TIMELINE
A Look Back
A Century of Impact
For a century, Goodwill of Northwest North Carolina has opened doors to opportunity by helping people build skills and find meaningful work, as well as strengthen the sustainability of the communities where they live. What began as a simple idea—creating pathways to work and independence.
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1928: Independence & The First Charter
Goodwill becomes an independent organization, separate from Centenary United Methodist Church, establishing a sustainable model of collecting, repairing, and reselling donated goods.
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1926: A Purposeful Beginning
With a $500 investment, Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina is founded in 1926 by Centenary United Methodist Church in Winston-Salem, launching the powerful idea of helping adults with disabilities help themselves through work and independence.
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1929: The “Bundle Day” Tradition
In partnership with the Jaycees and Boy Scouts, the community mobilizes for the first mass donation drive to support job creation.
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1932: Regional Leadership
Under the transformative leadership of Mrs. Alice Danner Googe, the organization emerges as a top-performing Goodwill in the South.
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1939: Diversifying Career Pathways
Workforce training expands into sewing, carpentry, and clothing repair, creating reliable employment for people with disabilities.
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1936: Pioneers of Sustainability
Decades ahead of its time, Goodwill establishes an early recycling model by salvaging wastepaper and industrial materials.
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1949: Linking Health and Employment
The organization partners with local physicians to provide free healthcare to adults with disabilities, recognizing that physical wellbeing is essential to career success.
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1942: Supporting the War Effort
Goodwill assists the WWII effort through salvage collection and joins the National Association of Goodwill Industries to strengthen its impact.
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1958: Strengthening Community Partnerships
Goodwill begins overseeing operations for Industries for the Blind, created by the Lions Club in 1936, proving the power of nonprofit collaboration.
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1957: Modern Technical Training
Structured programs in radio and appliance repair launch, utilizing modern equipment to prepare participants for the changing job market.
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1963: Innovation in Housing
Goodwill opens North Carolina’s first residential facility for adults with disabilities. Goodwill also becomes a national training hub for future leaders of Goodwill Industries International.
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1961: A National Standard for Rehabilitation
The 60,000-square-foot Rehabilitation Center opens at the corner of Coliseum Drive and University Parkway in Winston-Salem, offering world-class medical care and job training under one roof.
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1965: Scaling Impact
The organization doubles the number of people served, expanding its curriculum into healthcare and administrative clerical skills.
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1970: Federal Recognition & The G.I. Bill
Strategic training programs—including watchmaking and technical repair—gain federal approval to support returning veterans.
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1973: Reaching the $1 Million Milestone
Through the community’s habit of donating and shopping, retail sales reach $1 million, fueling further mission expansion.
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1972: First Quality Accreditation
Goodwill earns its first CARF accreditation, a gold-standard affirmation of the quality and integrity of its human services.
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1977: Specialized Inclusive Services
The launch of the Deafness Center and “Projects With Industry” creates direct links between specialized talent and local employers.
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1986: Focusing on Competitive Employment
The mission evolves to prioritize placing individuals into competitive, long-term jobs within the general workforce.
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1989: A Regional Identity
The organization is renamed Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina to reflect its growing footprint across the region.
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1988: A National First in Donating
Goodwill opens the first Attended Donation Center (ADC) in the country, a model that would eventually be adopted nationwide.
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1995: The Digital Literacy Shift
Recognizing the new economy, Goodwill introduces computer training and career programs in high-growth technology industries.
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1999: Environmental Impact Milestone
The sustainability mission reaches new heights, diverting 23.5 million pounds of material from local landfills in a single year.
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1994: Extending the Reach
Goodwill expands its service area to 31 counties and 16 retail stores, ensuring rural and urban communities alike have access to opportunity.
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1999: Strengthening the Mountain Region
A strategic merger with Asheville Handi-Skills strengthens services and support for individuals in Western North Carolina.
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Rapid Expansion
Goodwill expands rapidly across the 31-county area, including expanding mission advancement programs and services to include a new Buncombe County Workforce Development Center on Patton Avenue in Asheville.
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2001: 75 Years of Service
Goodwill celebrates 75 years of service to the community while operating 19 Attended Donation Centers (ADCs). The nonprofit is receiving nearly 400,000 donations annually.
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2012: Goodwill Goes Online
Goodwill begins e-commerce program and joins ShopGoodwill.com.
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2010: Partnering for Impact
Goodwill expands mission advancement programs and services through partnerships with NCWorks, local community colleges, Piedmont Triad Regional Council, the Mountain Area Workforce Development Board, and Crosby Scholars.
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2015: Color Me Asheville
Color Me Asheville fashion show launched in Asheville. Local designers use Goodwill gift cards to shop at stores for materials, which they deconstruct and repurpose to create a collection based on a color.
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2022: Goodwill Receives Historic Gift
Goodwill made national news when it received the largest financial gift in its history from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott as part of her $4 billion commitment to strengthening local nonprofit organizations.
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$100M Milestone, 33,000 Served
Surpassed $100 million in total revenue. Provided programs and services to more than 33,000 participants.
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2024: Helping After Hurricane Helene
Following Hurricane Helene, Goodwill served nearly 29,000 people through its community hub sites, providing store vouchers and assistance with FEMA claims, unemployment filing, and other resources.
2026: Building a 100-Year Vision
Integrated commitments of Community Leadership, Inclusion, Sustainability, and Innovation into organizational planning. Revised mission, vision, and values to align with the commitments, which will advance the organization over the next 100 years.
Our Next 100 Years
For a century, Goodwill of Northwest North Carolina has opened doors to opportunity by helping people build skills and find meaningful work, as well as strengthen the sustainability of the communities where they live. What began as a simple idea—creating pathways to work and independence.
- Goodwill provides people with support to empower themselves and thrive through comprehensive job training, skill development, and pathways to family sustaining wage employment.
- Goodwill puts people first, focusing on individuals’ abilities and helping them harness their potential, not defining them by their challenges or disabilities. They serve everyone in need of support, especially those who have faced inequity or other barriers to accessing opportunity. Goodwill meets people where they are and provides them with the holistic services they need to reenter, upskill, or advance in their careers.
- Goodwill provides support services—including child care, financial education, transportation, mentoring and other services for youth and families—that enable people from all backgrounds to obtain and maintain economic independence and an increased quality of life.
- We believe in the sustainability triple bottom line: people, planet, prosperity.
- We divert billions of pounds of usable goods from landfills, connecting high-quality donated goods with sustainability-minded consumers to maximize the usefulness of the things produced for our society.
- We empower the circular economy as well as our socially impactful mission through our retail enterprise, with revenue directly funding training, development, employment and other supportive services.
- We are a social enterprise that operates nonprofit donated goods retail stores as efficient businesses that generate revenue for our own programs. Goodwill is an entrepreneurial leader, environmental pioneer and social innovator of the “reduce, reuse, repurpose” practice.
- We are a network of community-led organizations, drawing leadership from and supported by the communities we serve.
- As a strategic partner in the communities we serve, Goodwill of Northwest North Carolina’s services and investments are uniquely tailored to the local needs and opportunities of our individual communities and the people who are part of them.
- Eighty-seven percent of collective revenues raised through the sale of donated goods go directly toward supporting and growing Goodwill’s critical community-based programs and services and result in environmental and social impact.
- Based on local labor markets and in-demand occupations, Goodwill works with multiple industry sectors, focusing on those with expanding family-sustaining career pathways.
- Goodwill engages high-growth sector businesses—such as health care, information technology and customer service—to support entry-level and middle-skilled workers as they earn market-valued credentials and advance their careers so they can better support their families.
- Goodwill provides support services—including child care, financial education, transportation, mentoring and other services for youth and families—that enable people from all backgrounds to obtain and maintain economic independence and an increased quality of life.
- Goodwill is in the business of changing lives. Goodwill trains people for careers in fields such as financial services, computer programming and manufacturing, as well as in high-growth industries such as technology and health care.
Stay Informed
Stay informed of the latest 100th anniversary announcements, events, and stories from across our Goodwill network.