Update from Dan—Sept 2020
Watch Dan’s Update Video, or Read It Below with Links
Hello everyone—
I hope that you, your families and friends are staying well and safe as we all make our way through the tumultuous year of 2020. Back in March when I first texted all of you about the shutdown of our stores, we had no idea what the future might hold. We hoped that things might go back to relative normal in a few months. Now it looks like we will be riding the wave of disruption into next year. We are facing the overlapping realities of the public health crisis, the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, and a nationwide reckoning with racial injustice.
As summer draws to a close in Northern Michigan, I want to update you on ways our organization is adapting to our new normal, and share some silver linings we are finding among the clouds. This is a longer update than normal, but I hope you will find it contains important information for all Goodwill Northern Michigan employees.
Public Health Crisis
During our ongoing public health crisis, we have found innovative ways to keep each other, and our customers and clients, safe throughout the organization, while we’re also doing more for the people we serve than ever before.
Every day of the week, our retail team is meeting the challenge of helping customers understand and comply with our mask policy while providing the best possible shopping experience, often in the face of staff shortages. No easy feat!
Our donation door and warehouse teams have done a Herculean job handling an unprecedented number of donations—we’ve even had to rent a second warehouse to store overflow donations. Hundreds of thousands of pounds of items have been saved from going into landfill, while we have been shorter on labor than we have ever been. And the donated items have been turned into funding for programs that make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.
Our maintenance team has done a phenomenal job keeping all of our 13 facilities and our vehicle fleet sanitized and safe. At the same time, repairs and improvements continue, and the new store in Gaylord is taking shape, with an opening planned for this fall.
Street Outreach is assisting people experiencing unsheltered homelessness by addressing urgent needs and providing education and services. They also mapped the outdoor locations of our clients for use by emergency personnel in the event of disaster. This came in handy when torrential rains threatened to flood a main campsite.
Homeless services have been operating two shelters, the Goodwill Inn and a separate day shelter at Safe Harbor, for people experiencing homelessness, serving our clients with dignity and respect around the clock while dealing with significant staff shortages. We have set up several different systems to protect the immunocompromised, including a shelter within a shelter at the Goodwill Inn. And we have worked with our partners to do weekly covid-19 testing of staff and guests. Thus far, thankfully, all 164 tests have been negative.
Through it all, we have kept our focus on our goal and have transitioned over 15 individuals and families into safe, permanent housing.
Economic Crisis
We've weathered the economic crisis well, thanks to great support from generous community donors, the government, and careful planning.
Despite all of the challenges, we’ve been able to reach 91% of our normal sales goals in the stores. Our ecommerce team had their biggest month ever in July, and is on track to beat that in August, with the help of a gold necklace that Ellen in ecommerce painstakingly removed from a tangle of jewelry—it had a high bid of $640 at Shopgoodwill—and a cast-iron skillet that sold for $1,200.
In June, Food Rescue also had its biggest month ever, picking up and delivering $327,000 worth of food to neighbors in need, and storing another $75,000 worth of food for the days to come. Food Rescue has formed new partnerships with the USDA and the Area Agency on Aging, and increased the percentage of fresh vegetables and fruit by 8 percent over last year, despite supply chain and volunteer program disruptions unfolding all around us.
Meal services is producing thousands of meals every week for seniors, guests at the Goodwill Inn, and people in treatment. Working through greater and changing needs has led to new ways to maximize partnerships and operational efficiency.
We have found a way to leverage the community and governmental support that is coming into the homelessness system during the crisis to not only keep people safe, but to also reduce homelessness in our community. Along with the Coalition to End Homelessness, we are embarking on a 100 Day Challenge to secure 20 units of family and youth housing, which will help us to end family homelessness in our region, and will also provide more options for immunocompromised individuals at the Goodwill Inn.
Nationwide Reckoning with Racial Injustice
Through all of this, we have been reminded that the nationwide reckoning with racial injustice is just as relevant in our quiet corner of the country as it is anywhere else. We’ve been inspired to rededicate ourselves to fully incorporating diversity, equity and inclusion into our culture at Goodwill Northern Michigan.
This isn’t just about checking boxes or going through the motions. It’s about realizing that people don’t fit into boxes. It’s about recognizing structures that keep some people down and advantage others. It’s about incorporating inclusivity and diversity into everything that we do throughout our organization.
This effort will become part of who we are at Goodwill Northern Michigan, and not just something we did at a moment in time. We appreciate and value ideas that come from a diverse work environment and want to bring diversity of thought, experience and expertise to everything we do. We believe that an inclusive work environment provides an atmosphere that allows all individuals to attain their greatest potential and achieve the greatest benefits for clients.
Allison Cavanaugh, our Director of Human Resources and Workforce Development, will be leading our efforts, starting with the formation of an employee-based Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee. The committee will be made up of employees from across the organization (any position, any location) who have an interest in the topic of diversity and inclusion, and a desire to impact the culture of Goodwill Northern Michigan. The committee will partner with an external anti-racism facilitator to help guide them through discussions and the formation of a plan.
I’d like to ask each one of you to think about whether you are interested in serving on this committee. The time commitment is expected to be 1-2 hours per month, and you will be paid for your time. All employees of Goodwill Northern Michigan are invited to raise their hand and apply to be part of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. To do this, you can complete the short online interest form in the next few weeks, or you can contact Allison at 231-995-7708 or allisonc@goodwillnmi.org with any questions or to express your interest.
Silver Linings
Despite everything that has gone wrong in the world this year, we have found many silver linings.
We have been able to hire several new people who have joined our Goodwill team. I’d like to personally welcome each and every one of you—we are glad you are here! We are still looking for more team members, so we hope you will spread the word about the many opportunities open throughout the organization to your friends, families, and people you meet.
The Employee Mask Selfie Contest has been a blast! The creativity and spirit of our team is shining through. Congratulations to our July and August winners: Deb H in Acme and Barb G in Ecommerce. Be sure to check out the winners and runners up.
The pandemic has given us the impetus and opportunity to build a stronger, more diverse, and more inclusive culture at our organization.
We are working more efficiently than ever before, enabling us to help more neighbors in need.
We are working with more partners than ever before, strengthening our community’s safety net for everyone.
I am grateful for this organization and the people that make it what it is. We have had a people-driven, values-based response to the pandemic, following a decision tree that always puts the people in the center of our decision making. Our organization is stronger and better for it. You find out a lot about yourself and the organizations you belong to when you go through a crisis. We are one of only five Goodwills in the United States, out of 158, that were able to continue or even increase services during the pandemic. I have been very impressed. We know we will face new challenges in the months to come. We are in a good position to tackle them, using lessons we have learned this year, and with help from all of you.
Please think about joining our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. Let us know if you are interested. And please make sure that you take some time for yourself during these stressful days and months. Showing kindness and grace to ourselves, and to our clients and customers, is one of the best ways we can take care of ourselves, our friends and families, and our communities. Thank you.
