Memphis Goodwill to Open New Rehabilitation Center

Memphis, Tenn., July 28, 2010 – Memphis Goodwill today announced it will open the Goodwill Vocational Rehabilitation Services Center, designed to offer job training for individuals who are intellectually and developmentally disabled.            

The organization will host a grand opening event on Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2010, at 9 a.m. at 3830 Austin Peay Highway. Congressman Steve Cohen has confirmed attendance, along with other state and local officials.            

The new 7,000-square-foot rehabilitation center is a partnership between Memphis Goodwill and the Tennessee Department of Human Services, which provided Establishment Grant Funding for the new center. Individuals served at the center will be enrolled in one- to six-month programs designed to teach anything from basic life skills to specific job tasks, with a focus on positive development of appropriate job site behaviors.            

“We’re thrilled to open Memphis Goodwill’s new rehabilitation services center and look forward to offering much-needed job skills training for many people with disabilities in the Mid-South,” said Beth Nelson, Director of Rehabilitation Services for Memphis Goodwill. “The new center will follow Goodwill’s mission to ‘Lend a hand up, not a hand out’ by equipping these individuals with the skills they need to become employed.”               

Classes at the rehab center will consist of no more than 12 individuals at one time and will serve as a great connector and support system for the families of these individuals by providing a social network and peer group to help them cope with the daily challenges encountered when supporting family members with disabilities. The center is actively seeking placement partners, such as hotels, industrial companies and others, willing to employ program graduates.            

For more information about the center, please call (901) 384-6745 or visit www.goodwillmemphis.org.            

Memphis Goodwill was founded in 1927 as a territory of the nationwide Goodwill Industries movement. Today, the organization employs more than 500 people in Tennessee and Mississippi who face significant barriers to employment. For more information about Goodwill in Memphis, store locations or hours of operation, call (901) 323-6221 or visit www.goodwillmemphis.org.