Library Collections: Document: Full Text

a. to engage in the collection, repair, salvage, and sale of discarded material. In determining the use to be made of such materials, primary consideration should be given to that use which will provide most employment opportunity, money and wages for handicapped people, and at the same time best supply the needs of customers in Goodwill stores.

b. to engage in the manufacture of new articles from discarded material or from new material, provided, however, that the very large proportion of the cost of manufacturing such articles must be in labor and that the material cost kept at a minimum.

c. to engage in such custom work, commercial and personal service activities as will provide employment for handicapped persons.

d. to engage in work under contract with commercial industry providing that the consideration be one that is fair to handicapped workers employed at the Goodwill Industries and that the acceptance of such work by Goodwill Industries and the consideration involved does not impair the labor standards in the industry with which the contract work is associated.

e. to encourage home craftsmanship by handicapped workers and to provide a market for the products manufactured by such handicapped home craftsmen, provided, however, such home craftsmanship shall be developed in accordance with recognized state standards.

f. to engage in such agricultural activities as will provide employment and self-help opportunities.

g. to engage in such housing activities as will provide better housing for Goodwill workers and people served through Goodwill Industries.

It is further suggested that it shall be the policy of Goodwill Industries to recognize only the highest standards of quality and workmanship in the reconditioning and manufacturing of material, and that it is the purpose of Goodwill Industries to turn as much material as possible into human well being, starting it on a second round of service rather than operate as a rummage sale or salvage establishment.

The Goodwill Industries is not a factory in the ordinary sense of the word, rather it is a creative enterprise, the product of which is the development of personality. Its task is to develop creative ability, stimulate self-respect, and assist handicapped and needy people to attain economic independence through its industrial activities. Through its religious and social service activities, it seeks to help each person contacted to realize the most abundant life of which he is capable. It should be careful not to force such services upon its constituents but should rather endeavor to create a desire for the finer things in life.

Persons to be Served Through Goodwill Industrial Program

The Goodwill Industries provides employment, training, and rehabilitation for people of limited employability, and temporary assistance for persons whose resources are entirely exhausted and who must become dependent except for such opportunity as may be available through Goodwill Industries. It is recommended that the following general order be observed in determining priority in the selection of persons to be served:

a. the physically disabled such as the orthopedically handicapped; the blind; the deaf; persons with speech difficulties; persons with health difficulties, such as cardiacs, diabetics, epileptics, and those with arthritis or arrested tuberculosis.

b. the mentally, emotionally, and neurologically handicapped persons including nervous breakdown, neurosis, broken morale, and impaired intellectual development.

c. the aged, including older persons ineligible for Old Age Assistance.

d. the socially handicapped persons including persons whose domestic situations prevent regular employment of self or breadwinner, widows inexperienced in industry, unmarried mothers, persons on probation and ex-prisoners.

e. the morally handicapped including drink and drug addicts and vagrants.

f. the economically handicapped such as the vocationally untrained, the misfits, the temporarily unemployed skilled and experienced workers about to become dependent.

This entire group of people to be served further divides itself into three natural groups:

a. those who are mobile and can make their way to and from the Goodwill Industries unassisted.

b. those who are physically handicapped but who can, with transportation provided, work in the Goodwill workrooms.

c. those who are so seriously disabled that work must be taken to them in their homes. In serving this latter group Goodwill Industries must observe the highest state and federal standards governing home work.

The available resources of money, materials, and orders, and the necessary building facilities and equipment constitute the principal limitation of the number of people in the first group which may be employed in Goodwill Industries. The physical condition of the individuals and the transportation facilities available are the only additional limitations applying to the number in the second group which may be employed. The degree of ability, the physical condition, the domestic situation, the type of work required and the local laws regulating home work are the additional limitations to be considered in the employment of the third group. In the employment of persons in any of the three groups, it must be remembered that so far as the physical, intellectual, and vocational abilities and development will permit, it should be the constant goal of Goodwill Industries to assist persons to graduate from homebound service to employment in sheltered workshops and finally to employment in commercial industry or to self-employment.