The Voice - Goodwill Industries of Alberta with Heather Hicks

Join VAD as we speak to Goodwill Industries of Alberta, Mission Impact with Heather Hicks.  Learn about their programs and services in Alberta.

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Teresa Makarewich 

Welcome to the voice of Albertans with Disabilities, AKA VAD Society's November podcast of 2022. I'm Teresa Makarewich. Your host and VAD program and service manager. Thanks for joining us today. In today's podcast, we will continue speaking with VAD organizational members about the resources they offer the community, and how they work with individuals with disabilities. Goodwill is an organizational member of VAD, and today we speak with Heather Hicks, Vice President of Mission Impact, Goodwill Industries of Alberta. Together we hold the power.  

Please welcome Heather to the show. Thank you for taking the time to talk with us today. Can you please introduce yourself and explain your role with goodwill. 

Heather Hicks 

Sure, hi Teresa, and thank you So much for giving me this opportunity to Talk about my role and goodwill. So my role is a newer role with Goodwill, I've been with Goodwill just since last December and it brings together all of the mission programs at Goodwill. At Goodwill, our mission is to provide individuals with disabilities and other barriers to employment the opportunity to enhance their lives with meaningful work or volunteer opportunities. in My Portfolio We focus on that mission. We have employment programs in career connections. We run a number of different social enterprises in our Goodwill at work division, and then we also have employees that work directly with team members throughout our organization just to help them be successful in their jobs and in their life.  

And our social enterprise division we employ Just almost 30 people all People with disabilities Who work in that division. in that division, we run a janitorial service called we Shine Crew. So, we clean some of our internal locations. We have a repair for good program where we take furniture that's been damaged or just not able to sell it In stores, we upcycle, recycle it and finish it and then sell it in our stores and that work is all done with people with disabilities.  

And we have a coffee cart program at our outlet store where we provide volunteer opportunities for people with disabilities to serve coffee to our customers in the outlet store. In our cleaning cloth program, we turn Unsold textiles like T-shirts and towels and Things like that into cleaning cloths that are sold in our stores or some other Locations such as Hughes Car wash.  

And then in Commercial Services we partner with various businesses. And we do some projects on site that help them, you know, with their labor, but also provide employment opportunities. So we have a partnership with Suncor where we assemble nuts and bolts and different projects like that.  

We also run an adaptive bike loan program for children with disabilities, so that's an amazing program, the “you can ride too” program and kids with disabilities who otherwise would Not be able to ride a Bike come into that program. their custom Fit true with an adaptive bike Which as you know, they're super Expensive, so this just allows families to have their children Ride a bike with them at a reasonable cost, and in some cases no cost. So that's an amazing program as well.  

Our employment programs through career connections. We have a PDD program which supports people with developmental disabilities. And then another program called Opportunity Accelerator which supports people with a Self-disclosed disability to find Employment, so those are some of our big programs.  

Let's see, we have a new program which I know we're going to talk about a little bit more detail, but it's called our employer inclusion accelerator, and that's a program that works directly with employers to help them hire people with disabilities. That program is launching, as we speak, our new team member started this week, so We're really excited about that and it is in both Edmonton and Calgary, so the mission impact portfolio at goodwill. It's really our goal is to expand opportunities for people with disabilities and other barriers to employment. Not within goodwill, not just within goodwill. But also, in the community through support and programs. And other opportunities. 

Teresa Makarewich 

Wow, that's amazing. Thank you. I was going to. Ask you to explain a bit about who Goodwill is, but you kind of touched on that already. 

Heather Hicks 

But I can tell you a little bit more so. 

Heather Hicks 

Goodwill Industries we call ourselves as social enterprise. We are a nonprofit. We do run independently from Goodwill International. So, some people think that we're all one and we are Certainly in terms of brands, and you know, and that kind of thing, we're able to leverage some different opportunities from Goodwill International, but Goodwill Industries of Alberta is absolutely independent. We most people know that we have thrift stores across the province. We have one in Grand Prairie. We have five in Calgary, 5 in Edmonton and then Sherwood Park, Spruce Grove, St Albert. We also have standalone donation centers and at various locations in Calgary and Edmonton, Saint Albert where you can donate items you know at convenience, Conveniently, and we're working towards opening some new donation centers in 2023. At our impact centers We have outlet stores, so that's after an item a donated item has been at our store for a certain period of time If it is not sold there. It'll go to our outlet store where it's sold By the pound. So, it's a really great opportunity to get some awesome items at a great, great price. 

So the impact centers Those are our Warehouses we have one in Edmonton and. One that's opening. Up in Calgary in 2023, the impact centers are really focused on sustainability and diversion from landfill. So when items are not sold at our thrift stores, we have various programs that are impact centers to recycle, upcycle, resell all sorts of different opportunities So we're not sending it to the landfill, so our diversion From landfill is close to 90% and we've Won all sorts of awards for our recycling and upcycling programs. so we like to say that our thrift stores fuel our mission of providing employment and volunteer opportunities for Albertans with various barriers to employment. We hire a very high number of team members in our stores and our donation centers and our warehouse Who have disabilities and other areas and some locations are close to 50% of the team members Have a self-disclosed disability across the organization were about 30% of our team members have itself self-disclosed disability. 

Teresa Makarewich 

Your site says you help people with disabilities in locating and maintaining employment or volunteer opportunities. Can you tell us some more about this? 

Heather Hicks 

This is our career connections division, so I mentioned I touched on earlier that we have a couple of programs there in our programs. Our PDD program-The individuals are referred to us from their PDD Worker, that in our opportunity accelerator program they can come independently to us. You know, just give us a call, what we first do we do? We do an intake, where we do and talk to the individuals and their guardians if that's appropriate. Just to determine, you know what they're looking for, whether or not they're a fit for programs. Once they're into the program. They go through a career discovery where they identify what their career goals are. We have a number of workshops where we teach them about resumes and interview skills and communication and all sorts of different skills, job or employment skills. And then we help them with their job search. We have job Development specialists that will work with them One-on-one. And help them find a job, advocate on their behalf if necessary and help them gain that employment. Then we have coaches that work with them once they're once they're employed. And depending on The program there's you know, a longer or shorter Period of coaching and just help them, you know, make sure that they're successful on the job and eventually the goal is independent so they would graduate from the program and be independent working or volunteering at their . You know their place of employment 

Teresa Makarewich 

You mentioned that there's a new program that started at the beginning of November. Can you tell me about that? 

Heather Hicks 

Yes, very excited about this program for a couple of reasons. One, it's our first Program in Calgary. So this program Will be offered in Edmonton and Calgary and is Truly about expanding opportunities and building awareness and building capacity In the community to hire people with disabilities. so we will work hand in hand as an Employer like from Job carving, recruitment, onboarding orientation and the goal is retention. So we will work with employers to help them through that whole process so that they will be successful in hiring someone with disabilities and keeping them. keeping them and having you know, building the natural supports at the employers and keeping them, you know, a great Loyal employee at their always. So, as I mentioned, we've got three team members in Edmonton, 2 IN Calgary who are starting to work on this program just this week. So we're really, excited about this and I know we have Lots of employers who Really want to do this, but they Don't even know where to start. So, This is a great opportunity to learn how to how to do this successfully. 

Teresa Makarewich 

And what was the name of that one? That's the employer inclusion accelerator. 

Heather Hicks 

That's right. 

Teresa Makarewich 

Perfect and is that specific to PDD or self-identified? 

Heather Hicks 

Self-identified, yeah, I think both would be. Both, but yes. 

Teresa Makarewich 

I see Goodwill Industries of Alberta is an Alberta based business. How does this support the local disability community? 

Heather Hicks 

Yeah, so as I mentioned, we hire lots of individuals with disabilities within all of our locations, so we work with many agencies involved so. You know we have People from our current Connections department, but we also hire from other agencies as well. EmployAbilities, Prospects, Selections Alberta, on site placement, You know all of these agencies. We hire those folks at our Goodwill stores at our warehouses. in Calgary We don't have our own employment program, so all of the individuals we hire in Calgary and our Calgary Locations are from the various agencies. And again, as I mentioned, we really are wanting to expand in the Community, building awareness about hiring people with disabilities.  

In October we had our very first Disability Employment Awareness Month speaker event DEAM. So we had that at the beginning of October and it was a great Success and we're hoping To continue that or a plan is to Continue that next year for the Next 10 months. And build that Every year and wanted to touch on You can ride too program a little bit more so, as I mentioned, you can ride too, Is the bike the adaptive bike program. We support almost 200 families each year to get a bike, but what we've noticed with these children that come in, you know they've been told for years, or you can't ride a bike you're not able. You know you don't have the balance or whatever The case may be, but this is the first Opportunity where they can come in and Say wow, I can Ride a bike. And what this translates into is confidence. When they go to search for a career Down the Road, they have a can do it attitude Rather than, you know, thinking that they have a barrier. So that's the program were excited about 'cause it really starts helping these kids from a pretty young age Build back confidence. 

Teresa Makarewich 

How does someone get involved with goodwill? Is there a referral process? 

Heather Hicks 

For our PDD program, that program is referred by PDD workers, so that one is. Referral, but all of our other programs are self-referral so individuals can give us a call or e-mail and find out more about the programs and whether or not they fits. And like I said, we will Do an intake whether it's an employer looking at our new program or an individual. Who wants to find a job that will,Those who that can take. Process with them and determine If they're a good fit. 

Teresa Makarewich 

And what ages do you work with normally? 

Heather Hicks 

Typically, it's 18 and up, but we do. We have had some programs on where we work with youth kids that are, you know, thinking about post, secondary and. Things like that. Helping them find the path there. Usually it's 18 and up, but we will. Work as long. As 16 as well. 

Teresa Makarewich 

OK. Is there anything I should be asking you about Goodwill that I haven't? 

Heather Hicks 

Yeah, I see. The biggest thing I would like to stress is why donate to Goodwill. so I know there's also different organizations to donate to, but we are non-profit. Our focus is on providing opportunities for people with Disabilities and other barriers. So if you go into our stores You'll see this action. We have a. Lot of newer immigrants in our stores. We have people with Disabilities, some are physical, some you Can't see, but they're there. I've been at Goodwill As I mentioned close to a year, and I've never worked at a place where everyone, every team member I work with is so focused on our mission.  

So it's just amazing to see our ability to do what we do to provide this, this environment where everyone is welcome. It's very inclusive. It's very supportive. We build the natural supports. It does rely on the generosity of Albertans in donating their unwanted items to us. And as I mentioned, for items that aren't sold in our stores, we don't just send them to the landfill. We do everything we can to upcycle, recycle, reuse or different things like that. So we provide employment to almost 900 Albertans across the province, so we're quite large and we keep our admin fees as low as possible, so 90% of every dollar that is there to support people with disabilities in some capacity, creating employment, creating the environment and everything on our program. So yeah. So, it's just, a Great organization or great employer and we're striving to be You know, a top employer in Alberta. 

Teresa Makarewich 

What is an interesting fact about Goodwill Industries of Alberta that everyone should leave talking about? 

Heather Hicks 

Well, aside from some of the things I've. Mentioned we have Two team members in our Goodwill at Work Department. So two team members with Disabilities who have been with us for a long time. So, our Longest our Goodwill Employee across the organization was along his tenure. He has been with us for over 40 years. 

Teresa Makarewich 

Oh wow. 

Heather Hicks 

Yeah, he has cerebral palsy. He works in our Goodwill at Work Department. He started. I think putting bikes together, he told me the other day. But now he works on some of our cleaning cloth programs. He cuts the rags or the the textiles into cleaning cloth. He'll make wires, he'll, he'll do all sorts Of different tasks. He's been left for over 40 years And he has such, Everyone just loves to meet them. We call him The mayor of Goodwill. We also have another team member in that department who's been with us just over 20 years against someone with a disability. We actually have a really amazing YouTube channel, so if anyone ever wants to watch any videos, some very heartwarming videos. Andre, our team member With over 40 years, is featured in one of. Our videos it's called Goodwill Alberta on YouTube .and we have An amazing marketing director who Does something awesome. Yeah, so anytime you're bored, go on YouTube, and check out our videos. You'll learn lots about goodwill. Oh. Good, well yeah that’s, I guess. That's the the fun fact. 

Teresa Makarewich 

That's pretty cool. Can you tell our listeners how to contact you and get involved with goodwill? 

Heather Hicks 

Yes, so you can go to our Website goodwill.abc.ca and there are Lots of careers. We're always hiring, lots of great information there. If anyone is specifically interested in contacting me directly about any of the programs, employment programs or Employer programs my e-mail is h.hicks@goodwill.ab.ca and now welcome to send me a note. 

Teresa Makarewich 

Heather, thank you again for joining VAD’s podcasts. I appreciate your time and commitment to the Community. Is there anything else you want us to know about today? 

Heather Hicks 

No, I just Really appreciate the opportunity. You know, like. I said a. Lot of people recognize our thrift stores but don't really know about the mission of goodwill. So we're trying very hard to get the word out about what we do and how great an organization it is. I really appreciate the opportunity to talk about Goodwill.

Teresa Makarewich 

Thank you very much. So, Voice of Albertans with disabilities is across disability nonprofit organization of and for people with disabilities. Goodwill Industries of Alberta is an organizational member of VAD and their web link is available on our website. If you didn't catch their address, you could be reached at. VADsociety.ca/resources That is guided by principles of full participation, accessibility and equity. Learn about our services on our website or call 780-488-9088. For more information. e-mail Teresa. That's myself, at vad@vadsociety.ca with podcast topic ideas speakers. Suggestions or your feedback? Signing off for the day together we. Hold the power.