Filling A Fulfilling Position: By Zach Knight

          Whether I’m taking pictures for marketing materials, positioning signs I have created, or taking a quick stroll on my lunch break, there is a decent chance that one has seen me around one or more of our Goodwill locations. My name is Zach Knight and I am Goodwill’s new Marketing Specialist. I can briefly be summarized as a 23-year-old Penn State graduate who has a love for marketing and a knack for music. 

        Having always been involved in music to some degree, I decided to pursue my hobby with a more serious approach approximately six years ago. I found myself in a more professional recording studio, playing bigger shows, and expanding “my brand” to all platforms of social media. In the midst of having the desire of achieving some sort of musical success, I was left figuring out ways to promote myself on the largest level I could on the little budget and few resources I had. Over time, I was able to acquire small but favorable success through my self-marketing endeavors, obtaining over 1.3 million views on YouTube, shooting a couple music videos, and having my songs globally played on store playlists in popular retail chains such as Abercrombie & Fitch. Throughout these attainments, it had completely gone over my head that what I was doing was in fact, marketing. I loved everything about the promotional and marketing aspects of things and seeing exactly how far I could run with them. When it came to choosing my (final) major while completing my undergraduate degree, I didn’t even have to think twice.

          I graduated with a marketing degree from Penn State in December of 2015. Post-graduation, I had spent nearly six months searching high and low for a marketing position that seemed to also have been searching for me as well. I was hired as Goodwill’s Marketing Specialist towards the end of May 2016, and it has since been nothing but the most fulfilling occupation in more ways than one. Goodwill promotes a hand up, second chances, and building self-sufficiency; all principles and ideologies that align with my own. Since the beginning of my employment, I have been privileged to meet a countless number of people and hear stories on how Goodwill has helped change their life around and get them back on their feet. Directly or indirectly, I know my efforts here at Goodwill will contribute to these stories, and I am more than eager to see the ways in which that will be done. At the end of the day, the turnaround we see from clients and program participants is what keeps us, the Goodwill staff, inspired; that’s what keeps us fulfilled. 

Upcycling At Goodwill: By Esmond Colvin

          Joy Henry and Myles Beckwith are the current driving forces behind the production of our Goodwill wipers. What are wipers, you ask? Wipers are textiles (clothing items) which are taken daily from our quality pulls (which is when we take items out of our clothing that are not good enough to sell). Shirts that will be made into wipers are also removed while sorting in our textile area. They are then collected, inspected, and cut into wipers.  We produce two types of wipers, terry cloth and 100% cotton wipers. They're separated into both types, and then cut into large squares of cloth. The terry cloth is placed inside boxes and each box is finished when it is weighed in at 30 lbs. The 100% cotton wipers are made from mainly t-shirts that are unsalable in their present condition.  This allows us to recycle the unusable t-shirts into functional wiper cloths that are then available for sale. The wipers are then placed inside bags or boxes, and then weighed to 50 lbs. per box or 10 lbs. per bag. We sell our wipers to surrounding businesses; they use them for a variety of things.  Businesses that currently purchase wipers in bulk from Goodwill are factories, car and boat detailing operations, house-keeping businesses, and machine shops. Also, regular store customers are able to purchase wipers. They can place an order by calling the number listed to the right. Production in our wiper area is consistent throughout the year.

          If you are interested in purchasing our wipers in bulk quantity, please contact us at (440)-964-3565—we would be happy to serve you, as you would be supporting the mission of Goodwill; “Building self-sufficiency through the power of work.”

Life Goes On: By Chloe Quinn

          Meet Keith Griffin, a recent participant in our Community Work Adjustment program.  He recently spent a week working in different departments in the production area of the Ashtabula Goodwill.  Keith had worked here at Goodwill previously, but he returned to us for his program in a different capacity.  He spent that week sharpening his work skills and deciding whether he was ready to go back to work for good. He had become blind through an injury to one eye, and, afterwards, the other eye was negatively affected by cataracts. He acclimated to life with limited vision slowly but steadily.  Today, the remaining vision in his left eye is aided by glasses.

          Keith is not a native to Ohio.  Instead, he comes to us from his hometown of Brooklyn, New York. He has been a resident of Ohio for the last 15 years, and raised his large family right here in Ashtabula. His four children are each a success in their own right. His youngest is a freshman at Lakeside High School; she plans to move to Paris and become a fashion designer.  His other daughter attends Baldwin Wallace, and is on track to become a veterinarian.  His oldest son is attending college at OSU, and is following his lofty dream of becoming a neurosurgeon.  “He always took to school real easy,” Keith explains. Last but not least, his eldest daughter is practicing as a nurse, having graduated recently from OSU. “I’m really proud of all of my kids,” he says.

          Keith, himself, has been out of the workforce for the past three years, having been dealt the blow over those years of slowly becoming someone who is legally blind.  The last position he held was at TA in Kingsville as a dishwasher.  Previous to that, he worked here at Goodwill, Ashtabula as a truck helper and an attendant on the dock. When asked how it felt to come back to work, he replied, “It felt like a relief coming back to work.  Like I didn’t give up.  Life goes on despite being blind.”

          During his time at Goodwill, Keith worked in two different areas: Electronics and Machinery (E&M) and in the wipers station.  In E&M, Keith spent time with battery and power-operated items to test whether they were in good, workable condition.  In the wipers station, Keith used a machine to carefully cut unsalable t-shirts into wiper-sized cloths that will be sold in bulk to car washes (among other uses).  Despite his visual impairment, Keith picked up the new routines in each station quickly, and was able to work almost completely independently in the wipers area by his last day on the job. His job coach, Megan Myers, was on-hand for the entirety of the program, in case Keith needed any assistance or guidance.

          Keith was asked how he felt about his time spent here at Goodwill. “Great!” he answered enthusiastically, “The people, and the environment, made me feel real comfortable.” It was a pleasure spending time with you, Keith. Thank you for letting Goodwill participate in your adventure in returning to work.

How Do You Build a Team?: By Becky Coder

         What is the importance of building teams? In my twenty-plus years of being in a leadership role and managing others, my personal goal has always been to bring out the best in others and to produce the most positive possible results by working together. This philosophy helps in the creation of new relationships between people in the workplace and allows me to discover new skills in my employees. These skills were not previously apparent when they were simply exerting effort to meet the demands of their job description. Many a time I asked myself: “How am I going to build teams?” The answer is this: because I have a vision, I am committed, and I trust in my abilities, I have been able to develop many productive teams. We have been moved towards challenge, through significant changes, and the end result was more confidence: individually, and as a whole.

       How have I created conditions for effective teamwork in the workplace?  It took creating the conditions that allowed ideas and people to flourish, employees to come together and to feel empowered, for performance to flow. As employees found out how important it was to be aware of the strengths and skills of others, each employee helped others fulfill their roles more effectively. We built good working relationships and connections between employees.  In the pursuit of challenging and meaningful team goals, we moved towards encouraging effective teamwork in the workplace.

          I have found that there are three factors important in building teams. The first one is to develop individual strengths. Chances are, an individual already knows their own role and skills they bring to the team.  The second is to establish good collaborative working relationships with others. Finally, it is important to support each of them in their pursuit of worthwhile and meaningful goals. One of the primary reasons for developing a positive team environment is to produce more positive outcomes. This creates a more effective, efficient, and productive work environment that helps to ensure success.  By working together, as a team, we accomplish more.

Values and Principles of a Person-centered Practice: By Sandi Allison

          Goodwill Industries of Ashtabula, Inc. practices the values and principles of a person-centered practice. Person-centered practices include both “person-centered thinking” and “person-centered planning.” Person-centered thinking involves a deep respect for individuals and their equality.  Person-centered planning involves a process and approach for determining, planning for and working toward what an individual wants for his or her future and life satisfaction.

To be person-centered means:

- Treating individuals and family members with dignity and respect

- Helping individuals and families become empowered to set and reach their personal goals

- Recognizing the right of individuals to make informed choices and take responsibility for

    those choices and related risks

- Building on the strengths, gifts, talents, skills, and contributions of the individual and those

    who know and care about the individual

- Fostering community connections in which individuals can develop relationships, learn,

    work/produce income, actively participate in community life and achieve their full potential

- Promising to listen and act on what the individual communicates

- Pledging to be honest when trying to balance what is important to and important for the person

- Seeking to understand individuals in the context of their age, gender, culture, ethnicity, belief system, social and income status, education, family, and any other factors that make them unique

- Acknowledging and valuing families and supporting their efforts to assist family members

- Recognizing and supporting mutually respectful partnerships among individuals, their

    families, communities, providers, and professionals

- Advocating for laws, rules, and procedures for providing services, treatment, and supports that meet an individual’s needs and honor personal goals

- Endorsing responsible use of public resources to assure that qualified individuals are served

    fairly and according to need

Comments From Our President/CEO, Eric Schwarz

          Before each issue of “In Focus” gets distributed, it gets routed through my office for a final look. Last month, I spent a few extra minutes reading Harry’s essay on the “Three Eights”. This was due to my concern that the message did not encourage follow- through in work situations that were not the “perfect job”. I completely agree that in the best circumstances, investing “the working eight hours” of your life in a job you enjoy is ideal and should be a personal goal. The problem is this: learning takes place in all environments and sometimes the best learning is reached through adversity. I did not enjoy all the jobs I worked but I can honestly say, all of the jobs I held led me to the success I’ve encountered in my working life.  My advice if you want the working eight to pay dividends is simple: your attitude about work needs to be positive even when you don’t want to work. Your ability to “stick it out” is critical to build a stronger résumé and story for your dream job interview, and finally, using eight hours of your day to be miserable for pay is not bad if you are learning lessons from the experience. I encourage this sacrifice to all those who are currently out of work.   Work builds character and knowledge. You don’t lay idle and wait for the dream job, you work for it!