Since its founding in Boston on 1902 by Rev. Edgar Helms, a Methodist minister, Goodwill Industries has become one of North America's largest nonprofit agencies and a leading provider of education and career services for individuals attempting to enter the workforce. Goodwill Industries, serving the communities of Hampton Roads and Central Virginia, serves 27 counties in Virginia, actively building communities that work.

The Goodwill movement was born in Richmond in 1923, through the work of the Richmond Methodist Board of the City Missions. Dr. J. T. Mastin and Reverend Samuel Coles borrowed a horse, fixed up an old wagon and began putting Richmonders to work in its first location at 1814 E. Grace Street. In 1932, Goodwill faded from the public as Amy Guy, known as Goodwill's modern day founder, formed the Citizen's Service Exchange in an old school house at 19th and Marshall Streets. Amy Guy's enterprise, with a budget of $4,800, was so effective during the Depression it earned her an invitation to the White House where she discussed the program with the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

The Citizen's Service Exchange and Goodwill shared strikingly similar goals and they merged in 1945 under the name of Richmond Goodwill Industries, Inc. The agency took many momentous leaps over the next several decades, including opening retail stores, establishing a donation collection system, creating an industrial services division and a one-stop job center. In late 2005, Richmond Goodwill Industries changed names and became Goodwill Industries of Central Virginia to better represent the growing territory it was now serving.

In 2006, Goodwill Industries of Central Virginia and Goodwill Industries of Hampton Roads joined forces in an effort to better serve the communities throughout Central Virginia and Hampton Roads. Now one organization, Goodwill Industries serving Central Virginia and Hampton Roads is here to provide programs and services to those in need across our territory.

Today, with a volunteer board of directors and over 900 associates to provide the leadership, management and support to serve more than 19,000 individuals annually, Goodwill Industries serving the communities of Hampton Roads and Central Virginia is making great strides in the effort to help individuals become independent through the power of work.