DAYTON — Goodwill Easterseals Miami Valley has launched a new food truck, Good Connections, designed to help individuals with disabilities develop job skills and access employment opportunities.
The Good Connections food truck is part of a broader program that includes food service, boutique, and janitorial training areas, designed to provide participants with valuable skills for the workforce.
“I’m ready to work on this food truck,” said Heavenleigh Thomas, who is part of the first group to work on the Good Connections food truck.
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Allison Underwood, Director of Developmental Disabilities Services at Goodwill Easterseals, explained, “We have created our food service area, our boutique area, and our janitorial area for individuals to explore.”
Thomas has spent the last year working at the cafe at Goodwill Easterseals Miami Valley and is excited to serve food from the new truck. “Coming here, making money. Smile, greet customers. I love everything about it,” she said.
The Good Connections program aims to provide opportunities and job skills to individuals with developmental disabilities. “The goal for our individuals is always to move on to a job,” said Underwood.
Participants in the program can also learn retail and design skills in the boutique area. “They’ll learn all the pieces of retail from actually creating those items to selling those items,” Underwood noted.
Underwood hopes the food truck will connect with local businesses and demonstrate the potential of their participants as successful employees. “We’re really hoping that it connects with local businesses, and that we can make those connections to show other business owners,” she said.
The Good Connections food truck is currently in a soft launch phase and is expected to be seen at different Goodwill stores in Dayton next month.
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