Goodwill Industries of West Michigan

Work is a powerful force: We believe that work plays a critical role for people to achieve security, independence, self-worth, pride, and respect.

Our Vision

Every person has a pathway to meaningful and sustaining work. All are included when both individual and systemic challenges have been overcome. Personal challenges include having a disability, illness, criminal background, or other disadvantaging condition. Systemic challenges include generational poverty, racism, discrimination, educational and economic inequities, and other long-term social injustices.

Our Values

Work is a powerful force: We believe that work plays a critical role for people to achieve security, independence, self-worth, pride, and respect.
Every person is respected and valued: We celebrate our diversity and delight in our strengths, ensuring the dignity and success of each one of us.
Transparency is fundamental: We expect participation and open access to information and decision-making, which supports accountability and creates trust both among our team and with the community.
Caring deeply about people, families, and communities is what motivates us: We are interested in people and their experiences, and passionate about helping them live their best lives.
Stewardship fuels everything: We maximize the impact of every resource to sustain and grow our mission. We’re committed to stewardship on behalf of people, the planet, and our prosperity which enables us to serve.
Innovation invigorates us: We rely on the creativity of our team members to ensure both continuous improvement and innovation in the context of constant change.

The History of Goodwill Industries

Goodwill Industries was founded in 1902 in Boston's South End by Rev. Edgar J. Helms. Helms collected used household goods and clothing in wealthier areas of the city, then trained and hired locals to mend and repair the used goods. The goods were then resold and the proceeds paid the workers' wages. The system worked, and the Goodwill philosophy of “a hand up, not a handout” was born.

Housed in Boston's Morgan Memorial Chapel, the organization formally incorporated in 1910 became known as Morgan Memorial Cooperative Industries and Stores, Inc. It provided job skills training programs and even a rudimentary placement service. The name “Goodwill Industries” was later adopted after a Brooklyn, NY, workshop coined the phrase.

Helms described Goodwill Industries as an “industrial program as well as a social service enterprise ... a provider of employment, training, and rehabilitation for people of limited employability, and a source of temporary assistance for individuals whose resources were depleted.”

Helms pioneered an organization that gave people hope, dignity, and independence. His social innovation set in motion a worldwide movement that would transform more than 5 million lives over the course of a century – all through the power of work.

Goodwill Industries of West Michigan

Locally, Goodwill Industries of West Michigan, Inc. was established in 1950 through the committed efforts of a group of parents and community leaders who recognized the need for vocational training and employment opportunities for persons with disabilities. Throughout the decades, Goodwill has stayed focused on this mission, while expanding and improving services to meet the new and emerging needs of the diverse people and communities now served by the agency.

territory map Goodwill Industries of West Michigan is a separate and autonomous Goodwill member organization serving Muskegon, Newago, Lake, Oceana, Mason, Manistee counties, as well as portions of Kent, Ottawa, Osceola, Mecosta, Montcalm, and Allegan counties.

Goodwill Industries of West Michigan is a member agency of Goodwill Industries International. There are 157 separate and autonomous Goodwill organizations across United States and Canada, with a presence in 12 other countries.