Goodwill - Services for People

SELF-SUFFICIENCY JOB CENTERS

B.E.S.T. COMPUTER & OFFICE SKILLS TRAINING

EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES

VOCATIONAL EVALUATION

DIRECT PLACEMENT SERVICES

HOMELESS SERVICES

JOBS PARTNERSHIP

LIFE SKILLS TRAINING

WORK ACTIVITY CENTER

PROJECT COMPASS

OPERATION PAY-UP

NAVIGATOR PROGRAM

WORK EXPERIENCE PROGRAM

More than 90% of the revenue Goodwill spends is channeled directly into a fully staffed and unique Vocational and Community Services program. Our trained professionals help the disadvantaged remove employment barriers such as welfare dependency, illiteracy, homelessness, language barriers, criminal history, lack of job skills and chronic unemployment. We also serve those with evelopmental, physical or emotional disabilities, or behavioral disorders. Our many programs and services are listed below. Please click here to request an Application for Services. If you would like more information or wish to speak to someone about any of these services, please call our Vocational Services Center at (407) 235-1500.

SELF-SUFFICIENCY JOB CENTERS provide a positive, supportive environment where anyone looking for work may access resources and learn skills to conduct an independent job search. With no admission criteria except the desire to gain employment, these centers primarily serve homeless, disabled and diverse participants who are chronically under-employed or unemployed. Goodwill's staff of trained professionals assists participants in learning to break the cycle of unemployment through the use of life planning and a commitment to self-direction.

Five such centers are located in Orlando, Daytona Beach, Melbourne, Sanford, and Kissimmee. Included in each center are

week-long JOB CLUBS that provide intensive, high energy training in interviewing and job search skills, resume writing, and improving self-image, as well as job placement assistance. In the NETWORK CENTER, participants can take advantage of a telephone bank set up for contacting prospective employers. A special "HELLO LINE" and message center also enable employers to contact people who do not have personal telephones. Finally, the COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER is stocked with brochures and pamphlets from other community resources that make up the local web of services.

For further information, please call or visit one of our centers:

Orlando Self-Sufficiency Job Center
515 West Central Boulevard
Orlando, Florida 32801
(407) 872-0770

Melbourne Self-Sufficiency Job Center
795 South Babcock Street
Melbourne, Florida 32901
(321) 953-8188

Daytona Beach Self-Sufficiency Job Center
141 West International Speedway Boulevard
Daytona Beach, Florida 32114
(386) 258-8585

Sanford Self-Sufficiency Job Center
112 Sanford Ave.
Sanford, Florida 32771
(407) 936-0469

Kissimmee Self-Sufficiency Job Center
101 W. Cypress Street Suite K
Kissimmee, FL 34741
(407) 847-0696

B.E.ST. - OFFICE SKILLS TRAINING is an open-entry, open-exit self-paced program available to persons in the community, B.E.S.T. is designed to provide clients with business and computer skills training in order to be competitive in today's office environment. Training subjects include business math, English, data entry, filing, organizational skills, telephone etiquette, receptionist skills, and hands-on training on Microsoft Office software programs. Upon course completion, successful graduates receive job placement assistance, including a tailored professional resume to help them obtain employment. The program is free to participants.

For further information, please call (407) 872-7684.

EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES provide paid temporary work experience and intensive, goal-directed vocational counseling specifically to people with disabilities. The program is designed to help people overcome immediate barriers to competitive employment so that participants may accelerate their timely movement to positions in business and industry.

The professional staff provides services in:


	• Work Assessment • Program Management • Career Counseling • Job Readiness Skills Development • Role Modeling • Personal Adjustment Training • Social Adjustment Training • Referral Services

Persons with disabilities may focus their training in warehousing, maintenance, packaging and retail goods processing. The program primarily serves people with limited or no work experience, and many participants have documented multiple or severe disabilities.

VOCATIONAL EVALUATION provides assessment of the strengths and work aptitudes of individuals, and formulation of viable vocational goals. Through the use of work samples and standardized tests, individuals are carefully evaluated under the direction of a certified vocational evaluator so that their vocational skills and aptitudes can be measured and successfully matched with the most appropriate work opportunity within the community. Evaluations can range from specific skill-testing to situational assessment and behavioral observation on the worksite to a comprehensive vocational evaluation accomplished over several days. Evaluation services are offered at Goodwill's Vocational Services Center in Orlando, and at several other locations throughout Central Florida.

DIRECT PLACEMENT SERVICES provide assistance to individuals with disabilities and vocationally disadvantaging conditions to gain long-term employment through career counseling, job skills training, job development, job analysis and matching, and short-term job coaching. The professional placement staff members act as liaisons between the employer and the participant and provide on-the-job adjustment assistance and training when necessary. They are also available for follow-up with participants and employers to ensure continued job success and satisfaction.

HOMELESS SERVICES NETWORK EMPLOYMENT SERVICES provide a broad range of services for people who are living in homeless shelters, including vocational assessment, planning and counseling, placement services and long-term follow-along after placement. The program's objectives are to improve clients' employability skills and increase their income with the ultimate goal of equipping them with the skills to obtain and maintain long-term employment and make the transition to permanent housing.

LIFE SKILLS TRAINING is a series of classes offered in partnership with the local Homeless Services Network for individuals who want to make the successful transition from homeless shelter to permanent housing. Training in basic living skills such as household management, budgeting, health and safety, anger management, parenting, self-esteem, and employability skills is offered to the homeless population through the Homeless Services Network.


	JOBS PARTNERSHIP OF FLORIDA, INC. is a cooperative program including Goodwill Industries and area churches. Modeled after the original Jobs Partnership program out of Raleigh, NC, this is a faith-based program that is taught in two steps. The first step, or the Life Curriculum, is taught weekly at area churches and focuses on Biblical reasons for work as a constructive, morally positive lifestyle choice. The second step, or the Work Curriculum, is a class taught weekly by Goodwill Industries staff members. The curriculum is taught at a community site in conjunction with the Life class, which focuses on the pragmatic steps to finding a job.

WORK ACTIVITY CENTER is a cooperative program between Goodwill Industries and Orange County Public Schools' (OCPS) Exceptional Student Education (ESE) Department. The program caters to the special educational needs of Orange County's severely disabled high school students up to age 22, and includes a pre-vocational curriculum co-authored by Goodwill and OCPS, and taught by OCPS instructors on-site at Goodwill. The program fosters independent living through life skills training that includes learning how to cook, handle money, travel outside the home, shop for necessities, etc. In addition, students learn transferable job skills to enhance employment opportunities beyond graduation from the program.

PROJECT COMPASS is a comprehensive vocational program that points non-violent, youth offenders, ages 14 through 18, in the right direction. Each young adult is referred to Goodwill Industries by the Juvenile Division of the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court for an initial screening interview. In cooperation with Orange County Public Schools' Alternative Education Department, this program helps young adults achieve their academic or work-related goals so that they may become law-abiding citizens who contribute to the progress of our community. Through a holistic approach, including classroom instruction, job clubs, work experience and community involvement, participants develop employability skills, work behaviors and life skills, equipping them either for successful employment or readjustment to school.

OPERATION PAY-UP is an innovative program that helps youthful offenders become more accountable for restitution to their victims. Partnering with the Juvenile Division of the Ninth Judicial Circuuit Court, this program provides nonviolent offenders between the ages of 14 and 18 with classes on work ethics, employability skills-training and job placement assistance so that their victims may receive monetary restitution.

NAVIGATOR PROGRAM addresses and coordinates the needs of individuals with disabilities seeking employment and training opportunities through the One-Stop Career Center system and provides other resources for jobs including:

• Developing linkages with employers
• Training for employers
• Training staff to work with customers who have disabilities, and increasing the staff's sensitivity level to recognize the needs of individuals with disabilities.
• Assuring that each One-Stop Career Center is both physically and psychologically accessible to customers with disabilities.

		WORK EXPERIENCE PROGRAM - provides eligible clients of the Melbourne Self Sufficiency Job Center the opportunity to work at Goodwill's North Melbourne retail store. This program allows participants to work a maximum of twenty hours a week, at minimum wage, up to 90 calendar days, while they search for full time employment.