The Walmart Foundation has announced a $5 million grant to Goodwill Industries to expand Operation: GoodJobs, an initiative that gives military veterans the tools they need to secure employment and ensure the long-term financial stability of their families.

Through the program, Goodwill connects veterans with opportunities to earn certifications, market-value credentials, and degrees that can help them in their careers, as well as help with r�sum� writing, career testing, and skills training. On the employer side, Goodwill works with hundreds of business partners to find the right match for program participants and also offers free placement and screening services as well as post-placement support. Building on these and other practices it has developed since launching the effort in the spring of 2012, the organization will scale the program over the next three years to Goodwill locations in California, New York, North Carolina, and Texas, with the goal of serving more than four thousand veterans and military families.

"Operation: GoodJobs not only assists veterans and their families with job training and placement and skills attainment, but also plans for each participant's continued success by designing individualized, comprehensive plans that support the needs of the entire family, including spouses and adult children, and helps ensure their economic stability in the long term," said Goodwill Industries International president and CEO Jim Gibbons. "Each participant in Operation: GoodJobs receives a complete career assessment and a development plan that includes a range of family needs, from basic needs such as child care, nutrition, and shelter, to specific job training identified in the assessment process."