United Way of the Midlands Awards $70K Karnett Trust Grant to Goodwill Industries
Goodwill Industries, Inc. (GoodwillOmaha.org), Serving Eastern Nebraska and Southwest Iowa, (Goodwill Omaha) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded the $70,000 Karnett Family Trust Grant by United Way of the Midlands Karnett Trust. The Karnett Family Trust Grant is administered by the United Way of the Midlands and is open to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations in Douglas, Sarpy, and Pottawattamie counties to fund programs that are focused on the care, education, and training of children with intellectual/developmental disabilities in the Omaha metropolitan area. The grant will provide vital funding for Goodwill Omaha’s Work Experience program, which gives developmentally disabled high school students opportunities to gain exposure to work situations in supportive environments.
Goodwill’s Work Experience program has provided training services to developmentally disabled high school students since 1965. As Goodwill’s oldest program, Work Experience has professionals who work with local school districts in eight retail and community-based locations in the metropolitan community.
COVID-19 has presented many challenges for students at schools that haven’t yet returned to in-person learning, parents’ reluctance to allow children to return to a classroom, or whose underlying health concerns make returning to a classroom undesirable or unsafe. Goodwill Omaha is adapting its service delivery with a flexible online training system designed to help bridge the gap until schools and students can return to more normal learning environments.
Many people know Goodwill Industries, Inc., Serving Eastern Nebraska and Southwest Iowa, as a place to donate used clothing and household items or find great bargains, but you might not know the mission at the heart of the organization: provide job training and placement services to people with disabilities and other disadvantages. To learn more, please visit GoodwillOmaha.org.