Success Stories
Grace Babb
Grace Babb is always thinking – colors, patterns, designs. Away from her job as a sales associate at Goodwill’s Carmel-West Store, Grace creates a wide variety of artwork from repurposed materials.
“It makes me feel good that I can take something that maybe somebody doesn’t want or it could be something that’s really ugly, and I can transform it into something really neat,” she says.
Grace’s final products are beautiful: quilted wall hangings made from fabric scraps or fabric dye-transferred with old pieces of silk; felted purses made from repurposed material; crocheted water bottle covers; salvaged canvases that Grace has painted; bracelets created from used beads; and much more.
The source of most of Grace’s raw materials? Shopping at Goodwill stores & outlets and clickgoodwill.com. “I get a lot of inspiration from shopping at Goodwill,” she says.
By shopping at Goodwill, Grace says she spends about $100 a year on supplies for her artwork, finding deals online and at sales. She says she’s hopeful to spend more now that she is employed. Grace had to stop working in her career field as a certified surgical technologist because she has seizures, depression, and fibromyalgia. Although she worked part-time in various jobs, she didn’t have steady employment.
In February, she worked with a job coach at a local organization to find her job at the Carmel-West Store. The store worked with her to accommodate her disability, and she now works every other day in the store’s back room in textiles. “That works out really well for me,” she says.
Formal art school training hasn’t been a part of Grace’s background. She dropped out of high school art class due to lack of feedback from instructors and took only one basic college-level correspondence art class because finances were tight. She says she’s been drawing since she was a child and that her artwork was born out of necessity and a love for what she does.
“Not having money, you have to find a way to make due,” Grace says. “You know – you want something; you make it. I find it fun. I said, ‘I’m glad we’re poor because you can be more creative.’ ”
Grace, who just graduated from a Goodwill class where individuals learn to find community resources and set personal and financial goals, now has lots of hopes and dreams for the future of her artwork – a new sewing machine, a new printer, taking classes, selling some of her pieces, and passing her knowledge onto others, especially children. But the best part of her artwork? Grace says how it makes her feel and lifts her depression.
“My artwork makes me feel really good,” Grace says. “If I’m feeling down and I start doing something with my hands and I get interested in the process, your mood just changes.”
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See Grace & her artworkGrace’s Goodwill shopping tips
- Sales: Take advantage of Goodwill’s sale days, including 50% sales, 99-cent Sundays and Senior Discount Days at the regular stores and Blowout Sales at the Goodwill Outlet Stores. (See www.goodwillindy.org for details.)
- Shop at clickgoodwill.com: Grace has found great deals on glass beads and semi-precious stones for jewelry-making and European yarn for needlepoint. She advises that the most expensive items aren’t always what you’re seeking. “You just have to look at the site all the time and look for the new things that come on,” she advises.
- Needlepoint: Search stores for plastics and yarn for your work.
- Painting: Look for canvases that can be reused.
- Fabrics:
- Shop the outlets for scraps of fabric or yarn (www.goodwilloutlet.org)
- In any store, look at the different fabrics & unique buttons that clothing and other fabrics have to offer.
- Silk (including shirts, robes and ties) are affordable at Goodwill. Grace uses this material for dye-transfer projects.
- Hardware, accessories & more: Look at Goodwill for anything you can re-purpose or reuse, including keys, hardware, buttons, acrylic paints, picture frames, books, art, photos, reference magazines, vintage lace, felt, etc.
Rebekah Blane
Rebekah Blane has benefited from Goodwill’s flexibility and commitment. After being only the second person in her family to graduate from high school, Rebekah had a promising future ahead of her. But when her mother was diagnosed with a mental illness, Rebekah stayed at home to care for her. Even with her caregiving responsibilities, she managed to enroll at Indiana Business College and earn an associate’s degree. But when her mother passed away, everything changed.
With no support system, Rebekah struggled with the loss of her mother and became an alcoholic. She began writing bad checks, and eventually, she was arrested. Convicted of forgery, Rebekah served time and was eventually referred to Goodwill from work release.
Rebekah has made great strides since beginning her work release program. She embraces the need to do the best job she possibly can, to go that extra mile. In fact, she is the only employee in Goodwill Commercial Services who is trained on every piece of equipment and in every role on the assembly floor. When there is a need to be filled, her supervisors can count on her to do it.
Rebekah’s future became even brighter when she began the New Beginnings Program, a six-month program that requires individuals to maintain employment, attend training sessions and make progress on their goals. They work on creating support systems and building critical life skills and also build and improve computer literacy and write effective résumés.
She also has begun to pursue some of her personal dreams, like working with children at the transitional housing facility where she lives. She understands that she will have a tough road ahead to rebuild people’s trust in her. Rebekah explains, “The nature of my crimes will make it harder to get back, but I have the tenacity to go for what I want.”
Rebekah refuses to let go of her dreams. “Even though it looks rough, and it looks like you can’t make it, that you can’t move – you have to get up and keep going. Each day gets a little bit better. It gets a little bit easier – you just have to keep pushing through.”
See her videoConstance McClure
Ask Constance McClure about her job at Goodwill, and she will tell you about the “second family” she’s found at the Noblesville Goodwill Store.
“People help me if I have a bad day. They talk me through it,” Constance says. “I chose Goodwill because they understand my handicap. They help me a lot with my job and also show people how to respond to one another. It’s like a second family, my team here. I’ve been really grateful to them.”
Nine years ago, Constance moved from Middletown, Ind., to Noblesville, and worked with a job coach from Janus Developmental Services to find her job at Goodwill after first trying the fast-food industry. Her job responsibilities at Goodwill include hanging clothing, removing items from the sales floor, assisting with the display case, and stocking household merchandise and other items on the sales floor, and she now works independently without the assistance of a job coach.
Constance, who has seizures and an emotional disorder, works three days a week to help support herself and her 15-year-old son, who is mildly autistic. She lives with her parents and receives a lot of support from them and other family members. She says she also appreciates her understanding co-workers.
“I go to work and try to have a good day. I look to family to help me with my situation at home. It’s still challenging,” Constance says. “My co-workers brought another perspective to my life because when I first started here, I didn’t have friends. I just moved here from Middletown. It helped me meet people because I don’t drive. This is my second home.”
Constance’s store manager, Sherry Gather, says Constance is responsible, a hard worker and does any job she is asked. Sherry’s seen Constance grow as an individual over the years, gaining self-confidence and learning to take constructive criticism well.
“Constance is just very comfortable within the store and with other people now. She’s gained a lot of confidence over the years,” Sherry says. “She keeps people in good spirits, and she’s really helpful with the customers.”
“My job has brought me more happiness. It’s brought me more joy. It just makes me happy every day,” Constance says. “I’ve got a job. I’m happy.”