OMAHA, Neb (KMTV) - A free program at Goodwill is helping people learn new skills and for some, get jobs.
- The apprenticeships are all year round.
- Video shows different programs to help people up skill.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Goodwill is more than just a place to shop. It’s also a place to improve your skills for jobs.
The Goodwill training center on 36th and L Street is an organization that helps our neighbors learn new skills that’ll be a high demand in just a few years.
Tristan Garcia was born and raised in Omaha.
“Grateful for the opportunity because there's not a lot of people that look like me in the office, you know, regular offices, or offices, pretty diverse you know,“ he says.
That opportunity, a job in the accounting department at Goodwill.
Garcia got the job after completing one of Goodwill’s apprenticeships effort to boost employment in Omaha.
Research and community input, helped CEO, Toby Mathouser decide which programs to offer.
“What we’ve seen is what we heard when we did groups before we opened this center,” she says.
In the 12 months since opening demand for classes has increased.
“We have served over 600 individuals at the center since it’s opening at the end of April of last year,” says Mathouser.
Garcia spent hundreds of hours in the classroom learning basic accounting principles and how to use software needed for the job.
“So I got a QuickBooks certification on my belt that allows me to basically use it anywhere," he says.
Statistics show Garcia and others with these skills are in demand.
The Nebraska Department of labor predicts by 2034 there will be over 10,000 bookkeeping and accounting jobs open in Omaha.
Garcia is grateful for the opportunity to be a face of change.
“I think It’s just a really good opportunity that I got to start here and then I could end up with a college diploma," he says.
Almost ready for work, Garcia's excited for whats to come.
"Based off of what I learned at Goodwill,. I could just keep learning and keep growing,” he says.
The program has been so been so successful in South Omaha Goodwill plans to open another center in Council Bluffs this summer.
