Store plans ribbon cutting at end of February and grand opening in March

About 17.6% of New Mexicans lived in poverty as of 2022, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

That’s the fourth highest poverty rate in the nation, after Virginia at 17.9%, 18.6%in Louisiana and 19.1% in Mississippi.

That rate equated to 364,725 people in New Mexico living below the federal poverty line, defined last year by an individual income of $14,580, gradually increasing to $50,560 a year for a family of eight.

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Poverty can put people at risk for mental illness, chronic disease, higher mortality and lower life expectancy, read a report from the U.S. Center for Disease Prevent and Health Promotion.

“Poverty is a multifaceted issue that will require multipronged approaches to address. Strategies that improve the economic mobility of families may help to alleviate the negative effects of poverty,” the report read.

In Carlsbad, a statewide organization is bringing one possible solution to Pierce Street, where Goodwill Industries of New Mexico plans to open a thrift store by the end of February.

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Construction at the location, 1108 W. Pierce St. was underway with a ribbon cutting scheduled for Feb. 29.

The building will be 23,000 square feet and occupy the space previously housing Union Home and Industrial.

The store will employ 18 local workers, said Goodwill Chief Executive Officer Shauna Castle, and will sell donated, lightly used home goods and clothes to fund the nonprofit’s free workforce programs also held at the location.

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The Carlsbad store will be Goodwill’s 18th location in New Mexico, and if it’s successful Castle said another could be opened in Hobbs.

Goodwill already has stores in Chaves and Curry counties in eastern New Mexico, along with six other counties in the northwest region of the state.

The organization’s services are also available in every other New Mexico County, except Doña Ana, Otero, Lincoln, Sierra, Grant, Luna and Hidalgo counties in the southwest region.

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Goodwill’s programs put 1,550 people into jobs as of 2023, Castle said, and helped 21,000 others through its other services.

“We’re really excited to be able to come to Carlsbad,” Castle said. “We want to be sure we’re serving the entire state.

Chief Services Officer Sesha Lee said Goodwill’s “Good Jobs” program will help find jobs through the Carlsbad location for anyone 16 and older.

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She said as Goodwill’s operations get started in the city, these programs will be tailored to the unique needs of the community.

That will also include various worker and life skills training, Lee said, and support services for veterans including rent help for homeless vets.

Goodwill presently offers training for production assistants for TV and film, along with other job readiness programs, a reintegration program for unhoused veterans and employment aid for low income seniors aged 50 and up.

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“Employment is a need across the board,” Lee said. “Services will continue to be developed, customized things for particular industries.”

In Carlsbad, that could include help finding construction jobs, work in the oilfield or even at restaurants in the city.

Castle said Goodwill executives planned to meet with Carlsbad and Eddy County officials and business leaders in the coming weeks to determine what is needed in the community and how the organization can meet demand.

“Through our services, people can rise up out of poverty,” Castle said. “While there are some great jobs in the oilfield, a lot of people are still not finding jobs.”

She Goodwill was also interested in partnering with Southeast New Mexico College, which recently established its independence from the New Mexico State University system, in an apparent move to focus on workforce training.

“That would be a relationship we would want to develop,” Castle said. “There is this big shift from the four-year degree to the trades. It’s how do we bridge that gap.”

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.