Category: Success Stories

Recently, one morning, the Workforce Solutions* office in Portland, Maine was bustling with activity. Ken Hull, Program Coordinator, popped up from his desk. With a big smile, he greeted a young woman, who was holding a baby in a carrier. Not knowing where to start, she expressed her interest in a pursuing nursing career. Ken shared some entry-level training programs…

When Melissa Price first walked into Goodwill’s LifeWorks Deaf Services she thought, “I think I’m home.” With her degree in Linguistics and American Sign Language (ASL), she was initially not sure what to do when she graduated. But, after hearing her classmates talk about LifeWorks Deaf Services, she found her way there initially as a volunteer. It wasn’t long before…

A few months ago, Tammy Parker made her dream come true and now works at the Mill Creek store in South Portland, Maine. Tammy doesn’t have a car, so she walks across the Casco Bay bridge to work every day. She loves her job so much, and says all of her coworkers are nice, helping each other get their work…

Rajaa Allahan picked up a kids’ board game called Guess Who? from the blue hamper full of items. She deftly flipped it around, looked inside, and placed a $2 tag on it. Her hands moved fast as she reached for the next donated item. Once she reviews and tags the items, she places them on the sales floor. Rajaa can…

In the summer of 2021, Emma Robbins got into a car accident. Doctors were unsure if Emma would survive. She drove her car off the road, and suffered from a traumatic brain injury on impact that she is still recovering from today. Since she was a teenager, Emma battled with drug and alcohol abuse and received treatment a few times. She…

“Now that’s a cool job!” Carina Ream thought as she was reading an article about a speech therapist who helps actors on their accents for movies. She was student at the University of New Hampshire and was considering how to combine her love of English and science into a career. Ultimately, this led her to graduate school to become a speech…

Jacob Allen can hit ski jumps, rock climb outdoors and rake in thousands of dollars in donations for important causes — but when it comes to things at home, he uses Margarita as his eyes. Jacob is blind due to a condition called bilateral anophthalmia, which means he was born without eyeballs. Because of his disability, Jacob receives in-home support…

“I found a career that makes me happy.”

Angie always dreamed of working in healthcare, but wasn’t sure what she could do as someone with Cerebral Palsy. Now, she’s the most independent she’s ever been thanks to her job as a food service worker. At Gray Birch Long Term Care in Augusta, Angie gets to help people everyday. She helps prepare food, set up for resident meals, stock…

“It was through my job at Goodwill I gained confidence, self-esteem and found my voice.”

Meegan was a firefighter and EMT for 26 years before her cancer diagnosis. In 2016 she got sick, and a year later she discovered a tumor had metastasized from her lung to her brain. Metastasis is when a cancer cell breaks away from where it originally formed, travels through the body, and begins growing in a new place. Meegan had…

Peter Martineau was the first Deaf employee hired to work with Deaf clients at Goodwill. He was young and it was his first gig, 35 years ago. As a young adult, he was still figuring out the basics like how to grocery shop and cook dinner on a budget. Funnily enough, those were the same skills he was teaching as…

With his big, infectious smile, Nate Hall stepped away from a box of donations in the backroom to take a break. He has been working at Goodwill for seven months now as a Donation Specialist where he accepts and sorts donations at the Maine Mall (South Portland) store. Nate works at Goodwill, in part to honor the memory of his…

Evan is one of Goodwill’s most beloved donation attendants. Since starting the job two years ago, local donors look forward to chatting him up when they drop off gently used items. Evan was diagnosed with autism when he was six. Now in his twenties, he brightens our Augusta store every time he comes in. He works a few days a…