With a new Goodwill location in Lima, hope and opportunity are coming to those who otherwise might not have had them.
Goodwill is more than just a thrift store: the company provides services to those that need help for a variety of reasons. Primarily, they focus on helping those with disabilities and vision problems, and people who might need additional help when looking for a job.
"[We help] folks who have challenges with employment, job seekers who are looking for the tools and resources to help them find that next opportunity, or for somebody who's been long-term unemployed, to get some resources around them to help them reengage in the workplace," said Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International.
The company prides itself in being able to help people who often have a more difficult time than others based on the obstacles they face - which may come from many different sources.
"I think that people are sometimes presents with a plethora of barriers, could be as simple as transportation, could be that they have a felony in their background, could be that they have a gap in their employment history," said Beca Sheilder, Regional Director of Program Services for the Goodwill Easter Seals of Miami Valley. "I think for us to be able to just provide additional services and support to them is really important, and I think there is more people out there than we are even aware of that need these types of services that we can offer them."
The new Lima location is on Allentown Road, which was specifically chosen based on how central it is to people that need the services the most.
"We really needed a nice, central location that people could easily access that allowed us to expand services - there's a lot of people in poverty, a lot of people with disabilities," said Lance Detrick, President and CEO of the Goodwill Eastern Seals of Miami Valley. "This is a nice, central location right next to the Walmart, where everyone was going anyway, and so it made a great place to start setting up those job programs for those people."
Those interested in taking advantage of the services can visit the community services regional headquarters, which is located next door to the store.
