Category: Workforce

Angela Bernard, Goodwill Connects Vets

Angela Bernard is a US veteran and a single mom in her early 40s who lives in Bloomfield, NJ with her two daughters. Angela came to Goodwill Connects Vets in early 2022 when her job cut her hours and pay due to the pandemic. She was also facing eviction. Today, thanks to Goodwill NYNJ, Angela […]

Robert Sauerwein, Goodwill Connects Vets

Robert Sauerwein , an US army veteran, found himself homeless when his landlord decided to sell the private home where he lived and evicted him and the rest of the tenants without notice. At the time, Robert, who is single in his fifties,    was working at a drugstore and trying to make ends meet. Unfortunately, […]

Akia Spivey, Goodwill’s Pharmacy Tech Training program

When Akia Spivey graduated from high school in June 2021, she made a decision. She would get a job and break the cycle of poverty and unemployment that had plagued her family. She felt that she had no role models. Akia, a 20-year-old single Black Brooklyn resident who grew up in the Gowanus section, came […]

Goodwill recognizes 4 workers with disabilities and their employers during NDEAM

From L-R: Hyacinth Rose, Yasser Abbady, Frank Anzelmo, from the NYC Department of Sanitation, Goodwill NYNJ President/CEO Katy Gaul-Stigge, and Yvonne O’Connor, GoodTemps. On Thursday, October 20, 2022, Goodwill Industries of Greater NY and Northern NJ, Inc. marked October, National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). We hosted three events to celebrate the many accomplishments of […]

Impact story Jesus

Jesus Rodriguez was a taxi driver before the pandemic hit,, but lack of work forced him to applied for public assistance and become a stay-at-home dad. But Tragedy had literally hit home earlier; fire consumed his home and he lost everything. His wife worked to support the family while he sought a stable job. As […]

Olive Zachowski – Legal Services

Olive Zachowski had been on and off public assistance for about 3 years before joining Bridge To Tech. Her background was in theatrical carpentry and other odd jobs working with her hands, but when theatres closed due to the pandemic, she found it difficult to find employment.  Olive came to Goodwill NYNJ on February 20, […]

Larry Thompson – Warehouse Specialist

Larry Thompson, an African American single Newark resident in his early sixties, had served our country proudly as an Army Cannon Crewman. The US veteran was referred to Goodwill NYNJ’s Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program(HVRP)  in August 2021. He was homeless and had been sleeping by a Stop and Shop store. So our team immediately took […]

Daris Glisson – Warehouse worker

When Daris Glisson, a 45-year-old African-American Clason Point resident, joined our Jobs Plus program in 2016, he was unemployed and had no clear career direction. At Jobs Plus, Daris obtained his OSHA Certification, received job readiness training, interview and resume preparation assistance, and job and career advancement referrals. The Jobs Plus team help him get […]