Goodwill Keystone Area - Facing life challenges - Part 1

ÐÏ à¡± á > þÿ 6 8 þÿÿÿ 5 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿì¥Á #` ð ¿ bjbjm¥m¥ .$ Ï Ï ÿÿ ÿÿ ÿÿ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¸ ¼ ¼ ¼ ¼ Ð ¸ — ¶ ð ð ð ð ð Ë Ë Ë $ M h µ z < ¤ ² Ë Ë ² ² < ¤ ¤ ð ð Û Q j j j ² ¤ ð ¤ ð j ² j j ¤ ¤ j ð ä P}xÀ¸¿Ê ¼ ¼ " j g 0 — j / Þ ‚ / j / ¤ j ¬ Ë " í j ™ Ë Ë Ë < < ` Ë Ë Ë — ² ² ² ² ¸ ¸ ¸ ¼ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¼ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ÿÿÿÿ What is Goodwill about? Quite simply, it’s about facing life challenges My mother passed away in 1987. And, after she had passed away, it took a lot out of me. When she left me, I was alone. I felt very, very alone. I went to a Gaudenzia program for substance abuse. And after 80 days of treatment, they had us go out and look for jobs. I was just going around different places trying to look for employment. I decided to come here to Goodwill. Because was on Cameron Street and I was walking and I just came in the front doors at Goodwill. I had many, many, many, disabilities and I had finally reached a point in my life that I was tired of living with disabilities. And one morning, I was that depressed and discouraged that I told God I couldn’t do this anymore. And that morning I loaded a gun and I put it on the kitchen table. And there was a newspaper on the table. And I opened up the newspaper and when I did, there was this little ad in the newspaper that said if you’re disabled and you need help, call this number, and that was the telephone number of Lancaster Goodwill. I was at a point in my life where I lost my sister. She had cancer. At the time I had leukemia, she was going through cancer. And she was telling me to be strong, you know, stay positive. And while I was doing that, she lost her battle. Working is a big part of my life. It always was taught to me when I was a child that when you get older, you go to work. And when I found out I couldn’t work, when I first found out I had leukemia, and they told me I couldn’t work, that was harder than hearing I had leukemia. Goodwill helped Tyrone, Joyce and Valerie overcome their life challenges. Today they work for Goodwill Keystone Area, helping others to do the same. Goodwill Keystone Area: facing life challenges through work. Work does something beyond the paycheck for us as people. We believe at Goodwill, one of the core values that we have, is that work is a building block of community. And it’s not just that I didn’t have a paycheck now I get a paycheck, that’s important of course, but the work that we do interconnects us as people. We have friendships, we have relationships, we have meaning, worth, and purpose to life based on the work that we do. When you run into a stranger or you’re meeting someone at a mixer or you say, “Who are you? Hi, I’m Ron, what’s your name? Tell me a little bit about yourself.” How far down that list do you go until you talk about the work that you do? Tyrone supervises a custodial services team. It’s one of the many business services Goodwill offers, providing funding to create job opportunities for people with disabilities. You know I even know when I even strip and wax floors and things of that sort, and after you go back and look at what you accomplished, or people come to you and give you a compliment about your work, it makes you feel real good. Many of these folks with disabilities come to us and have little or no skills in terms working in the community. Joyce trains and places young adults with life challenges, like Danny, into jobs in the community. Danny has learned farming. He never misses a day of work. To work with these kids and see them grow and mature, that’s my reward. It actually makes me feel good knowing that I’m helping somebody else, and I can understand some of the things that they’re going through, and I know how it’s helped me get my life back. Valerie supervises several custodial crews and at times provides transportation for trainees who can’t drive. I work with a lot of disabled people, and to see them, the glow in their eyes, after I give them a compliment or see some certain skills that they didn’t have at first, but now they do and they be responsible, that’s what makes me feel real good about it at the end. First of all, I think Goodwill hires some really terrific professional individuals. Those folks believe in what they do. I think the staff does everything that’s humanly possible to help an individual achieve their goals. So the folks that come here and get the mission and get the fact that we’re an organization who’s trying to help people who are disconnected from community and who are not self-sufficient become more connected to community and more self-sufficient. For the folks in whom that passion burns, this is the place to be. n 5 € S y m b o l 3& ‡z € ÿ A r i a l " ñ ˆ ðÐ h ’*ã¦mKãF Ÿ ‹ € MSWordDoc Word.Document.8 ô9²q