Woodward Dream Cruise

Remember when your mother told you “if you do good things, good things will happen to you in return?”

Well, I believe Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit has proven that old adage is true today - ten times over.

One example started back in 2006, when we quickly responded by helping to clean the streets for Super Bowl XL, something Detroit really needed. Roger Penske and the Downtown Detroit Partnership team remembered our efforts and we have been part of “Clean Downtown” ever since. From there, we have done special events clean-up for the Detroit Grand Prix, GM River Days, the Winter Blast and we expanded our clean-up services to the Detroit Zoo buildings earlier this year.

Now we have the opportunity to be part of another premier Metro Detroit event - the Woodward Dream Cruise. It’s possible through the generosity of Guardian Alarm Company, which has been a part of our community for more than 75 years.

We will be providing clean up service for Berkley and Royal Oak along the Cruise route once the cruising on Woodward stops late on August 16th. The Dream Cruise brings employment – no matter the duration of the work.

We have proven that we can handle one-time as well as ongoing work - whether it be clean-up, light assembly, recycling, investment recovery – for any employer looking for trained, trusted, and ready to work employees. We are ready to help! And that helps Southeast Michiganders help themselves by working rather than taking. That’s another good thing will bring good things for many.

Economic Impact

I am just back from a week in Washington, DC with my counterparts from Goodwills across the country. We shared information about the impact of Goodwill with our elected representatives that I would also like to share with you.

The numbers prove that Goodwill is an important piece of the effort to jumpstart Michigan’s economy. The 10 Goodwills in our state generate more than $100 million in annual revenue.

Here are the important numbers about the Goodwills in Michigan for 2007:
· $103.1 million in gross revenues
· Direct employment of 3588 people
· Served 28,949 clients
· Placed 6349 people in competitive wage job positions

Nationally there are more than 180 local Goodwill organizations training, preparing folks to be ready for work and trusted from the day they start working. I am proud that Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit is a key part of this important effort..

Trained. Trusted. Ready to Work.

Goodwill International New Leader Visits Detroit

We had a special visitor here at Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit last Thursday. Jim Gibbons, the new President and CEO for Goodwill Industries International, was here to visit Detroit and learn more about the important work that we are doing helping people to be trained and ready to work.

I hosted all of the Michigan Goodwill CEOs for a Goodwill Association of Michigan meeting for us to learn about what each other is doing in our respective geographical areas and to hear from Jim about Jim. Jim recently came from the National Association for the Blind (NIB) where he served as their President and CEO for nine years. Before that, he worked in the telecommunications industry.

Jim Gibbons lives the Goodwill mission every day as he is completely blind himself. He has been challenged by a disability but he has resoundingly won the battle. He was the first graduate of the Harvard Business School MBA program who is blind. Jim is learning a lot about all the wonderful work that we do with anyone with really any barrier to work whether it is a disability, or one of a myriad of others: chronically unemployed or underemployed, returning citizen, mental illness, people with HIV/Aids. He was particularly pleased to learn more about our Flip the Script program.

Young minority men ages 18 to 30, rewrite their life’s “script”, during a 16 week intensive classroom training program focusing on the fundamental principles of algebra, reading enrichment, social skills development, workplace ethics, male accountability and anger management.

And to all of you, who read this blog - As they say on the Motel 6 commercials of old, come and visit us anytime, “we’ll leave the light on for you.”

A Zoo Goodwill Partnership

I am often asked how a non-profit can thrive under in the challenging economic environment we now face. An important part of the answer is collaboration.

We can accomplish even better things when two different non-profits work together in helping others while helping each other.

Recently, Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit and the Detroit Zoological Society have done just that! The Detroit Zoological Society has contracted with our organization to provide janitorial services for the upkeep of the buildings at the Detroit Zoo. We just started on April 21st and it is going very well.

Half of the 12 positions created by the contract will be filled on a full-time basis. Many of these individuals who will be working previously experienced barriers to employment. We also plan to fill the remaining five or six positions on a transitional basis to provide 90 to 180 days of paid work experience before those people are moved into other permanent jobs.

Ron Kagan, executive director of the Detroit Zoological Society, recently said that our Clean Downtown initiative, in which people in our training programs earn a living by maintaining a clean environment in Downtown Detroit, showed the zoo we had the experience to get the job done efficiently and cost effectively. We are very excited about this opportunity to collaborate with the Zoo, keeping the buildings Disney-like clean and providing jobs for those who need and want to work.

Metro Detroit Generosity Shines

From time to time, upon reflection, it is easy to be proud of our community.

I learned of two examples in the past week that proved, once again, that no matter the economic circumstances, we Metro Detroiters really care about each other.

When the Hechtman Senior Apartments in Oakland County experienced a devastating fire, a call went out for donations to help affected residents. Within HOURS, they had everything they needed as people from the West Side, East Side and of all ages and races descended on the fire scene to drop off what they could.

And just this week, we learned that a local non-profit’s latest fundraising effort beat the national average for similar organizations by 8 percent!

It’s that culture of generosity that fuels the Motor City, no matter what the state of the economy. That spirit of philanthropy, among all groups in our community, is what will enable Goodwill to deliver on its mission in the years to come.