board O ff icer s

Chairman:

John W. Stone, III, Partner White & Reasor, PLC

Donations Department Ranked Sixth in the U.S.

Giving to Goodwill Reaps Benefits Goodwill Night on Broadway is coming in October.

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elissa Gilbert, who starred in the television show, Little House on the Prairie, is coming to the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) in October. Gilbert is appearing as Ma in Little House on the Prairie, the Musical and will attend a reception at TPAC for donors who give to Goodwill and take advantage of discount tickets which will only be available to donors. Goodwill Night on Broadway is scheduled for Thursday, October 29 at 7:30 p.m. Ticket and donation information can be found at giveit2goodwill.org/news/special-events and at TPAC.org/goodwill.

New donation sites and employees have been added.

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etail demand in our stores continues to grow with sales up about 10 percent over the same period last year. In order to maintain a constant stream of new products to our 32 stores, our donations team is busy locating and securing new donation express centers.

The newest donation site in Murfreesboro is in the Food Lion Shopping Center at 3060 South Church Street and is the third stand-alone donation express center in the city. A fourth donation express center in Murfreesboro is in our store located at 710 Memorial Blvd.

Four new donation sites have opened since June with several other locations to open later in the year. In order to staff these new sites, Goodwill has hired eight new employees. Our Goodwill is ranked sixth among Goodwills in the U.S. based on the volume of donations given to-date and we are ranked number one in donations in the South Central region. We operate 66 donation express centers throughout middle and west Tennessee.

Goodwill has also opened a donation site in the Lowe’s parking lot in Gallatin, the second in that city. On Thursday, July 23, Goodwill celebrated the opening of our sixty-fourth donation site which is in the Lowe’s parking lot at the Skyline Commons complex near Skyline Medical Center. And a new donation express site opened in late July at 410 Genie Lane in the Lowe’s parking lot in Smyrna.

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“When I work with Jennifer, I extend the same assistance to her and Goodwill as I do to all applicants who come before the Zoning Board,” says Matthew Blomeley who is the principal planner for the City of Murfreesboro’s Planning and Engineering Department.

He adds, “We have never received a single complaint about Goodwill’s trailers and we never have to worry about Goodwill because your sites are well run and clean.”

Donations to Goodwill are sold in our retail stores and the purchases fund Goodwill’s mission of selling donated goods to provide employment an training opportunities for people who disabilities and others who hve trouble finding and keeping jobs.

To find the Goodwill donation site most convenient to you, please visit giveit2goodwill.org.

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ith just six months until Christmas, West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx fans received an early gift when they brought gently-used items to Pringles Park in Jackson to donate to Goodwill during the Christmas in July event July 8-11. A Goodwill donations truck was stationed at the entrance to the concourse and fans who brought a donation for Goodwill received a voucher for free admission to a future game. Goodwill received more than 80 donations over the course of the Diamond Jaxx’s four-game home stand against the Mobile BayBears.

Fall Donation Drives at Ensworth and B-A-M

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he Service Club at Ensworth School in Nashville is spearheading a Goodwill donation drive from September 28 through October 2. Both Ensworth campuses will participate and the Service Club hopes to collect enough donations to fill one of our 48’ trailers over the course of their five-day event in the fall.

hen you make a purchase at Books-A-Million in Murfressboro, you could be giving to Goodwill. The Murfreesboro Books-A-Million will ask shoppers if they’d like the store to donate 10 percent of their purchase to Goodwill during a donation drive from September 11-13. The monies will support Goodwill Cares which provides emergency assistance to families and individuals in need. Shoppers are also welcome to donate a new or gently-used book to Goodwill during the event. The Books-A-Million is inside the Stones River Mall located at 1720 Old Fort Parkway.

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Ambassador | Fall 2009

Ambassador | Fall 2009

Donations Manager, Jennifer Kalifa, is charged with managing the paperwork required by each local government when we open a new donation site, including in Murfreesboro, where Goodwill now has four donation locations.

Goodwill Goes to the Ballpark

Nashville Teens Working T S F hanks

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enny Gaines is a senior at the Nashville School of the Arts, and this summer he learned the art of sign making while apprenticing in our Goodwill’s SignSolutions shop. He’s happy to point out which signs he’s designed for the Story Building and several of our stores and says, “I’ve enjoyed being creative and learning new stuff. It’s been cool!”

Kenny, Katie Nance and Lequesha Berry worked for our Goodwill this summer through a program which used stimulus funds and helped hundreds of Tennessee teens enter the workforce. Fifty three Nashville teens, ages 14-17, were placed in a variety of jobs in area YMCAs, Metro schools, the Metro Parks Department, Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency sites, and throughout Goodwill’s many departments in this first-ever stimulus funded program.

Nance, a junior at Hillsboro High School did clerical work for the donations and marketing departments in the Story Building. This was the third summer Nance has worked for Goodwill. In 2007 she took part in the first Training Retail Associates Certification (TRAC) class and in the summer of 2008 Nance was placed in a job with Kroger through Goodwill.

The teens in the program were chosen because they face economic disadvantages or some other type of disability or risk factor. The program, which lasted through late July, mandates that the teens work no more than thirty hours a week and are paid $7.25 an hour.

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The students took part in a week-long orientation in June to learn job readiness skills, safety skills and how to manage their money. The classes were offered by Goodwill in partnership with the Nashville Career Advancement Center.

Kenny Gaines

Voice of the Titans Visits Goodwill

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ummer students in Goodwill’s Training and Retail Associates Certification (TRAC) programs visited various businesses throughout Nashville and took part in seminars presented by a

A Big Send Off! Sen. Thelma Harper (D-Nashville) was on hand for the students’ last day of orientation in June and sent them off with key advice. “Go to work with your best attitude because what you do today will benefit you many years from now when you’ve graduated and look for a job in your career.” She also added, “Enjoy looking at your name on that paycheck and don’t spend all your money on ‘stuff ’. Put it away and save it!”

“We were very excited to have the opportunity to provide the students with a basic foundation to employment. Our students had fun, earned money and developed a better perspective of how companies are structured in order to operate successfully,” says Debbie Grant, Goodwill’s development director for Career Solutions, who oversaw the program.

The teens were supported throughout the summer by 16 job coaches. For more information about the stimulus funded programs, please visit recovery.gov.

Lequesha Berry

wide range of guests, including Mike Keith. While that name may not have been familiar to the students, once Keith started chatting, the students knew they had the inside man when it comes to all things Tennessee Titans. Keith is the voice of the Titans, calling the team’s games on the radio.

Keith shared information about the Titans and told the teens it took hard work, perseverance and a positive attitude to help him achieve his goal of working for an NFL team. “I worked in small radio stations and for various other organizations making very little money. I was willing to take any job I could to learn as much as possible.

It’s important that you follow your dreams and take advantage of opportunities.”

Before joining the Titans, Keith worked in sales and told the teens that listening to customers is a great sales skill. He said, “People just want to be heard.

When you allow customers to talk about their concerns, you can help resolve issues, make them feel better about buying your products and in the end you will gain their respect.”

As for the Titans, Keith said fans shouldn’t be surprised if the team starts quietly and then ends the season with a bang.

He told the teens, “This is going to be a good year!”

STUFF THE BUS Gives to Summer Students

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he hot summer sun did not keep the volunteers from grinning ear-to-ear as they delivered several large boxes filled with backpacks stuffed with school supplies to our Goodwill. The volunteers included a large group of Target employees and their children who are part of the United Way of Metropolitan Nashville’s STUFF THE BUS initiative.

The 25 backpacks delivered to Goodwill were given to students with the greatest need in our summer programs. More than 15,000 school supply items were donated by area businesses and were delivered to 42 United Way partner agencies. The United Way volunteers stuffed 1,000 backpacks as part of the agency’s Day of Action.

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Ambassador | Fall 2009

Ambassador | Fall 2009

Berry, a 17-year-old junior at Hillwood High School spent her summer, “Learning work ethics and preparing for life,” while mastering the art of shipping packages in e-commerce. She says she, “Really loved her job and can’t wait to come back to Goodwill next summer and learn more.”

Katie Nance

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Goodwill’s Tech Team Goes Green

Construction Update

New NComputing system saves energy, resources and money.

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lients who visit Goodwill’s Career Solutions offices often need help updating resumes, doing online job searches and learning basic computer skills.

Counselors work with their clients in computer labs located at each of the company’s 15 Career Solutions offices throughout middle and west Tennessee. In order to stay current with the latest software and hardware, Goodwill’s IT team has started updating the computer labs with NComputing, a green technology which upgrades the computers with the latest operating systems, Microsoft Office packages and video options.

Director of IT, Ed O’Kelley, says, “This conversion means saying goodbye to expensive PC replacement cycles. Our Career Solutions labs will be equipped with modern training and job search technology.

NComputing requires only a single PC to be updated by the IT department and then the entire lab is completely up-to-date.”

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The IT team has already completed the conversion to NComputing at the Franklin Career Solutions computer lab and the Shelbyville lab. This new system allows as many as 30 computers to run off a single operating system which reduces the need for IT support at each lab. Trainers are also able to view all PCs in the lab on a single computer including client Internet searches. Ncomputing allows clients to download resumes and other documents onto a USB, giving them the ability to work on their documents at home or another location.

The conversion to NComputing will save costs for our Goodwill on several fronts. O’Kelley estimates a 42 percent savings for Goodwill on hardware and a 90 percent decrease in energy consumption. “The savings in electricity alone will pay for the initial start-up costs,” says O’Kelley. The conversion to NComputing at all 15 Career Solutions labs, including the two 20-seat computer training classrooms in the new Career Solutions building, will be done in phases and will be based on the age of each center’s equipment. It’s expected that it will take two years to complete the conversion.

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slow drive past the site where our new Career Solutions building is under construction reveals change and progress. The skeleton of the building is taking shape as the steel beams are being placed. Workers are also continuing excavation along the Ireland Street side of the property where a retaining wall will be poured.

The 29,000 square foot structure will sit at the corner of Tenth Avenue North and Herman Streets in Nashville.

Goodwill is incorporating many environmentally responsible elements into the construction process. The construction crews have dug 48 wells for the geothermal heating and cooling system. Each well is 500 feet deep.

The engineers explain that water will be pumped deep into the ground where it will reach a temperature of 55 degrees. It will then be circulated through the air conditioning and

heating systems, providing significant savings in the cost of electricity each season. In addition, the roof will be a white rubber membrane, reflecting the sun and heat in the summer, which will deflect energy costs.

David Lifsey, president and CEO of Goodwill, says, “The building will be one we know will conserve energy, making good use of resources available to us, and one we can feel good about.” He is especially pleased that the old building will actually be incorporated into the new structure.

“I’m excited about the pile of what looks like gravel on the site because it’s actually the old building, or at least the concrete blocks and cement from the old building, which have been ground up. The

gravel will be used in place of new rock for the new building.”

Once completed, the new building will house the Nashville Career Solutions staff, classrooms, training facilities and Human Resources.

Lifsey says, “It is fun to think of all of the people our Career Solutions staff will serve and the training programs we will offer. Our grand opening next spring will be here before we know it!”

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Ambassador | Fall 2009

Ambassador | Fall 2009

“Today’s PCs are so powerful that most people use less than 10 percent of a computer’s power. NComputing takes advantage of that untapped power and makes it available to several users who share the resources of a single computer,” says O’Kelley. He adds, “NComputing technology will allow our Career Solutions centers to deliver the same technology and tools that our clients will later utilize as employees at most companies.”

“This conversion means saying goodbye to expensive PC replacement cycles.”

-Ed O’Kelley, Director of IT

New Career Solutions building site cleared and concrete is being poured!

Sold!

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ookmark onlinegoodwill.com as your favorite Internet shopping site! Our Goodwill has been posting items for sale on the Internet, first with eBay and Amazon and then with shopgoodwill.com, since 2001. We’ve now launched the easiest way yet to search and find items through our e-commerce department with onlinegoodwill.com. Onlinegoodwill.com takes shoppers directly to our Goodwill’s online listings.

There’s something innately satisfying about buying an item online that is a rare find, a great price or is just plain fun to have. Onlinegoodwill.com allows you to search the thousands of donated items listed by our Goodwill including jewelry, art, clothing, books and electronics.

Tammy Glass, vice president of finance for our Goodwill, has overseen the e-commerce department as it has evolved from what seemed like a good idea to a group with 29 employees. “It has been really satisfying to see the department grow.

When we finally got a handle on recognizing many of the more valuable items that were donated to us, and started selling those items online, we knew our donors were pleased that we saw the value and merit in their donations,” says Glass.

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Onlinegoodwill.com lists more than 1,500 items at any time.

It’s expected that our e-commerce department will account for more than $1 million in sales in 2009.

“The listings and sales have increased steadily as our staff has developed better ways to screen donations for items of value. A recent example is a Marc Chagall print that sold at auction for $4,010. This print was discovered through a new procedure recently developed to enable us to screen all art objects,” says Steve

June 6, 2001 First online sale - eBay 2001 Total Revenue - $23,233 June 2004 Joined shopgoodwill.com 2007 Jewelry first listed through e-commerce

Baker, the director of loss prevention who oversees e-commerce.

September 2008 Books first listed through e-commerce

The latest update in donation screening came in mid-July when a new conveyor belt was installed in the hard goods area of the Story building in Nashville. Mike Eisenbraun, senior director of production, designed the system so the e-commerce team is able to review almost all donations that pass through the warehouse.

Baker says, “This will not only result in higher quality selections for our auctions but expedites the sorting process in the warehouse.”

January 2009 Most expensive item sold-to-date Ellsworth Woodward watercolor $7,500 Summer 2009 onlinegoodwill.com launched 2009 Projected total revenue - $1.3 million Average annual revenue increase 50%

One of the first big finds on the conveyor was a rare bronze tiger which was part of a three-piece desk set issued by Tiffany Studios between 1902 and 1932. It sold recently on onlinegoodwill.com for $568.

The next time you have the urge to find that one-of-a-kind bauble, first edition book or collectible, log on to onlinegoodwill.com. And be sure to search often since new listings are posted throughout each weekday.

Pictured above, counter-clockwise: Tiffany & Co.©-Elsa Peretti® Eternal Circle pendant and chain in sterling silver-$276; German bisque doll-$302.99; Marc Chagall hand-signed lithograph-$4,010; 1903 First Edition, Call of the Wild by Jack London-$582.03; Handy Dandy Pride Victory V3 mobility scooter-$300.

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Ambassador | Fall 2009

Ambassador | Fall 2009

Our Goodwill’s foray into Internet sales started with three employees and 63 rare bobble head dolls that collectively sold for $9,000 on eBay in 2001. Total online revenue that year amounted to $23,233. Today, onlinegoodwill.com lists more than 1,500 items at any time and it’s expected that our e-commerce department will account for more than $1 million in sales in 2009.

The largest growth in e-commerce, which was once housed in a small, non-descript office, has taken place in the past two years. E-commerce is now located in an 11,000 square foot warehouse with fourteen listers and additional support staff, including photographers, researchers and certified jewelers.

E-commerce Timeline

Do you Tweet?

Goodwill has entered the world of social media. Join us!

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f you have access to the Internet at home or at work, you might be tweeting on Twitter, posting updates on Facebook or watching videos on YouTube. Recognizing that these powerful forms of information sharing are driving our friends and families to the Internet for the latest news, our Goodwill marketing team has jumped head-first into Social Media. And you’re invited to join in the chatter!

We have a constantly expanding YouTube account, with video postings including news stories about our Goodwill, video we’ve shot at various events and our commercials from the “What You Give Me” television campaign.

Visit our YouTube site often at youtube.com/giveit2goodwill

Our Facebook page provides a simple way to share updates about our Goodwill, including videos, news, photos and messages. We’ve gained quite a following of fans and we welcome you to become a friend of our Goodwill by searching Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee on Facebook.

Ford Motor Company leader shares his experience with Goodwill.

The lessons from Ford’s decline and continuing slow and gradual rise, are easily applied to n 2006 Ford Motor Company was in a downward Goodwill, and most businesses, Lambreth told his financial spiral, losing $24,700 every minute of every audience. His lessons include: day, which added up to an astonishing $12.75 billion loss for the year. Clifton Lambreth was in the midst of • Simplify the processes and products. the misery at the auto giant, having worked for Ford for • Work should inspire and/or be informational to more than 20 years. Lambreth wove the tales of bad create a passionate and engaged workforce at decisions, large egos and poor product management into all levels. his book, “Ford and the American Dream.”

• The role of a leader is to empower employees Lambreth told his story to our Goodwill’s senior staff, to be successful, to cheer them on, all the career counselors and many other staff members in a while sharing the risks and rewards. packed Herman Street boardroom. The speech was also • Develop an environment that encourages truth simulcast via our intranet to our Career Solutions tellers rather than yes-men. counselors at all 15 locations.

• Listen to the voices of your customers, employees, competition and the business Lambreth’s passion for Ford was evident throughout his environment to help you implement new visit as he made the correlation between his company and Goodwill. “We all want the American dream. We processes, do more and sell more. want to provide a better life for our kids. That’s what • Decentralize decision making, giving Goodwill does. That’s what Ford does.” And that’s why employees a sense of ownership and Lambreth wrote his book, he explained. He wanted accountability, and don’t insulate management Ford to return to greatness. from customers.

After finishing his presentation, Lambreth signed copies • A company’s greatest asset isn’t fixed assets; it’s the people who work for the company. of his book for everyone who attended his speech. He also let slip that Hollywood is interested in his story and • Common sense is not common practice. Be a movie based on his book should begin shooting before willing to admit mistakes. the end of the year.

• Compensation should be tied to doing the right thing.

• Develop leaders at all levels to ensure overall effectiveness.

• Be wary of CAVE people who are Collectively Against Virtually Everything.

• And stay positive because problems are opportunities to excel.

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Clifton Lambreth signs his book for Jennifer Martin, Rivergate store manager.

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Ambassador | Fall 2009

Ambassador | Fall 2009

Twitter allows you to communicate, or tweet, with friends, family and co-workers about what is going on in your world at that moment. Tweeting is done via the Internet or by cell phone, using 140 characters or less. The marketing team tweets about everything from great finds in our stores and on onlinegoodwill.com, to donation partnerships, Career Solutions and other topics of interest. We gain new followers daily and if you’re not one of them yet, follow us @giveit2goodwill and @onlinegoodwill.

Lessons to Be Learned from Ford

Jane’s t r i a l s &Triumphs Even cancer doesn’t stop Jane Byers from becoming everything she intended to be...and more.

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wide-ranging review of our Goodwill and Career Solutions has netted the company accolades and continued accreditation with the Commission for Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) for the next three years.

CARF–accredited agencies, such as our Goodwill, must meet national and international service standards and are recognized for providing the highest quality services to their clients.

Jane Byers has proven mothers are usually right.

Her mom told her many years ago, “You can do anything you put your mind to.” Byers has succeeded in doing many things she’s set out to accomplish, even though she has faced significant obstacles. Cancer, fire, moving cross-country and a job loss have not stopped this determined woman.

A CARF surveyor, or inspector, spent several days reviewing every department within the company to ensure we operate in a fair, ethical and safe manner, and how each group interacts within the company. The survey by CARF focuses on job readiness and placement assistance for our clients.

To gain a better understanding of how our Goodwill operates, the CARF surveyor also visited area businesses which have hired our clients and met with one of Goodwill’s many referral sources to discuss the success his agency has experienced in sending clients for assistance. A counselor from the Department of Rehabilitation Services also made a special effort to speak on our behalf.

Today you can find Byers in the Cookeville Career Solutions office, counseling job candidates and working side-by-side with her clients. “So many of the people coming through our office these days are distraught. I listen to them and try to steer them in the right direction and get them the help they need.”

Byers is uniquely qualified to understand life’s hard knocks and getting back on track. She moved to Cookeville from California in 1998 and joined the police department as a Humane Officer, a program funded through grants. When the grant was not renewed Byers was without a job. That’s when a friend told her about Goodwill.

Ambassador | Fall 2009

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As with her clients, Byers has had to turn inward, and to others, to help her through life’s challenges. “I’ve had barriers in my life. I’ve had to get over a fire which killed my two dogs. I moved away from my family and

friends in California and then I lost my mother, and I wasn’t there with her.” While many of these personal obstacles would stop others in their tracks, life was still not finished with Byers.

In 2008, Byers was diagnosed with colon cancer. “I had two choices. I could lie down and die or fight it and that’s what I’ve done. I’ve been in remission since October.” For Jane Byers, the glass is half full. “I feel blessed because when I had chemotherapy and sat in the infusion room I saw so many other patients who had it a lot worse than I had it. If they could do it, so could I!” “Goodwill has shown me I have a family. I don’t know if I could have done it without Goodwill.”

Byers adds, “I always look for the light in a situation because it’s there. Goodwill gave me the light when I needed it.”

Our facilities and offices also had to pass inspection by the CARF surveyor. The surveyor visited the processing plant at Herman Street, the Story building and Career Solutions locations at Ninth Avenue, Berry Rd. and Rivergate. She inspected client and employee files, safety inspections and interacted with employees engaged in their work duties.

The end result was a glowing review by CARF and another three-year accreditation. We received 15 commendations and compliments. There was a special mention about how well Goodwill interacts with other community-based agencies and organizations. Goodwill was also recognized for its forward-looking efforts in the construction of the new Career Solutions facility to better serve the community.

A special thanks from Matt Gloster, senior director of Career Solutions: To say this inspection was all encompassing would be a gross understatement. It took everyone within the organization to make this CARF survey a success and it demonstrates the level of teamwork we have here at Goodwill. On behalf of Career Solutions, I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the success of this very important survey.

And now we prepare for 2012…

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Ambassador | Fall 2009

Timing is everything and when Byers applied for a job at Goodwill, she was hired as a lead sales associate.

Less than a year later she was managing the Cookeville store, a job she held for eight years. Then Byers made an abrupt career change and applied for, and was hired, as a counselor in the Career Solutions office in 2007.

“I understand my clients’ pain, anxiety and above all, their frustration.”

Career Solutions Receives Highest Peer Approval

Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, Inc. | 1015 Herman St. | Nashville | TN | 37208 Non-profit Org. U.S. Postage

PAID

Nashville, TN Permit No. 2009

Project Organize 2009 Clear the clutter - Enter to win!

Are you messy? Need help cleaning out your closets? Goodwill can help! Register to win a free session with professional organizer, Tanna Clark, and a free green•clean® CERTIFIED home cleaning service by Maid Brigade®, when you donate to Goodwill during the month of September.

Each donor in the Nashville area and surrounding counties will receive an entry form with instructions on how and where to register to win.

Visit our Web site at giveit2goodwill.org to learn more and register to win.

For more information about Tanna Clark, please visit completeorganizingsolutions.com, and for information about Maid Brigade, please visit midtenn.maidbrigade.com.

The deadline for entries is September 30.

Employees of Goodwill and their family members are not eligible.

Ambassador | Fall 2009

Sponsored by: 16