OUTLOOK The Official Newsletter for Supporters of Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries
Fall 2013
Your Gift Makes a Difference for Young People Like Jamal Meet Goodwill’s Special Guest Speaker From The Good Party Maybe you know a young person like Jamal. He’s bright and energetic. He loves playing sports and he has a great future ahead of him — at college and beyond. But earlier this year, Jamal’s life almost ended tragically. “I was playing basketball,” says Jamal. “I tripped and fell. My heart had stopped.” Jamal spent more than two weeks in the hospital. For the first seven days, he was in a coma. “After waking up, I didn’t know where I was,” he says. “I had terrible memory loss. I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t even talk. One of the doctors walked up to my mom at the hospital and said: your son is not going to make it.” What happened to Jamal was especially devastating news to everyone at Goodwill. You see, Jamal grew up nearby in Roxbury, MA. He attended Madison Park High School. He is also part of the Goodwill family — and he has been for a very long time. Eleven Years Ago Jamal’s mother is the one who sent him to Goodwill eleven years ago. She knew that Goodwill offered a safe haven to kids. She wanted her young son to avoid the streets, and be in the structured environment that Goodwill provides. “My journey started one summer at Goodwill’s Fresh Air Camp,” says Jamal. “Later, I enrolled in Goodwill’s mentoring program.” Even as his family experienced the violence of his neighborhood firsthand, Jamal persevered. He became a Goodwill mentor himself and then enrolled in college last year.
Jamal has relied on Goodwill for more than a decade. Today, he is a sophomore at Mount Ida College in Newton, MA. These pictures show him at The Good Party 2013 — where he also met Keith Motley, PhD, Chancellor of UMass Boston.
Throughout his childhood, Jamal relied on Goodwill. He depended on the programs that you make possible when you give. That’s why Jamal was invited to tell his story at Goodwill’s annual fundraiser — The Good Party — which was held in June. He is a great example for how your support of Goodwill makes a life-changing difference to young people in need. At His Bedside “Goodwill’s programs have helped me in so many ways,” says Jamal. “When I woke up from my coma, it was no shock to see members of my Goodwill family at my bedside.”
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OUTLOOK Fall 2013 Goodwill’s Five-Year Strategic Plan is Finished
The Good Party from page 1
How Your Next Gift Will Help
Despite the prognosis of doctors, Jamal has beaten the odds so far. While he is not able to play sports the way that he always did, and may never do so again, he walked out of the hospital grateful and prepared to face new challenges - knowing that everyone at Goodwill is behind him. Jamal worked at Goodwill this summer, and last month he started his sophomore year at Mount Ida College in Newton, MA. He might be a college student now, but he is not far away from his friends at Goodwill who are so proud of him. “When I walked through the door at Goodwill eleven years ago everyone was a stranger,” he says. “Now, Goodwill is my family.”
Your partnership with Goodwill is as important as ever. You’re the reason that youth from urban neighborhoods rely on Goodwill. Individuals with barriers to employment — including those with disabilities — turn to the Goodwill programs that are made possible through your generous support. Since you’re already a valued Goodwill supporter, it is important for you to know that Goodwill just completed a comprehensive strategic planning process. The result is a long-term vision for how Goodwill is going to use your future gifts to help people in need. Here are Goodwill’s Guiding Principles for Growth — taken straight from the organization’s new strategic plan: • Stay focused on those with significant barriers to employment and self-sufficiency With your • Offer services that enhance existing continued support, programs and services and improve Goodwill is ready to help job placement and retention people like never before. Please outcomes • Assess labor market information to renew your contribution by visiting www.goodwillmass.org/outlook target industries with job opportuntoday. That’s the best way you can ities appropriate to the individuals help Goodwill have an impact Goodwill serves on someone’s life as soon • Build strong links to employers to as tomorrow. assure jobs are available to the individuals Goodwill serves
Upcoming Goodwill Events You support outstanding programs each time you give to Goodwill — including initiatives that help people who are struggling to make ends meet. Below are upcoming annual events that are held to benefit Goodwill’s many program participants and their families: • November 26 Thanksgiving-in-a-Basket • November 27 Thanksgiving Dinner • December 14 The Goodwill Holiday Party
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Throughout his childhood, Jamal relied on Goodwill. He depended on the programs that you make possible when you give. Your gifts support Goodwill’s Youth Initiative and young people like Jamal. Please continue to give generously. Visit us at www.goodwillmass.org/outlook to watch excerpts from Jamal’s speech at The Good Party 2013. Then make your next gift to Goodwill today.
Fall 2013
OUTLOOK
You Change Lives Each Time You Give Kathleen Sifuentes (second from left) is a Goodwill success story. She is pictured with (L to R): Nancy Aubrey, Managing Director at McGladrey, LLC, Joanne K. Hilferty, President & CEO of Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries and Janet Wu of WHDH-TV 7 in Boston.
Put Your Clothes to Work Goodwill’s Annual Clothing Drive Helps People Get Jobs If you found out that you had a job interview tomorrow, what would you do first? You would probably go to your closet and choose the clothes you want to wear — the outfit that would help get you the job. But what if you didn’t have interview-appropriate clothes? For individuals in need, and those with barriers to employment, having the right interview clothes is important. Being dressed appropriately provides confidence and a sense of worth. That’s why Kathleen Sifuentes was invited to speak at Goodwill’s Put Your Clothes to Work reception earlier this year. Kathleen is a Goodwill success story — one of many that happen because of donors like you. When Kathleen was looking for work, she came to Goodwill because she was unable to find a job despite looking for a few years. She completed an eight-week training seminar at Goodwill called HELP. In addition to the job training she received, Kathleen was also able to select interview-appropriate attire that had been donated through Goodwill’s Put Your Clothes to Work initiative. The happy ending to Kathleen’s story is that she got the job! Kathleen now works in a position she enjoys at North Suffolk Mental Health Association — a nonprofit that provides mental health services for children and adults in underserved communities throughout Boston. She’s grateful to Goodwill and supporters like you for making an amazing difference in her life. Do you have gently-used clothing that could help someone in need land a job? Do you want to support outstanding Goodwill programs such as HELP and Put Your Clothes to Work? If so, visit us online at www.goodwillmass.org/outlook to learn more.
Goodwill’s Jobseeker Programs Take Shape Thanks to Your Support Want to know how your next gift to Goodwill could help someone in need find a job? You don’t have to look any further than the following programs — which were made possible because of valued donors like you: • Goodwill launched the Will to Work program in 2012. It is already a model for helping young people with disabilities find meaningful employment. • Last year, almost 10,000 jobseekers sought help at Goodwill’s Boston Career Link — a one-stop career center that “links” employers with prospective employees. • Through Goodwill’s AbilityOne program, individuals with disabilities earn regular paychecks. Together, program participants cleaned and maintained more than seven million square feet of office space in Greater Boston alone last year. You can learn more about the breadth of Goodwill’s mission to serve those in need by visiting www.goodwillmass.org/outlook. While you are on our website, please continue your generous support of Goodwill by making your next gift online today.
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OUTLOOK Fall 2013
One Goodwill Supporter’s Remarkable Gift Martin Cairns Lived with a Disability that Never Stood in His Way Your gift to Goodwill makes a difference in the lives of people in need — and it does not matter how much you give. At Goodwill, every gift matters. But some contributions stand out. This past summer — on July 1, to be exact — Goodwill received an ordinary envelope in the mail. Enclosed in that envelope was a short letter and a truly extraordinary gift from a man named Martin Cairns. Goodwill helps people like Martin each day of the year. That’s why the Goodwill community is so grateful to him and the entire Cairns Family for this amazing gift. Martin set a wonderful and inspiring example during his life — one that proves just how much a job can mean to someone with a disability. For 28 years, Martin ran the Juror’s Inn Snack Bar at the courthouse in New Bedford, MA. He never held a driver’s license. And yet, he always arrived at work early each morning. It did not matter if he had to catch a ride, take the bus or walk. To Martin, employment brought purpose to each day. Your gift to Goodwill helps people like Martin overcome obstacles in life. That is because each time you give, your gift is used to provide job training and career services for people who face barriers to self-sufficiency. In fact, you never know just how much of a difference your next gift might make. You could be the reason someone like Martin gets a job — one that changes that person’s life for years to come.
To learn more about Goodwill’s efforts to help individuals with disabilities, please visit www.goodwillmass.org/outlook today.
Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries 1010 Harrison Avenue Boston, MA 02119 Tel: 617-445-1010 www.goodwillmass.org/outlook
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Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. Your gift to support Goodwill is fully tax deductible to the extent provided by law.