When Lynne came to Goodwill of Central Illinois in the fall of 2025, she knew that she could do more with her life. She wanted to maintain employment somewhere that actually fulfilled her. To achieve that goal, she was recommended to work with Beyond Barriers, an employment program for neurodiverse individuals.

Beyond Barriers creates individualized plans for each person they work with, ensuring that they have the opportunity to shadow, interviewing skills and resume-building skills they need to succeed. Even after gaining employment, Beyond Barriers coaches continue to work with participants to foster a smooth transition into their workplaces.

In the past six months, Lynne has made extensive progress working with her coach, honing her hard skills. She has improved her typing and learned how to search for information online. Most importantly, she found employment working in home care.

“I like it very much!” said Lynne. “I give back to the community and show compassion, respect, loyalty and dignity to the client. The client I work with is funny as well!”

Lynne also enjoys coming in to see the client and their dog. Although she enjoys her current job, she has more ambitions and goals to achieve. Lynne wants to move into a role working with animals, her dream job. Recently, she has secured an opportunity volunteering at the local zoo and is extremely excited to start.

“After working with her for a couple months, I've seen her confidence and abilities skyrocket,” said Harrison Queen, Lynne’s coach. “I think Lynne being able to find a position that she was looking for so quickly is a great example of what our program is about: developing problem-solving skills and overcoming real-life barriers. I love working with her and seeing her work ethic.”

Lynne is more than satisfied with her immense progress and the impact on her professional and personal life.

“I learned not to let anything get in my way,” said Lynne. “I feel good about my progress! I fought hard from the beginning!”

If you or someone you know could benefit from Goodwill’s Beyond Barriers program, email beyondbarriers@goodwillpeo.org or call 309-427-8053.