FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 16, 2015
GOODWILL® AND THE WALMART FOUNDATION STAND UP
FOR AMERICA’S HEROES
Connecting Veterans to their Next Mission
April 16, 2015 — Thanks to a $5 million grant from the Walmart Foundation, new career services are
available to veterans in the Coryell, Bell & McLennan counties. With this grant, Heart of Texas Goodwill
Industries, Inc. and the Walmart Foundation expanded Operation: GoodJobs, a program that helps
veterans and their families find meaningful work and gain financial stability. Operation: GoodJobs, is
expected to serve more than 4,000 veterans and military family members across the country by providing
the tools and resources they need to achieve their educational, career and financial goals.
Over the three year grant period that started in July 2013 and extends through July 2016, local Goodwill
agencies will connect program participants with the training, financial education, credentialing
opportunities, retention support and case management resources they need to get back to work and
advance their careers. The program is unique because it is open to veterans, military spouses and adult
children dependents (ages 18-24). The program makes an additional commitment to focus on helping
women veterans. Through Operation: GoodJobs, Heart of Texas Goodwill Industries, Inc. works with
business partners to match potential employees with employers. Goodwill also provides participants
with free job search assistance and employment placement, screening, and support services, including
locating child care opportunities, nutrition advice and transportation.
“The goal of Operation: GoodJobs is to smooth the transition from military service to the civilian
workforce,” said Dan Nisley, Heart of Texas Goodwill Industries’ CEO. “These heroes stood up for
America in our time of need, and now Goodwill and the Walmart Foundation are standing up for them.”
The program not only benefits veterans and their families, but employers in our area as well. By hiring
veterans who have participated in Operation: GoodJobs, businesses will be bolstered by having highly
skilled and mission-ready military veterans in the workforce.
“Our veterans have many great skills to offer the current job force, and with one million veterans slated to
return home in the next five years, we need to ensure they have the opportunity to put those skills to
work,” said retired U.S. Army Brigadier General Gary Profit, senior director of military programs at
Walmart. ”Goodwill is an essential partner in helping us fulfill our commitment to help veterans find jobs
where they have the ability to live better lives and find success.”
After launching the pilot program in the spring of 2012 in Austin and Houston, TX, and Tacoma, WA,
Operation: GoodJobs successfully served more than 800 veterans and families. The expanded program
now includes nine additional Goodwill agencies in four states with high concentrations of veterans:
California, New York, North Carolina and Texas.
For more information, please contact your nearest Learning Center. Killeen: (254) 634-0637, Belton:
(254) 613-4334, Temple: (254) 773-6424, Waco: (254) 753-7337 or vetservices@hotgoodwill.org.
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HOT Goodwill assists local Veterans/Family members in finding careers through a 3 year grant from the
Walmart Foundation.
Sarah Newbury
Public Relations and Marketing Director
254-289-4619