Helping people prepare for, find, and keep good jobs is what Goodwill is about.

Hi Everyone – 

I walked into the office today and it was so good to see the Career Center operating with all of the safety protocols in place. Our sneeze guards look great, everyone is wearing their masks in public spaces, Autumn did a great job with my wellness check, and disinfecting supplies are in all the right places. Amanda K said she still feels like she is in “The Twilight Zone,” which probably sums it up for all of us, but we are doing the best that can be done in what seems like an out-of-this-world experience. Our safe operating procedures are out of this world (but in a good way!) and all of you are doing a great job with them. Do not take your eye off of the ball – the safety ball. We may want to be done with COVID-19 but COVID-19 is not done with us. Both at work and in the rest of the spaces you are in – stay vigilant. This is what will keep us all healthy and safe and allow us to move into the fall without fearing a second wave. Do your part. 

While we are knocking it out of the park in terms of our safety protocols, we are struggling with a few other challenges. We have about 50 job openings that need to be filled and this is causing retail, janitorial, and industrial services some difficulty. For example in retail, our stores were full of fresh product as we reopened, but keeping shelves stocked has been challenging in some of our locations. In janitorial, we are getting requests for additional work, but don’t have the staff to jump into new opportunities. We are also running out of space to store donations! Not only have we been blessed by so many people donating the things that they have sorted out during this time at home, but because we are quarantining product and have a “touchless” donation process, our cardboard gaylords are not packed as compactly as we usually make them. These are challenges we are addressing, making changes to processes as we need to. We have become masters at adjusting to the circumstances in front of us as well as working hard to get the job done, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t experience the pain along the way. 

There were some great success last week in workforce development. We served five people on the first day the Career Center was open who walked in needing assistance, GoodTemps found employment for four more people, and the scan-and-go VITA service option starts today to help get people’s taxes filed. The workforce development team has developed a new training protocol for people who walk in for services in order to help them be ready for employment. I look forward to seeing the outcomes of this new job readiness programming! 

This week I shared a short video with the executive team from a woman named Libra who made an analogy between the experience all of us have had with the pandemic to the experience of racism. At first, with the coronavirus, we are afraid for ourselves and our loved ones. Afraid that we or they, might lose their lives, might die at the hands of this unseen thing. Then we have had basic rights restricted — the right to go anywhere, anytime safely. We have had to stay home to be safe, and we have needed to be conscious of everything we do when we do go out, like what we touch, who we talk to, how far apart we are standing, and whether or not we are wearing a mask. And lastly, we have not been able to connect with others freely. There are restrictions about who we can talk to, see in person, and hug. When white people talk about the desire to get back to “normal” these are the things we are desperate to get away from. We want to go back to our normal of not being afraid for our safety and the safety of our friends and family. We want to go wherever we want whenever we want safely. We want to connect with anyone, anytime safely. For Black Americans, back to “normal” means none of these things. Being afraid for the safety of their loved ones is a daily experience. Having to be conscious of every action in public spaces, also a daily experience. Not being able to connect freely, mostly because there are so many people who won’t connect with someone who is different than they are – another daily experience. “Normal” at some point in the future post-coronavirus means white people regain freedoms and peace of mind, but Black people never had them. So do your part to end racism. If you don’t know what you can do, call me. My cell phone is 231-780-7198. I will personally help you think through your next steps. We all have something to contribute to the cause of racial justice. 

“Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.” — John F. Kennedy 

My best to every one of you – 
Jeanette