Over the past two years, COVID has had a drastic impact on our lives, livelihood and economy contributing to a loss of jobs, security, and nearly one million lives nationally. While we take a moment and reflect on what was lost during this time, it is important to celebrate what we’ve been able to accomplish together.
Category: Advocate
Highlights from the State of the Union
In his first State of the Union Address, President Biden had to balance discussing major challenges — both foreign and domestic — while noting points of optimism and hope where there can be bipartisan agreement on how to move the nation forward as the pandemic begins to subside.
Shutdown Averted…Again
Congress reached a bipartisan agreement to extend government funding from February 18 to March 11. The stopgap funding measure gives appropriators more time to draft and enact a final omnibus government funding bill for FY 2022 which began last October and ends September 30, 2022.
Tell Congress to Support Investments in Workforce Development
It is clear that the Build Back Better Act passed by the House will not garner the 50 Democrat votes needed to pass the Senate as written. As Congress continues to negotiate a parred back version of the bill, it is critical that a strong investment in workforce development remains.
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Celebrating Mentors in January
January is National Mentoring Month, a time to celebrate the contributions that mentors and mentoring programs have made to our lives and communities. Goodwill® has a long history of fostering relationships through mentoring, particularly those that promote positive outcomes for youth. Goodwill youth mentoring programs connect adult mentors with young people, including those impacted by the justice system or facing other barriers to opportunity, through engagements that emphasize positive development and career awareness activities that help youth gain confidence, avoid risky behavior, stay on track to complete secondary school, and successfully transition to postsecondary education and training.
Reflecting on the Past, While Looking Toward the Future
One year has passed since many of us watched in horror as our democracy was under attack. As I reflect on that time, I looked back at the blog I wrote in the following days. It states, “This cannot be the norm, and our nation needs to begin healing. The divisiveness in our country has been festering for years and has reached an awful tipping point where people lost their lives.
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The Year in Review and Resolutions Ahead
As 2021 comes to an end, it’s a good time to reflect on where we’ve been, to celebrate our successes and to plan for the future. We’ve been through a lot this year as a country – an attack on our democracy, a transition in Congress and the Administration, an ongoing pandemic, damage from storms and fires, and social injustices. We’ve been through a lot as a nonprofit sector and as an organization – furloughs, declines in donations, shifts in service delivery and now staffing shortages as we begin to recover.
Support Universal Charitable Giving
On the heels of Giving Tuesday, Goodwill Industries International joins our partners in the Charitable Giving Coalition in calling on Congress to expand charitable giving incentives to all taxpayers. Since 2012, Giving Tuesday has marked the beginning of the year-end season of giving, during which Americans display unmatched generosity through charitable donations.
Giving Thanks to Our Advocates
As we reflect on the things for which we are thankful during this holiday season, we at Goodwill Industries International are giving thanks for you — our advocates.
Apprenticeships Provide a Pathway to Rebuilding America
For many American workers, participation in an apprenticeship program offers an invaluable pathway to a rewarding career with good wages. Local Goodwill® organizations have a long history of partnering with employers and community colleges to facilitate innovative apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs. These structured earn-and-learn models combine occupational training, classroom instruction, access to support services, and opportunities for paid work experience with employers that prepare program participants, particularly those facing barriers to employment, for long-term career success.
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Recognizing Veterans and Military Families in November
Veterans Day is a time to reflect on the service and sacrifices of our nation’s veterans and military family members. President Joe Biden recently signed a proclamation designating November as National Veterans and Military Families Month. “To those who serve and those that serve alongside them — their families and caregivers — we owe a debt we can never fully repay,” said Biden. “We as a nation have a sacred obligation to properly equip and prepare our troops when we send them in to harm’s way and to support them and their families, both while they are deployed and when they return home.”
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Momentum for Build Back Better is Still Building
Final passage of the bipartisan infrastructure framework and House passage of the Build Back Better reconciliation bill appear to be in sight — at least at the time of this writing. If the House passes the bipartisan infrastructure bill without any changes, it will head to the President for his signature.
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