Access to good jobs for All is the theme for October as National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

It's a time each year to recognize and act on the call to increase the number of people with disabilities in the workforce in our region.

Goodwill Industries of Northeast Indiana has been changing Hoosier lives since 1937, and we'll learn more about Goodwill's work to enhance quality of life and build bridges to opportunity in the workplace.

On this week's PrimeTime and good evening, I'm Bruce Haines.

With us today are two guests from Goodwill Industries of Northeast Indiana, where Kevin Morse is President and CEO and Randy Wolf is chief mission officer and VP of Workforce Development.

Welcome, Kevin.

Thank you, Randy.

Good to have you both here.

Good to be here again this year.

You know, if we were doing word association here at the front end of the program, odds are if we said Goodwill, most would come back.

Store?

Yes, probably.

I did not realize that that goes all the way back to, say, the early 20th century when the founder was in fact putting in that structure of collecting, repurposing and then retailing it or donating back to the to the community.

So it's no wonder there's such a deep relationship there.

Exactly.

Pastor Helms, way back in the early days in Boston, pulling that together and eventually evolved into what it is today, which really, if you look at Goodwill across the country, there are 155 independent Goodwill corporations.

We work as a federation together.

We're not one big corporation here in northeast Indiana.

We're a separate corporation.

So each of us approaches it slightly different, but we all hinge on the stores, which is why people think of the stores when they think of Goodwill.

And that is such a small part of our business.

Yes, it is a big revenue stream.

It's about 70% of our revenue that comes into our organization each year.

So when people come into our stores and they purchase things or they bring things to donate, that all leads back to our mission.

And the mission is the part that most people don't understand.

Now, the stores are part of our mission.

We are a second and third chance employer for a lot of people, but people that work in our stores come from all walks of life with all backgrounds, with all abilities, physical, mental, whatever.

We are people who've been with the company now in excess of 30 years, a lot of 25 and 20 year celebrations this year alone.

But those folks are the front end.

They're the ones that you talk to.

They're the ones that are there to help you purchase those goods for all that money that flows into the organization, organization and flows down into our employment programs and our education programs in the high school and colleges here in the area.

It's almost like you can't judge a store by its cover because, you know, radio in a way, this is where the doors open for us to feel good about connecting with the community.

But then they open for those inside to go out and connect with the community in an employment kind of way, which is the whole notion of monetizing that mission.

Yes, I like to think in a nutshell, it's helping prepare people for employment.

They help them look for jobs in the community and help them succeed and continue to keep those jobs.

And when they are they, the community, making those donations, there are benefits that come along every step of the way.

If there's a tax benefit.

There is, I believe, an environmental benefit which often is overlooked.

And that and that's a big part of it.

When you look at our revenue streams, all of it starts with the donations when they come in to us.

And those donations are extremely important.

March of 2023, we had this real downturn suddenly in donations and we struggled for a while to restock and replenish our stores.

And we started talking about it in our commercials and they started pouring back in.

Those donations end up in a lot of different places, whether they're on the shelves in the store, they're listed online in our shop, Goodwill site, some of the merchandise we can't sell.

So it goes to salvage a lot of the apparel that is beyond use, beyond sale.

We bundle that up and try organic bales of about 1500 pounds and sell it on the international market.

That's that's a lot of money to support an organization that helps us with that.

We also recycle computers.

If you've got computers or anything moves to a computer and you don't know what to do with it, if you take it to some places, you have to pay them to take it.

You bring it to us, we take it for free, and we have a contract with Dell, reconnect, and then they recycle those those computer parts and pay us for our time and effort.

Wow.

Because often it is for even as small as older computers are, it becomes the large elephant in the room.

When you think, what do I do with this now that it has passed the point of no return?

So that in and of itself, they're a very good point.

And we'll take cables, we'll take mice, we'll take cell phones.

But anything that basically hooks a computer, we like to laugh about the true dinosaur sitting in our operations center.

When you look at all those old fashioned green CRT style screens from the computers of way back when, there's just a lot of fun to see that old equipment come in and then be put to good use.

Well, when you talk about an organization nationally like Goodwill, know Federated in a sense, locally owned and operated, if you will, on the on the on the community front, the connection between the store and the workplace, you know, that provision that you have of being one of the largest providers of workforce development services in the not for profit world should be right up there with the word association about the stores.

Tell me how you found yourself in that pleasant position, but it also now creates, I guess, an opportunity to even move more.

It's really kind of wild how things come together.

I worked for multiple retailers over the years, most recently.

When I left Mart, I went to Greater Fort Wayne, Inc, where I became that disabilities expert for employees and employers.

So I knew how to do it because I hired people with disabilities.

So we started talking to the community.

So I started working with Randy and his crew very closely helping them.

I was free labor for Goodwill at that time, so I'd go out, talk to the employers that sent people out for jobs.

And, you know, you got to be the phrase, you know, be careful how you treat people you work with, because some of them might be your boss.

You know, that came through here.

And and that's when I hand it to Randy's crew and how they handle the Employment Services Department.

Well, it's interesting that Randy, you have VP mission, chief mission officer and then VP workforce development.

You're living both sides of that mission equation.

It's a nice fit.

I feel like part of our all of our mission at Goodwill, even the employees we talked about that this morning, orientation for new employees, it was coming on board that all of us are mission for good.

Well, I think a lot of times we're not places don't always understand or what we do and how we help the community and how we help individuals with employment.

We do get our referrals from the state of Indiana's VOC rehab system and they come into services and we help them prepare and then to find and and secure jobs.

And we also have once they get jobs, they also have supports on the jobs.

There's a lot that goes in between all that as well, too.

I know there are a variety of programs and I hope we can at least touch and identify a few of those in the in this time together.

One that stands out for how integrated its relationship is within the community with schools in the area is something called presets, and that's code.

And I would you mind interpreting acronyms are everyone's business it seems, but pre employment transition services.

So we catch kids that are in high schools that have an IEP.

Last year we worked with 13 high schools and I think around five different colleges.

The youth are from 14 to age 22, so we can catch them before they leave school.

The goal is to get them prepared for when they're going to leave high school.

So what's the world looking like afterwards?

Last year we worked with about 440 students in all those schools getting ready for what's the next in line for them in the summer.

We have a summer program, and during that summer program we had 70 students since last year, $58,500 they earned in stipends and they each student made $10 an hour for all the work that they did.

So it was about I think, $485, if he would divide that into each.

So that's how much money they made during the summer each roughly.

I mean, it just but they worked in various places in the community, the city of Butler, they helped a lot of the active activities there for working and with the city itself.

Sometimes they clean some equipment, they put mats out, they painted some of the grounds and things.

They worked at Woodburn High School.

They did some work around the grounds there, the Leo Parks Department.

So I mean, the whole community got to take advantage of what the students were doing and the students actually feel like that's my community I'm working in and they feel a sense of pride and ownership of the work that they did as well.

This has to be a huge plus for I think all of us have been down that road which says, I know I want to do something.

I just don't know what the something is and then how I prepared to be there.

And that's part of the whole process because as you go through this year, there are things we teach at the high school level.

We're just opening up a college program across eight different colleges here in the area as well for students in that age range and help them discover what is they really want to do.

That's actually a formal part of the process is discovery to help them figure out what they would like to do, how they fit into that, and then find ways to integrate them into that.

And one story I can think of is we had a young man that was working in the employment service with him and the discovery part, and he wanted to do voiceover work.

Okay, well, that's a little tough just to break into with no radio background.

And so being a volunteer at the audio reading service, we were able to connect him with George Coffee, who runs that particular operation.

And he he volunteered there for quite some time and got the opportunity to experience what it was like to actually sit in a studio and read.

And he did a great job for him while he was there.

In addition to what you've been describing.

I understand there is also a relationship with work I'm sorry, vocational training that you can now have this individual work through concepts like don't we all need this time management and budgeting and things of that nature, things that don't necessarily come in textbook form, which would that they did.

We do a lot of workforce workplace readiness training to get individuals like what's it like to be a good employee?

Time management skills to get to work on time, how to work along with coworkers.

And a lot of times we'll do work experiences for our youth and also for our DOC programs.

Nothing's like being out in a job somewhere to learn what it's like to be along beside a coworker and getting along and working and understanding the new jobs and things.

So, you know, and so to have all of that come together for there to be true success.

What is the role or the opportunity for the business community to come alongside something like Prichard's?

Well, a lot of times a good example would be what I'm thinking of is like the bicycle shop in town.

They have their mechanics working on bicycles up until the end of the day, but a lot of times they would have to maybe close down a little bit earlier to get to clean up the areas and break down boxes.

Say we have a young person that's interested in maybe being a bike mechanic someday.

So what if we have meet with the business and say, Hey, we got an opportunity for you here.

We've got a person that loves bicycles, Why don't they come and work for you for a little while and they can help at the end of the day, clean up boxes and put tools away and clean them up.

That young guy can learn about the bicycle business and industry, and those mechanics continue to work till the end of the shift.

So the employer can actually make money and the young person gets a chance to see him become a mechanic, maybe down the road that, you know, my ears at Walmart too.

And this is where I had my major exposure to Goodwill when I was at Campbellsville with their Supercenter up there.

We just had a hard time finding people and made it acquaintance with them at the Disabilities Expo one year and they started bringing people in for us to meet of different skill levels with different disabilities and started plugging in them into where we needed help and I know that there's at least two or three of them are still working there after all these years and building to higher levels of what they're able to do within the store.

Making a good paycheck with benefits, with all the good stuff, just because of the exposure that we had a chance to to get through Goodwill.

And this also seems to then go right back to the founding Father River and Helms, who said that the philosophy of our organization should be not charity, but a chance.

And there is significant chance or significant opportunity.

And as I think many are hearing, no necessary downside.

So exactly.

You know, and we are very open minded as we ask other employers to be very open minded because you don't know what you don't know when you when you're working with a new person and what their actual capability is going to be.

And that's why I'm so impressed with the staff that Randy has and that Ashley has over in the employment services and Preus area.

It's just amazing the magic you see happen with people who look like they've hit a dead end in life and that's where some of the statistics, even from a year ago to today are still hovering around the same number.

66% of adults in Indiana with disabilities who are not working are looking for employment.

More than a million for 1.4 million in Indiana with disabilities.

That's one in three adults.

But the state has some ground to still gain on the employment front.

Making me wonder, are there some preconceptions outlaw workplace that are worth blowing up?

Yeah, I think sometimes employers are afraid to take a chance.

They're afraid that one of it's going to cost me more for insurance or one of they're not going to show up for work or things.

But I think it's education.

If you get employers that take a chance and try have we've done that.

We hire a lot of our own individuals and we're so thankful we got like Kevin said, we got people that's been working for us for years and years and we rely on them to show up every day because they do and they love working there and just the excitement.

There's a young man that worked at the ten camps over the summer, and when he wasn't at work, his coworkers felt it because he had an extra level of excitement to the He just had a good energy about him, and his coworkers loved working with him and being at the same place.

So I think from an employer standpoint, I think if they would take a chance and try and talk to us and contact us and we could be able to help, maybe try to find some good matches.

What have you heard in your experience?

Well, you know, I've spent a lot of time talking with employers, potential employers, either talking about the open concept of disabilities employment or helping diffuse some of those those nonsensical things we hear.

And one of them is, well, if I hire him that I can never fire him If they can't do the job.

And it's like, no, no, no, no, no.

They're expected to be able to do the primary functions of this job, which is why we're so careful in how we place and what we ask for of the employer.

But after that, they're treated like an everyday employee because they are they need to be able to build the skills, be given the chance.

But but if they ultimately can't do it, then you follow the same process you would follow with any other employee.

They always worry about being liable for this or worried about their worker's comp has no impact on the whatsoever.

Once again, they're just another employee.

They just have something else.

That means you work around a little bit, which leads to a notion that I believe was popularized in the last couple of years where it's not just DTI, but DTI, a Yes, diversity, equity, inclusion and accommodation.

Yes.

And for some, not so hard, but it's getting over the mindset to get there.

One of the things that we see a lot of is when you look at a job description, you've got like 20 essential functions of a job, which is insane.

You probably only have three or four real essential functions.

And so part of what we teach is help the employer how to understand what's spoiled the job down to what really needs to be done.

Can this person do those three or four things?

If the answer is yes, let's give them a shot and see what can happen all the all the rest of us.

Just secondary stuff.

You can find a way to make it happen.

And with this situation right now, with the lack of applicants out there, we've got an excellent pool of people with the abilities to do the jobs.

And Randy, also to some employers, may be able to wade in a little bit more easily when they realize that they can do mentorship programs or perhaps find themselves in listen to listener training through through Goodwill, janitorial training, skills to pay bills, extended follow along services where you have a a variety of other ways for folks to kind of smooth out any of the rough of the first few steps.

We provide job coaching services for a person.

We help them find a job or they find out on their own and they need support on the job.

Our goal from the very beginning of when someone receives a job is for us to fade out of the picture and let the natural supports of their coworkers and their management take over.

And that person to be successful.

Sometimes we even try.

We will maybe do a work experience for a week and Goodwill will pay their salary and they can try the job out to see if that person likes working there.

That's a good fit for them.

And the employer also gets a chance to see how that individual may fit in there.

And that's always a good match and a good plan.

And usually at the end it comes out that the employer hires the individual and they move right along.

And along with that too, and this is something I experienced that I was at Greater Fort Wayne working with Goodwill.

When you have somebody who has been through that program, they've had the job coach and they get on the job and then something changes and all of a sudden they start to struggle.

We reach back out to the job coach.

Job coach goes back out again and starts to rebuild, if possible, to bring that skills back.

And we've seen a recovery on multiple occasions where somebody was headed for the door.

But because the job coach was able to step back in and help a little further develop a few new things, then the success story rolls out, right.

In addition to presets and some of the other work that you've been been describing, are there some other aspects of a week in the life that Goodwill that would be worth sharing with the audience?

Well, while we still have time to do so Well, I was at a at the University of Saint Francis and they had a a fair for their program social work programs invited Manchester College and they had a Huntington College all come.

So they had their students from different programs there.

And I had a booth there and I realized that all these other agencies are there.

People are going to them and talking to them, knowing what types of jobs that were available.

And when they came to my booth, I had to explain what Goodwill did and our programs and services, and they were very interested.

So I guess and I kept secret.

And if people are interested, Goodwill does have careers, a career path for people that want to help individuals in the community.

That's something else we do.

It's free of charge.

I'm a nationally certified ADA coordinator.

I am more than happy to come out to any place of employment free of charge with no catches.

Just help them understand what the ADA is all about, how their particular office or sort of is set up to handle accommodations and help them understand.

And the nice thing is I'm not a government agency, so when I come in, I'm just there to give them ideas.

I'm not there to call them out on things and see what they can do to feel more comfortable opening their business up to customers with disabilities and employees with disabilities.

Well, when it brings it all back to the mission, which doesn't, it's interesting.

It doesn't say anything about the store.

The store is there.

Sometimes it's invisible, it appears.

But the work itself is very tactile.

Goodwill, empowering and preparing people for independence through training, personal growth and work.

And that last one, it is a sweat equity proposition.

It is.

And Pastor Helms back in the day called it the power of work.

You know, it was a big emphasis on that.

These days, our motto was always, do the right thing and we'll do whatever we can in the community to help a potential employee, a potential employer or customers.

And that's what Goodwill's all about.

And that ties back then to that.

The whole idea of October as National Disability Employment in the workplace and, and the idea of having accessible jobs for all, you have seen that each year it's a different theme, but it all seems to emanate from the same common crucible of wanting to expand that employment base.

So how are we doing that?

You say Looking back, how is the planet holding up?

I'll say here in the state of Indiana, we have made a lot of progress.

We really have.

Back in my early days of working at Walmart, you know, we had that one person with a disability.

It was almost like a mascot.

You know, they're all pushing carts or whatever.

And what I've seen develop over the 20 years now, 28 years we've lived here in Fort Wayne.

As we've seen doors open up.

We see a lot more people in the community having real jobs that are meaningful, who have disabilities, employers being open minded about it.

We've also seen the city take that more accessible route.

When you look at the curb cuts that were horrible for so long that now you've got great intersection, curb cuts, you've got businesses, as are places like the art museum where they've taken it seriously and then that whole facility is accessible, you know, and it's just incredible the transition we've seen when you have a fit that you, I'm sure, have in your mind as ideal.

And when that ideal is realized, when a person and a company literally come together, Randi, I wonder if it surprises you that when you have more of those occurrences, Accenture did a report that came out earlier this year that said that companies that lead on key disability inclusion criteria had 1.6 times more revenue, 2.6 times more net income and double the profit.

Surprising?

Well, when you have a diverse group of employees no matter what, it just inspires creativity and creation and and just gets people excited about coming to work.

Knowing that you work for an employer that has those thoughts in mind.

I know the ADA Foundation in Fort Wayne has done a great job.

Fort Wayne in general has been a great community, even in architecture and things, to get more accessible places.

I know they incorporate people from design, collaborative in their designs and things.

So Fort Wayne, is this a great community that kind of embraces this?

And it just every year it's been growing, I feel, and getting better for individuals to help them succeed.

I know the president of Goodwill at one point in an interview recently said We're the charity that seeks to end the need for charity in a person's life because with the right kind of support, there's no looking back.

That was very correct.

You know, just just looking at what the mission is.

And this goes back to what Helms said so many decades ago is that we're not just giving them something to get them by.

We're helping them to build the skills that build their life.

They give them the things that all of us enjoy in our community.

And that is very true of our mission.

So lots of ways to play it.

If you are the parent or the support for a person in school, I believe 14 to 22 from griots, we'll have contact information available right as I speak.

There it is.

fwgoodwill.org.

You can call that number to find out how to communicate that through you or through the child's school to through maybe the guidance offices or something on each school and the the Education Department.

They could help them get connected with the programs in each school.

And then also the reference as well to how this is moving into the college setting.

The same idea that that was something that was added to us this year in our new contract that starts October one is that we'll be working at the college level.

Ivy Tech's got a brand new program that's being funded to the this foundation.

We we will be assisting with that.

We're talking with Indiana Tech.

There's a lot of opportunity there for college students who have that that need that we can help them out.

And we hope that you will, in fact, find opportunity in what has been shared here to see if there are new ways forward that perhaps were not on the original map helping to blazed the trail today.

It has been a pleasure to welcome Kevin Morse back, president, CEO of Goodwill Industries of Northeast Indiana, and Randy Wolf, chief mission Officer and VP of Workforce Development.

Gentlemen, thank you.

Thank you.

And for all of us with PrimeTime, I'm sure, Saints, thank you for watching.

Take care.

And we'll see you again next week.

Goodnight and.