About Goodwill
Who We Are
Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania is a human service agency and network of not-for-profit businesses whose mission is to help people with special needs overcome barriers to employment and enjoy the dignity and benefits of work and improved quality of life.
Under a franchise-like agreement with Goodwill Industries International, we serve eight counties in southwestern Pennsylvania (Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler, Beaver, Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland) and nine counties in north central West Virginia (Barbour, Harrison, Lewis, Marion, Monongalia, Preston, Randolph, Taylor and Upshur).
With over 900 employees and annual revenues of nearly $40 million, our agency ranks as one of the largest Goodwill organizations in the U.S.
What We Do
Goodwill SWPA provides a broad array of employment-related education and workforce development programs and services for people with physical and mental disabilities and other special needs.
As one of the largest and most diverse social and human service organizations in the region, we served over 108,000 people and helped more than 1,700 individuals find jobs in 2008.
Our employment services programs are accredited by CARF, an independent, non-profit accrediting body whose official certification is a mark of distinction among agencies that provide such services.
We operate 25 stores and several other businesses to help to support our programs and to provide training and employment opportunities for clients. Revenues from Goodwill stores – along with income from our other business units, salvage sales, contract work, rehabilitation grants and fees, and public support – go directly to job-training services and equipment needed by people with disabilities and disadvantages.
An average of nearly 90% of all revenue raised by Goodwill supports our job-training and employment programs.
View a Summary of Goodwill's Strategic Plan
Our History
Goodwill was founded in Boston in 1902 and has evolved into a large and diverse international organization that includes more than 200 autonomous, community-based agencies in the United States, Canada and other countries.
The first Goodwill workshop in Pittsburgh opened in the Strip District in 1919. After operating in several other locations and growing over the years, the agency moved in 1967 to its present headquarters location at 2600 East Carson Street on the South Side, a building that once was the “company store” of J & L Steel Corporation.
