Goodwill invests $100,000 into other local nonprofits, moving more people toward personal stability

Goodwill NNE recently gave $100,000 in gift cards to local to shelters, housing authorities, community action programs, immigrant services and workforce stability services. Goodwill is investing $100,000 in local nonprofits to expand its impact and speed up its goal to move 10,000 local people into stability by 2027. New nonprofit partners this year include Tedford Housing (Brunswick, Maine), Cross Roads House (Portsmouth, NH) and Waypoint (Manchester, NH) – each receiving thousands of dollars in Goodwill gift cards, which they can give to their clients in need. 

“We’re pleased to continue the Partner Stability Fund. We know that people need supports — like Goodwill’s workforce services, which offers free career training and job placements — to help them achieve personal stability, but sometimes people need the basics like coats and boots,” said Barbara Sawyer, Volunteer & Community Partner Manager. “Other nonprofits help people in need in their own ways, and by supporting their work, we can collectively help more people than on our own.” 

Goodwill moved more than 7,000 people into personal stability in the last five years through its healthcare and employment programs.  

This year’s investment ties last year’s as the most generous in Goodwill’s history. 

The Partner Stability Fund is possible because of generous donors, corporate partners and shoppers at Goodwill stores who “round up” at the cash register. The program replaces an old paper voucher system with new gift cards for customer ease and dignity. 

This year’s nonprofit partners include: 

MAINE 

• Bangor Housing Authority – Bangor Housing provides housing for low to moderate-income households. They operate 741 affordable and market-rate apartments in the greater Bangor area. 
• Hospitality House – The Hospitality House is Knox County Homeless Coalitions’ extended stay family shelter. The shelter provides a temporary home for up to 22 people, half of whom are usually children. 
• In Her Presence – This nonprofit is for and by Immigrant women and their families. Programs center around English, job readiness, career exploration and education, wellbeing, childcare and parenting support, immediate needs (food, shelter, clothing) and community engagement. 
• PENQUIS – Penquis works to alleviate and eliminate the causes and conditions of poverty. Penquis serves low and moderate-income people in Penobscot, Piscataquis and Knox counties. 
• Tedford Housing (new partner!) – Tedford Housing was founded by the Brunswick Area Interfaith Council (BAIC) to provide emergency shelter for the area’s homeless adults in 1987. The nonprofit’s programs and services include Emergency Shelters, Homeless Prevention, Warm Thy Neighbor, and Supportive Housing. 

NEW HAMPSHIRE 

• Cross Roads House (new partner!) – This nonprofit was founded in 1982 to provide emergency and transitional shelter to homeless men, women, and children in the Seacoast Area. Cross Roads House provides homeless families and individuals with basic necessities as well as the tools and guidance needed to help them return to permanent housing. 
• Families in Transition (FIT) – FIT is one of the largest homeless services organizations in New Hampshire with locations in Manchester, Concord, Dover, and Wolfeboro. They provide innovative and effective interventions specifically designed to help homeless individuals and families reach beyond the cycle of homelessness to lead healthy and successful lives. 
• Waypoint (new partner!) – Waypoint is a nonprofit that provides an array of services including prenatal support, parent education/family empowerment, services for children with developmental concerns or chronic health conditions, childcare, mental health counseling, family preservation, supervised visitation, foster care, homeless youth continuum, home healthcare for older Americans and adults with disabilities, and advocacy.  

VERMONT 

• Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS) (new partner!) – This nonprofit believes every individual possesses an innate dignity, a capacity to overcome adversity and a potential for transformation. COTS utilizes this philosophy to provide programs and services in housing navigation, housing retention, emergency shelter, and transitional and permanent housing.  
• Green Mountain United Way – To tackle people’s barriers to employment United Way of Northwest Vermont, Green Mountain United Way, and other community partners joined forces and founded Working Bridges, a public-private, multi-sector employer collaborative. Through shared resources, employers are minimizing employment barriers for their low-to-moderate wage workers and maximizing the supports employees need to be successful and improve their lives. 

• United Way of Northwest Vermont – Working Bridges understands that barriers such as childcare, reliable transportation and acute need for emergency financial assistance get in the way of continuous employment and derail good employees. This program helps with people’s long-term success. 
• University of Vermont Medical Center Employee and Family Assistance Program – This no-cost counseling program helps UVM Medical Center employees effectively deal with personal problems, substance use issues and work-related problems that may impact job performance, mental and emotional wellbeing, and overall life satisfaction.  

The Partner Stability Fund is possible because of generous shoppers and donors, as well as support from Mascoma Bank.

Goodwill Northern New England is a nonprofit social enterprise in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. Our revenues fund our mission to invest in people who need support to achieve their work and life goals. Goodwill NNE’s programs include workforce training programs, 16 group homes that support adults with disabilities, active community supports for adults with disabilities, AmeriCorps programs, business-cleaning services, and Goodwill NNE operates two brain injury clinics to help people get back to their lives after a brain injury. Of course, our stores also embody our mission to support the Earth through re-use, while offering good jobs and free supports to all sorts of people. For more information visit GoodwillNNE.org.