Louisville, KY (WDRB News) --To help more people find jobs, Goodwill says it's modernizing its downtown jobs center. Goodwill's East Broadway location is now bursting at the seams.
The non-profit agency says renovation work will start in a few weeks and be finished about this time next year.
On Thursday, at Goodwill's adult job learning center, Phillip Stewart was sharpening his math skills. His goal is to complete his G.E.D. "I would like to work in the medical field, just working with people would be fine," says Stewart.
Goodwill says in fiscal year 2011 it placed more than 2,500 people into jobs but it would like to help even more people.
It says it wants to break down the barriers to employment for people who face difficulties in finding good jobs. So has just completed a $1.3 million fund raising campaign after a donation from the J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation.
"Today we are pleased to announce our $200,000 donation to assist Goodwill," said Paul Costel, the president of Chase-Kentucky-Indiana.
Goodwill plans to spend the money to modernize its downtown campus. The adult learning center will be expanded from four classrooms to seven, allowing it to serve 33 percent more people.
The CEO of Goodwill of Kentucky told WDRB News, "You need appropriate facilities to work with people," says Roland Blahnik. "For instance, some of our classrooms have cardboard partitions. Our students deserve genuine classrooms."
Other areas like the counseling center will get a makeover. And the outside of the building will also get a facelift to help revitalize parts of East Broadway.
Phillip Stewart sums it up nicely, "The Goodwill gave me another opportunity to get my life back together."
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