Goodwill Industries International and AVAPE Reach Mutual Sharing Agreement

April 26, 2010

AVAPE

AVAPE

Goodwill Industries International, Inc. (GII) and AVAPE (Associação para Valorização e Promoção de Excepcionais) [The Association for Valuing Persons with Disabilities] reached a  mutual sharing agreement in April to develop and grow as organizations. The agreement seeks to strengthen information sharing, technology transfer, shared training and build new program opportunities.  GII looks forward to working together with AVAPE to better meet the needs of marginalized people groups in Brazil and around the world.

AVAPE is a not-for-profit organization based in São Paulo, Brazil.  It was founded in 1982 with the purpose of valuing and promoting full social inclusion for persons with disabilities.  Since its foundation, the organization has been considered a pioneer in developing highly specialized programs that attend to the needs of individuals with disabilities, as well as those at social risk.  In 2008 they served 182,933 people with over 7 million services provided in their 12 units across Brazil.  AVAPE has over 3,522 full time employees and in 2008 placed 1,215 people in competitive employment.   They are currently working with the Inter-American Development Bank to develop their services in the rest of Brazil and internationally.