Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake, Inc.

Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake is a nonprofit built on a clear premise: People facing barriers to employment, whether from a layoff, a physical or mental health challenge, or simply a lack of access to the workforce, deserve a genuine path to self-sufficiency. We deliver that path through training, education, and employment services, not through charity.

With a budget of $62 million and approximately 1,000 employees, Goodwill operates 32 retail locations across the Baltimore region, most recently opening its newest store at Reisterstown Road Plaza, its fourth location in Baltimore City. Each store is mission infrastructure: Proceeds from donated goods fund training, coaching, and placement services at no cost to participants. Last year, Goodwill provided services to more than 3,000 people facing physical, mental, or other social barriers and placed 917 of them into jobs. It is, as we say, “Not a charity, but a chance.”

That mission carries measurable weight in the regional economy. An independent economic and fiscal impact analysis found that Goodwill’s community placements, operations, and capital investment together generated $246.6 million in economic output for the Chesapeake region in 2025 and supported nearly 2,400 jobs when direct, indirect, and induced effects are counted. Those impacts produced $91.6 million in wages and $6.8 million in revenue for the State of Maryland, at a time when Maryland lost more than 21,800 jobs statewide. For donors weighing where a gift goes furthest, this is a nonprofit whose model converts donated goods and philanthropic support into documented economic return.

The Excel Center, Goodwill’s tuition-free public high school for adults 21 and older, has grown since its 2023 launch into one of the organization’s most consequential programs. Students earn an actual high school diploma, not a GED, through an accelerated, competency-based curriculum that accounts for the realities of adult life: flexible schedules, embedded job training, on-site childcare, transportation assistance, and coaching that treats work, family, and school as a single, integrated goal. Learn more at www.ExcelCenterMD.org.

Beyond the Excel Center, Goodwill’s training programs span CNA certification, pharmacy technician training, digital skills, construction trade pre-apprenticeships, and DOT flagger certification, giving participants multiple entry points into stable, in-demand careers across hospitals, warehousing, government, and skilled trades, the industries where Goodwill placements landed most often in 2025.

Goodwill’s work also extends into environmental stewardship through its Good Planet programs, including a plastic film recycling partnership with Trex, glass recycling, and textile diversion, which keep usable materials out of landfills while generating additional revenue for mission programs.

Through Early Head Start, Goodwill extends its mission of self-sufficiency to the region’s youngest children and their families from the earliest years.

Donors and community partners can support this work by contributing material goods, vehicles, or financial gifts, or by volunteering at Goodwill’s Annual Thanksgiving Dinner and Resource Fair, a Baltimore tradition serving thousands of neighbors each November. Employers seeking job-ready talent can also partner directly with Goodwill’s recruiters, who manage recruiting, pre-screening, testing, and orientation on a business’s behalf.

To learn more or to give, visit goodwillches.org or goodwillches.org/donate/make-a-financial-donation.

• Goodwill is a nonprofit whose services are free and open to anyone facing barriers to employment.
• In 2025, Goodwill’s community placements, operations, and capital investment generated $246.6 million in economic output and supported nearly 2,400 regional jobs.
• The Excel Center offers a tuition-free path to an actual high school diploma for adults 21 and older, not a GED.
• Donations and retail sales directly fund job training, coaching, and placement services, at no cost to participants.
• Employers can partner directly with Goodwill’s recruiters to access job-ready candidates trained in CNA certification, pharmacy technician skills, digital literacy, construction trades, and DOT flagger certification.