2021 Program Highlights
Impact Report 2021:
- A word from President/CEO Clark Brekke and Chair of the Board of Directors Bridget Barrington
- How we help people build independence
Who we helped:
- Who we served by age
- Who we served by ethnicity
- Who we served by gender
2021 Program Highlights:
- Basic Food, Employment and Training: BFET connects Kevin with a job
- Building Independence: 2021 Independence Award Winner: Toby
- Building Financial Stability: Goodwill’s Representative Payee Program helped 1,252 in 2021.
2021 Program Highlights: Employment
- Finding jobs in the community: Joshua finds a job he loves
- 2021 Independence Award Winner: Ben
2021 Program Highlights: Housing
- Housing and Essential Needs (HEN): Matthew works hard to shelter his family
- Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF): Kohl uses help from SSVF to get stable housing for his family
- Goodwill’s SSVF program awarded additional funding in 2021
How we helped the Environment in 2021
Basic Food, Employment, and Training (BFET)
BFET connects Kevin with a job
Kevin was struggling with work skills and housing when he came to Goodwill. “Life was hectic,” Kevin said. He described his life as jumbled, and he had a lot of things going on without a lot of support.
Kevin needed some resources, some skills, and a little support. And he found that at Goodwill. The team in Goodwill’s BFET program (Basic Food Employment and Training) program connected Kevin with the help he needed.
Goodwill helped Kevin with housing resources. He also signed up for a seven-week series of digital skills classes. Kevin was the first graduate from this new class series, which is supported by a grant from the Caterpillar Foundation. The new skills helped Kevin get a job at Pure Vida. After he graduated, Goodwill provided Kevin with a Chromebook, which has helped him to complete his job duties at Pure Vida more efficiently.
Kevin describes life after Goodwill as being “good.” He now has a job and housing thanks to Goodwill services.
Building Independence
2021 Independence Award Winner: Toby
Toby finds the good in every moment and moves forward through hard ones. If he has a difficult day, he tells himself “You are supposed to [have bad days] so you can tell a good day.”
Toby’s been trying to make the world a better place since childhood. He got an award for leadership when he started his own neighborhood recycling business during elementary school. This was long before the university and city started recycling.
Toby has been part of the Idaho Special Olympics for over 30 years. He is also an artist. His artwork is seen often at Moscow’s Artwalk.
Toby finds many ways to be a voice to people with disabilities. He has worked at the Idaho Center on Disabilities and Human Development (CDHD) for 20 years. He joined the City of Moscow mayor and Friendly Neighbors on a trip to Boise to advocate for better accessibility. Together, they asked state leaders for money to make the Moscow Senior Center and Friendship Hall easier to access. They were successful and were able to remodel both.
Toby is also a member of Partners in Policy Makers. As a member, he talks to Idaho legislators to improve the lives of people with disabilities.
Helping people is important to Toby, so he became an officer at the Self Advocates Leadership Network (SALN). While there, he helped get money for a housing project for people with developmental disabilities.
Toby’s infectious laughter keeps his teammates at the Moscow Goodwill smiling. His coworkers love to work with him. In addition to Goodwill, Toby has worked in the maintenance department at the University of Idaho for 19 years.
Toby can do anything! He is the definition of independence. In March 2022, Goodwill was proud to award him a 2021 Independence Award.
Update:
Toby is increasing his hours at Goodwill. He has worked himself out of needing a job coach at U of I. He volunteers at the local food co-op. He was one of the artists featured in the Art Ability Art Show. Those artists get together as a group and work on a project regularly.
Building Financial Stability
Goodwill’s Representative Payee Program helped 1,252 in 2021
Goodwill Industries of the Inland Northwest has five Representative Payee offices. The offices within Washington are located in Moses Lake, East Wenatchee, and Spokane. The offices in Idaho are located in Lewiston and Coeur D’Alene. The East Wenatchee office merged with the Moses Lake office in 2021.
The Representative Payee Program’s long-term goal is to coach their clients to be able to take charge of their own finances.
How does it work?
This program gets state and federal funding that the clients receive to live on each month. The payee team writes the checks to pay the bills for each client. Then they give out personal needs allowances to clients weekly, biweekly, or monthly.
Paperwork for rental applications, leases, and Social Security can be difficult for clients to understand. The payee program team talks with property managers on their clients’ behalf. They also help with communication between the client and vendors. This includes vendors like Avista Utilities, the City of Spokane, and any other companies they have bills with.
Did You Know?
In 2021, Goodwill helped 1,252 people manage their money and keep the bills paid.
COVID-19 Impact
When COVID hit, the Representative Payee office at Goodwill couldn’t see clients in person. All but two team members were furloughed. Those two team members worked in Spokane to oversee all five offices.
Many Representative Payee program participants are homeless. When offices closed for in-person help, everything was done by phone and mail only. And so, many clients had to come up with a mailing address so they could get their allowances.
Despite this challenge, the payee department continued serving the community. They’re considered essential employees. So, they stayed working every day as long as they were COVID-free.
Staying Resourceful for Clients
When COVID hit, the Representative Payee office at Goodwill couldn’t see clients in person. All but two team members were furloughed. Those two team members worked in Spokane to oversee all five offices.
Many Representative Payee program participants are homeless. When offices closed for in-person help, everything was done by phone and mail only. And so, many clients had to come up with a mailing address so they could get their allowances.
Despite this challenge, the payee department continued serving the community. They’re considered essential employees. So, they stayed working every day as long as they were COVID-free.