In the wake of its $10 million windfall from author and philanthropist McKenzie Scott, Goodwill Manasota is launching new programs as well as expanding existing programs, including its Veterans and Their Families Program, which will now be staffed and ready to assist in Venice and North Port.

To spearhead this effort, Goodwill has hired a veterans career development facilitator, Mike Salomon, who has already begun networking with veteran-serving agencies in South County. Salomon is working out of Goodwill’s Rialto and North Port locations. Goodwill expects this move to allow the program to serve at least an additional 200 veterans through case management, career services, emergency assistance and the Lutz Buddy Up networking program in South County. According to U.S. Census data, there are approximately 1,500 veterans in the census tracts surrounding Goodwill’s Rialto and North Port locations.