Unemployment has always been a part of the story of working people, and for people with disabilities and other problems the challenges are often overwhelming. Efforts to help often start in times of crisis but then fade over time; both private and government programs have assumed some responsibility for some people some of the time.

Goodwill Industries, celebrating its 100th anniversary in May 2002, has always emphasized self-help as the way to improve the lives of disadvantaged and disabled individuals. Communicating its mission with strong graphic art, Goodwill has reached out to those in need and garnered support from those more fortunate, as these highlights from its collection illustrate.

Founded in Boston by a Methodist minister, Reverend Edgar Helms, the organization’s initial idea was so successful it remains the heart of the organization one hundred years later. The philosophy was to give people “a hand up, not a handout,” and the mechanism was simple: collect used household goods and clothing from wealthy people, train and hire poor people to repair them, and sell them in retail stores.