When Shannon Parks joined Goodwill’s janitorial team 15 years ago, her primary responsibility was cleaning restrooms. Due to a learning disability, her reading and comprehension skills were at a third grade level, limiting her ability to advance in her employment.
October is National Dropout Prevention Month. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, over 12% of Hoosier working age adults lack a high school diploma. The Excel Center®, Goodwill’s free high school for adults, is working to decrease that rate by allowing adult students the opportunity to pick up where they left off in school, providing support and resources to meet their goals.
What does a program like the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) mean for its participants? For James Maxey (“Maxey”), it means having less stress about money.
Traditionally, September is Infant Mortality Awareness Month. Infant mortality is defined as the death of a baby before their first birthday, while the infant mortality rate is the number of infant deaths for every 1,000 live births. Indiana has one of the highest infant mortality rates, ranking 47th among all states. For this reason, Governor Holcomb set the goal to be the “best in the Midwest” for this measure by 2024.
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.