Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana is excited to announce the receipt of a $40,000 grant from Early Learning Indiana’s Come Back Stronger Fund, supported by Lilly Endowment, which was created to reinforce Indiana’s supply of high-quality early learning opportunities, especially for the state’s most vulnerable children. 

There is no doubt that high school can be a time of transformation and change for students. For students experiencing circumstances that may present a barrier to their education, such as homelessness, involvement in the criminal justice system or teen pregnancy, getting through high school can feel like an impossible feat. 

Haley Ring, 27, decided to return to high school as an adult because of something her eldest daughter, who is 11 years old, once said to her.

Goodwill’s implementation of Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) has always relied on key supporters; both inside and outside Goodwill. NFP’s Community Health Advocate and Specialist Team is no exception. This past July, the NFP Community Team was celebrated and honored for staff milestones in addition to the invaluable contributions they have made to the program.

Nearly half of 25-year-olds with autism have never had a paying job and only 16% of persons with autism ever live independently, so when twin brothers Andre and Austin Archer connected with Goodwill Disability Services in 2016 and said they were eager to do both, our team got to work. 

In 2015, Georgina Palma-Santos was pregnant with her first child at the age of 16. Her traditional high school was not designed to support students with children. Seeking other options, Georgina enrolled in an online school but felt like the lack of structure was difficult to manage while raising a newborn. When she heard about The Excel Center®, Goodwill’s high school for adults, she was relieved to have a school with a childcare option. 

Katie Reigelsperger started at The Excel Center-Anderson in October of 2013 with zero high school credits after giving birth to her first son at the age of 13. An exceptional student, Katie seized all of the opportunities The Excel Center offered her and graduated in June 2014 with 42 credits and two industry-recognized certifications, including a pharmacy technician certification. 

Kent A. Kramer, President and CEO of Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana, discusses Goodwill’s current priorities and what comes next for the organization with the chairs of Goodwill’s three boards of directors.

Though it has been around for as long as mothers have fed their children, for first-time mothers, breastfeeding is a very new, emotional and sometimes challenging experience that mom and baby have to work through together. That is where the skill and expertise of a Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) Nurse can be a huge benefit to both mom and baby.