Josue Paguada is a 34-year-old visually impaired man originally from Honduras. Jose and his wife, who is also visually impaired, live with their two children across from the Goodwill NYNJ Astoria campus.

In January 2017, Josue was referred to Goodwill NYNJ while still working full-time assembling mops in a company that makes janitorial supplies in Brooklyn. Every day, he had to travelled three hours to get to work. Needless to say, he was looking to get a more exciting job closer to home.

Goodwill staff provided him on-the-job coaching services since he had never worked in the retail sector. Only two months later, Josue was hired to work part-time at Goodwill’s outlet store as Production Associate. He is responsible for the process of the flow of goods from the production area to the sales floor. He works independently, using his sense of smell and touch, to discard the clothing not suitable for sale. In April, Josue was named the outlets’ Employee of the Month for exceeding his production goals with speed and accuracy!

“He is an example of someone who is overcoming a disability and is an inspiration to our team and other individuals with disabilities.”

Goodwill NYNJ Outlet Manager Sal Ciniglio

“Josue performs all the core functions of his job without supervision despite his disability and has a positive attitude”, says Goodwill NYNJ Outlet Manager Sal Ciniglio. “He is an example of someone who is overcoming a disability and is an inspiration to our team and other individuals with disabilities.”