Kee Lab moved to Indiana in 2014 after living in a refugee camp in Thailand. Once her family settled in the Indianapolis area, Kee set out to understand American culture and to learn English. Shortly after she started attending her new high school, she found out that she was pregnant.

October is National Dropout Prevention Month, but Indianapolis Metropolitan High School works year-round on removing the barriers that many students face in trying to complete their education such as homelessness, criminal records, teen pregnancy and more.

As I walked through the sliding glass doors of the Goodwill Outlet-North, I was taken aback by all of the movement happening throughout the store Goodwill employees were working hard to rotate the large, blue bins out onto the floor — a process that happens every hour. Customers shopped around the employees, seamlessly moving from bin to bin, as any outlet veteran would. Some shoppers parked up against the outlet walls, protecting full carts as they waited on family members and friends who were still browsing.

Two years ago, if you had asked April Williams if she thought she would ever graduate high school, the answer likely would have been “no”.

Since she was young, Lindsey Lemen wanted to pursue her college education. Unable to attend college after graduating from high school, she put her dream on hold. Lindsey faced barriers after graduating that made it hard for her to maintain full-time employment. These barriers were removed after she started working at the Goodwill store in Shelbyville, Indiana.

The week of August 25-31, 2019 marked the celebration of Black Breastfeeding Week, a national campaign dedicated to bringing awareness to the nationwide racial disparity in breastfeeding rates. The week focuses on promoting the positive effects that breastfeeding has on an infant’s health and reduction in infant mortality rates, which affects black infants at a higher rate than whites.

Tom Wood Ford recently hosted an open house for Goodwill’s Excel Center students, graduates and mission program participants to learn firsthand about employment opportunities and a service tech apprenticeship program. 

Meet Alexis Hornung & Andrew Weston

Alexis Hornung and Andrew Weston work together at their local Goodwill store in Corydon. They each turned 18 years old and graduated from high schools in Harrison County this past spring. Alexis, who graduated from Lanesville Senior High School with academic honors, always enjoyed being around kids and tutoring her classmates. Her passion for teaching was solidified at a young age by her stepmother, who taught special education.

Itzel Quintero is a mother of five children with a strong sense of will and determination. Initially living in California, Itzel and her family settled down in Indiana to start over and relieve some of their financial burdens. However, new financial barriers emerged after the cross country move. Itzel struggled to find solid employment that would allow her to provide for her children.

Meet Candice England

Candice England calls herself an Indiana transplant. Originally from Georgia, she relocated to Indiana after she remarried.