Amanda’s path took a sharp turn following a complicated divorce while living in Salem, Massachusetts. The emotional toll led her toward alcohol addiction and eventually onto the streets. By 2013, she was sleeping under highways and couch surfing whenever possible. The rock bottom of this experience came in 2016 in Boston. Gravely ill and desperate, Amanda sat outside a bank asking strangers to call 911. Ten people walked past her as if she were part of the pavement. It was only the eleventh person who finally stopped to help. That moment of being ignored by ten fellow human beings left her feeling completely abandoned and invisible.
After a period of recovery, Amanda spent four years providing end of life care for her grandfather, grandmother and uncle. The weight of losing three loved ones in such a short span pushed her back toward alcohol. When family circumstances forced her to leave her home with just 72 hours notice, Amanda faced a choice. She haphazardly fixed a flat tire, loaded her two dogs into her car and began a 1,000 mile journey to Indiana with only $27 to her name.
Her early days in Indiana were spent in a hunter’s cabin with an outdoor shower and outdoor restroom. Exactly 90 days into her sobriety, she called the Goodwill store in Jeffersonville. When she discovered that Goodwill was about much more than just retail, she knew she had found something promising and began feeling a spark of hope.
At Goodwill, Amanda didn’t just find a job; she found a community that saw her value. She rose quickly through the ranks, moving from a team lead to her current leadership role in Clarksville in just six years. Her professional success is staggering. In Jeffersonville, she led the staff to significantly increase the store's revenue, which directly led to the opening of a second location in the city.
Beyond the store walls, Amanda achieved what once felt impossible. Though she set a five year goal to own a home, she achieved it in just three. She purchased a car and paid it off three years early. The woman who once felt invisible under a Boston highway is now a homeowner and a leader.
"There was a time that I had no hope," Amanda says. "I regained my hope when I came to Goodwill."
Today, Amanda uses her creativity to build exceptional shopping experiences, but her true mission is planting seeds of hope. She wants everyone experiencing homelessness to know that they are seen. She wants them to know that, “even if you find it hard to believe in yourself right now, Goodwill believes in you.”
If you are ready to change your life, we invite you to visit goodwillindy.org/careers and apply today.