Goodwill of Central and Coastal VA
Background Information
In 1902, Rev. Edgar J. Helms served a mission assignment in Boston’s South End, which was home to many unemployed immigrants who did not speak English. He was appalled by their living conditions and their desperation for food, clothing, shelter and work.
Helms’s brainchild entailed going door-to-door in wealthier neighborhoods to collect donations of clothing and household goods. His mission hired people to mend, repair and re-sell the goods, and paid them day wages.
With the help of Methodist Church funding, Helms helped establish independent Goodwill Industries organizations across the U.S. He also traveled the globe in the 1920s to share the Goodwill message while working on his book “Pioneering in Modern City Missions.
Locally, Goodwill began serving the Richmond community in 1923, and Hampton Roads in 1925. In 2006, the two Goodwills merged to form a single non-profit entity, Goodwill of Central and Coastal Virginia.
Additional Information
AbilityOne Producing NPA
