Goodwill Industries of South Mississippi is, to most, a household name. The name has always meant a place to donate unwanted items or to make your dollar stretch at the retail stores. Goodwill Industries of South Mississippi is, to some, a service; a service that was founded to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities. Goodwill Industries of South Mississippi is, to others, ‘people helping people’; a builder of self esteem in people with disabilities. Goodwill provides jobs, job training and support services. In 1972, Goodwill Industries of America had just celebrated its 70th year, the coastal Goodwill opened. Goodwill Industries of South Mississippi received their charter in 1974 and became independent of Jackson’s Goodwill of Mississippi. Goodwill Industries of South Mississippi, Inc. grew during the 70s. The truck fleet grew to four. They collected and delivered donations to the processing plant on 13th street in downtown Gulfport. Goodwill workers sorted, cleaned, processed and priced clothing, shoes, toys and household items for its Gulfport store. The mid 70s brought the opening of a Biloxi store on Howard Avenue; and the late 70s brought the addition of a Bay St. Louis store in Hancock County. Goodwill collection boxes were scattered throughout the three coastal counties. The 80s brought further expansion as Goodwill purchased property and built a new processing facility complete with administrative offices and moved from the 13th Street location to 31st Street in Gulfport. The joy of the moment was short lived, though, as Goodwill workers watched the new facility burn to the ground in August of 1981, four months after its dedication ceremony. With the help of many friends and six months of time, Goodwill was back with a new, enlarged plant and office building in its present location (still on 31st Street in Gulfport). The late 80s saw Goodwill entering into the Contract business. Goodwill began to contract its workers out to local businesses. They recycled wire for Mississippi Power, built storage sheds for Entex Gas, and cut wiping cloths for local garages. Attended donation centers sprang up in Orange Grove, Popps Ferry and Ocean Springs as an alternative to the yellow collection bins; and, in 1989, a new retail store was added in Pascagoula. The 90s began with the addition of another attended donation center in Pascagoula to supply the new store. October of ’91 brought the beginning of Goodwill’s venture into the government contract business; starting with the Mail Room and Bits/PDO contracts on Keesler Air Force Base, where workers sorted mail and delivered mail and secure documents internally on the base. October of ’92 brought four new government contracts the way of shelf stocking and custodial contracts at the commissaries on Keesler Air Force Base and the NMCB Center (Seabee base), directing calls at the switchboard on Keesler, and grounds maintenance at the Naval Home. The Keesler Commissary contract was concluded in 1994; but, was awarded to Goodwill again in early ’96. Goodwill saw much growth in the 90s, making it necessary to add more administrative staff. Another retail store was added in D’Iberville and we were awarded another custodial contract on Keesler. Through so much growth, Mississippi Goodworks, Inc. was born. Goodworks is a sister company of Goodwill and is the agency that houses all work sites that are NISH contracts (government contracts overseen by the National Institute for the Severely Handicapped). The addition of so many work sites in the 90s allowed Goodwill to begin a rehabilitation department where Goodwill evaluates and job trains people with disabilities referred by outside agencies. Donations also grew at a rate that allowed the retail stores to begin to support themselves by processing their own donations, trimming the processing plant down to processing donations only for the Gulfport Store. Other departments in the plant ceased to exist, including repair of large appliances and furniture. The transportation department was further downsized by eliminating home pick ups unless they were large items that could be sold as-is or large amounts of merchandise at one pick up. The new millennium began by showing enough growth potential that donation centers were closed as retail stores were receiving and processing enough donations to support themselves. Unfortunately, the new millennium also brought Hurricane Katrina. This storm destroyed three of the five stores, caused the delay of almost all of the contract work, and displaced many of the workers at Goodwill due to the destruction of their homes. Yet, Goodwill will not be deterred in its mission “to assist persons with disabilities or those who are otherwise vocationally disadvantaged to achieve full participation and integration into society”. Goodwill has since opened two new stores, achieving pre-Katrina sales amounts, resumed work at almost all pre-Katrina contract sites, and even beginning a few new ones. Goodwill Industries of South Mississippi, Inc. and Mississippi Goodworks, Inc. have gone through many changes throughout their history. The mission remains evident in the lives of the clients and employees that have been served over the years. We continue to be ‘people helping people’ by providing jobs, job training and job placement. Return to Goodwill Industries of South Mississippi Homepage | 
