Goodwill Southern Alleghenies

To empower individuals and families with employment barriers to achieve their fullest potential in the community through work services.

In the Fall of 1960, a select group of concerned citizens in Johnstown, Pennsylvania banded together because of their common interest and concern for individuals with disabilities and the lack of opportunities available to them for good-paying jobs. Many of these citizens had links to Johnstown’s Franklin Street United Methodist Church. This led to their interest in Goodwill Industries, founded in 1902 by Methodist minister, Reverend Edgar J. Helms, who pioneered the organization that gave people hope, dignity, and independence. The Johnstown citizens group later formed an agency, naming it Goodwill Industries of the Conemaugh Valley and incorporating it on December 6, 1962.