Greta Maxey had to retire from 30 years of continuous employment early, but she found solace in her apartment. She loved the area and the home she had built for herself. There was only one problem: the rent kept rising – and Greta couldn’t keep up. Despite her best efforts, eventually, she was evicted from her apartment in 2025.

While searching for employment opportunities at one of Goodwill of Central Illinois’ monthly hiring events, Hunter Raissner was referred to Goodwill’s Beyond Barriers program. Beyond Barriers is a program for neurodiverse individuals to receive assistance with building job skills and support with securing and maintaining employment.

When Alexandria, known to her friends and teachers as Alex, first walked through the doors of Indianapolis Metropolitan High School in 2022, she carried more than just a backpack. She carried the weight of a difficult past and a hesitant heart.

There is a profound power in the moment you hold your high school diploma, knowing you fought for every bit of the success it represents and knowing it is the key that unlocks your future. For Brandi Demmings, her November 2025 graduation from The Excel Center® campus in southeast Indianapolis was the culmination of a journey defined by resilience, family, and an unbreakable spirit.

Indianapolis Metropolitan High School is built on a simple, powerful truth: every single student is fully capable of doing great things. It was intentionally designed to give students more ways to plug in, move forward, and crush your goals.

National Thrift Shop Day is celebrated every year on August 17. It serves as a friendly reminder to visit your local thrift store. For many shoppers, no reminder is needed. For them, thrifting and secondhand shopping is a way of life.

High school is a journey of self-discovery, but for some students at Indianapolis Metropolitan High School, that journey includes navigating the rewards and challenges of parenthood. As a tuition-free public school through Goodwill of Central and Southern Indiana, Indy Met is designed to break down barriers to education. Perhaps no program embodies this mission more deeply than the Parent Life elective.

At Goodwill, our mission is to change lives every day by empowering people to increase their independence and reach their potential through employment, education, housing and health. However, that mission doesn’t just apply to the people we serve in our mission programs; we also want to ensure that empowerment is extended to our over 6,000 Goodwill employees, whom we want to care for holistically.

Employment is a core value at Goodwill; we believe that all people can reach their greatest potential through their job. Through our retail stores, we turn your donations and purchases into employment opportunities for those in our community, particularly those with barriers like criminal history, a disability or limited education.

For Amanda Witham, a Site Lead at the Goodwill store in Clarksville, Indiana, her past and trauma followed her like a shadow. Her journey is a profound testament to the fact that experiencing homelessness is not where a story has to end, but a season that can be overcome with resilience and the right support system.