Goodwill Industries

Dr. Edgar J. Helms founded the first Goodwill in the south end of Boston in 1902. His innovative idea was to collect used household goods and clothing in the wealthier areas of the city, train those without jobs to mend and repair them, and resell or give the improved goods to the people who worked on them. From this vision, the Goodwill philosophy of “a hand up, not a handout” came to life and the Goodwill Movement began.