Who We Are
Our Mission
To create life-changing opportunities for people with disabilities or other barriers to employment.
Our Vision
Ensure all people, particularly those who are the most vulnerable in our communities, achieve their fullest potential through the power of work.
Our History
Goodwill was founded in 1902 in Boston by Reverend Edgar J. Helms, a Methodist minister and early social innovator. Helms collected used household goods and clothing in wealthier areas of the city, then trained and hired those who poor to mend and repair the used goods. The goods were then resold. The system worked and the Goodwill philosophy of giving a “hand up, not a hand out” was born.
Forty-six years later, seven men from the downtown Lions Club saw a need for Goodwill in South Texas and chartered what would be Goodwill Industries of South Texas in 1948.
What We Do
Goodwill’s business model is designed to be sustainable by creating revenue generating business lines that not only create jobs for people served, but also contribute to the bottom line. Today, Goodwill’s business model is organized around three major divisions which are:
Mission Services: focuses on providing the training and support people need to gain and maintain employment.
Donated Goods: supports mission services through the sale of donated clothes and household items at Goodwill stores throughout South Texas and online through shopgoodwill.com (the first nonprofit internet auction site).
Commercial Services: creates employment opportunities for people by contracting with local businesses or government to provide services such as document destruction, mailroom management, pallet manufacturing, temporary services (known as Goodwill Staffing Services or GSS) and custodial and groundskeeping.
Brought to you by
Engagement Zone at UTRGV
