2019 CJ Recap: Continuing to Build our Goodwill Job Training Program

Greetings Reuse Fans,

In my last blog story I focused on what a great year for donations 2019 was, and the stellar support we received from homeowners, churches, schools and businesses/developers who reached out to us to connect us to deconstruction jobs. As the readers of our blog know, our Deconstruction unit works with job training programs, and we also had a great year with our Goodwill training program, which focuses on providing skills and work experience to individuals with disabilities.

In 2019, we worked with Goodwill of Southwestern PA to expand our training program to serve a broader range of individuals, beyond those with an intellectual disability to include other disabled individuals from transition-aged youth and from the PA Office of Vocational Rehabilitation. Nine individuals are currently enrolled in this program, which involves processing our doors and tile, and managing those sections in our store. The trainees also learn customer service and other skills needed for successful employment. One of our contacts at Goodwill described the partnership as “unique” as it offers training in a non-traditional environment for individuals with disabilities. We proudly accept the description “nontraditional environment”!

In 2019, CJ’s Goodwill team processed:

4,843 doors
Over 3,000 bundles of flooring
17,101 bundles of tile.

They also restocked our selection of Amazon Select Paints and the painting supplies. In 2019, we sold 3,539 cans of recycled content latex paint (1 gallon and 5 gallon). These trainees and their Goodwill managers are essential to CJ’s success. We are exploring new ways to get them involved in helping us process even more materials to make shopping reuse easier for you. This is a committed bunch of people! (You can also check out our refreshed Paint inventory page to check on our current stock levels.)