The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our organization, our community and the world is momentous and historic.
This week, we joined thousands of businesses and organizations across the country in making the terribly painful decision to furlough the vast majority of our workforce due to the disruption from COVID-19.
From the very beginning, we have taken rigorous measures to protect our team members. Our team is our family. We’ve always been committed to supporting each and every one of our staff.
With the closing of our Goodwill retail and donation locations, there is little to no revenue coming in to the organization at this time. Our retail stores are the lifeline of our operation and our ability to serve the community. We were hopeful that we would be able to reopen after two weeks, but with the state of emergency still in place, our doors are required to remain closed until further notice.
Without a revenue stream, we have no choice but to make incredibly painful decisions to ensure the long-term preservation of our mission. We are now forced to make significant staff reductions during this crisis.
I’m deeply saddened to report that most of our workforce has been furloughed until further notice. As promised, all our team members will still be getting their regular wages through April 3 and will have the ability to apply for unemployment insurance.
The light I am holding on to during this tough time is the knowledge that this situation is not forever.
Our sincere hope and intention is to return to full operation and bring our entire team back to work as soon as possible. It is our hope that these actions, although terribly painful to our Goodwill family, will allow us to recover and rebuild quickly when the global health crisis subsides.
Team members that remain working full-time will be those devoted to keeping our essential business functions operating during this crisis. These individuals, including me, will be taking pay cuts in order to ensure the long-term viability of the organization.
Goodwill has been an integral part of the Orange County community for nearly 100 years and we aren’t going anywhere. We are making these tough decisions now to ensure we can serve and support our community for the next 100 years.
It may look different when we emerge on the other side of this strange and unprecedented time. But our mission has to be preserved for the long-term benefit of this community, which will need us more than ever when this is over.
In the meantime, we are offering our support and services to fellow nonprofits in Orange County who are continuing to provide critically needed services and resources to our community. We will get through this together.
With gratitude,
Nicole Suydam
President & CEO
