Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee far exceeded its mission goals for 2014, providing free employment services and job training to 28,159 people — including more than a thousand from the Williamson County area — and helping 9,558 land jobs, the not-for-profit agency announced Tuesday.
Goodwill’s goals for last year were to assist 20,000 people and to place 6,000 in jobs. Those benchmarks were met in September. The organization, which serves 48 Tennessee counties, hopes to assist 30,000 people and place 10,000 in jobs in 2015.
Goodwill Career Solutions centers at 595 Hillsboro Road in Franklin and 1008 Nasdaq St. in Spring Hill assisted 1,580 people in 2014, helping 649 of those land jobs.
Goodwill sells donated clothing and household goods in its stores to fund its mission of providing employment and training opportunities to people with disabilities and others who have trouble finding and keeping jobs. Nearly 90 percent of Goodwill’s clients who find jobs are placed with other employers.
There are 1,500 employers actively hiring people who receive services from Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee. Goodwill’s 29 Career Solutions centers host an average of 100 job fairs per month for those employer partners.
The centers also provide a wide range of training, from job readiness and computer literacy to retail, hospitality and logistics programs. Many Goodwill clients also receive more advanced training and certificates in areas ranging from health care to security and forklift operation.
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