Goodwill agency finding jobs for homeless claims success
Seven months ago, Melvin Braynen was hungry, dispirited and sleeping under a bridge. Now, the 40-year-old is part of a maintenance crew with the city of Orlando, where his boss calls him a model employee, and he spends his free time giving inspirational talks to homeless people downtown.
“Most of the sidewalks I clean up, I think, ‘I’ve slept on those sidewalks,’ ” he said. “I feel so thankful to have a roof over my head now, to have money in the bank.”
Braynen’s transformation has come through a novel program called GoodSource Staffing Services, a temporary jobs agency launched three years ago this week by Goodwill Industries of Central Florida. Unlike the typical day-labor pools many homeless people rely on for paychecks, GoodSource aims to help hard-to-place job-seekers build a solid work record to get them back into the mainstream.
Since the program’s launch, more than 800 people have been placed in temporary jobs for anywhere from a couple of days to many months. The city of Or-
lando has become one of the program’s biggest clients — hiring 110 GoodSource workers — after a 2016 trial run led to an expansion a year later. Eight of the workers have since moved into permanent positions.
In addition to the homeless, the program targets workers with long gaps in their employment history because of illness, domestic violence, caring for a loved one or incarceration.
“These folks want to work. They know how important a second chance is,” said Yvette Hernandez, vice president of staffing for GoodSource. “Basically, we’re a rapid re-employment program where people are assessed, evaluated, trained and then we collaborate with area employers, such as the city of Orlando, to help put them back in the workforce . ... At the end of the day, they’re supporting themselves.”
Richard Suggs, a supervisor with the city’s public works department, praised the program.
“These are the most reliable guys an employer could ask for,” he said. “With other temp agencies, you’ll get guys who show up for a day or two, until they get a little money, and then you don’t see them again. … Our GoodSource employees take great pride in their work — and it shows.”
Last year, 71 percent of the workers placed through the nonprofit agency were homeless at the outset. Of those, at least half now have a stable place to live, Hernandez said. To participate, they have to pass a criminal background check and drug screen, and some work at Goodwill donation centers in the beginning to ensure they’re ready for a position with a GoodSource client.
Hernandez said her agency is “brutally honest” with potential employees about what to expect and that it charges highly competitive rates to its clients, including employers looking for help in customer service, janitorial, retail, hospitality, clerical and warehouse positions.
Like most employment agencies, it charges companies more than it pays out to its workers — a cushion that allows it to cover the background screenings, worker’s compensation insurance and administration. But there are no upfront fees to workers, and no charges to companies that want to hire the workers permanently, once they’ve passed 400 hours on the job. On the contrary, it’s encouraged.
“Our goal is to get these folks employed and back into the workforce, not to keep them on our payroll forever,” Hernandez said.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer — who spent one day this week cleaning trash from a local park alongside the GoodSource laborers — said the effort is critical in addressing the region’s large homeless population.
“Part of working your way out of homelessness … is having work,” he said. “These folks have worked in four or five different departments for us — parks and recreation, public works, fleet maintenance, streets and drainage — and they do a great job. We trust them.”
For Braynen, the city job brings him $10.71 an hour, enough to rent a room in a house and still leave a little for his saving account.
But the best part, he said, is the “family” he has found at Goodwill.
“I take pride in my work,” he said, “because I don’t just represent myself, I represent the GoodSource family.”