Goodwill was founded in 1902 by Rev. Edgar J. Helms, a young Methodist minister at Morgan Memorial Chapel, located in an impoverished area of Boston, Massachusetts. His vision was broad enough to encompass the people who were impoverished and who had disabilities in his community. He devised a simple plan of collecting usable clothing and household items from the public and putting people to work, many of them were considered unemployable, renovating the donated goods. The goods were then sold and the money received was used to pay workers.
The workers not only earned wages but also acquired skills, learned trades and some for the first time became self-sufficient. Rev. Helms created the philosophy “Not charity, but a chance” for persons with disabilities and disadvantaging conditions. His vision expanded into a worldwide network of Goodwill Industries that still practice his philosophy today.
Goodwill Industries was started in Little Rock in 1927 by Charles E. Moyer, Mayor of Little Rock. The first donations included left over clothing donated by the Community Chest that had been collected for victims of the 1927 flood. Goodwill’s founder, Dr. Edgar J. Helms, inspected the Little Rock operation in 1928. His visit gave additional momentum to the local organization and enabled it to affiliate with the national office in April, 1929.
Local Goodwill sales continued to increase in the 1950’s and 1960’s, which allowed for expanding facilities for operations and allowed for the establishment of a comprehensive rehabilitation program for the developmentally and emotionally disabled. In 1976, a new rehabilitation center was built on the north side of Seventh Street, between Cross and Ringo Streets, in Little Rock. This allowed for the foundation to be laid for the program of rehabilitation services that our agency delivers today.
Today, Goodwill Industries of Arkansas, Inc. continues to serve the people of Arkansas with a host of rehabilitation services, 16 retail stores and two attended donation stations. While Goodwill is no longer in the business of repairing donated items, it employs hundreds of people in the cycle of donations, processing, and resale of those goods, which is still the single largest revenue source for Goodwill. With this revenue Goodwill is providing people with hope, dignity and independence by providing them with the means to earn a paycheck and support their families.