Cordarryl Gray, 29, enrolled at The Excel Center® Meadows in April 2017. He quickly proved that he was motivated to succeed.

Student with barriers finds success at The Excel Center

Although Courtney Person earned a certificate of completion in high school, a learning disability prevented her from receiving a diploma. Courtney studied dental careers at the J. Everett Light Career Center as a high school student, but without a diploma, she could not pursue her plan to become a dental hygienist. It was a devastating blow.

After experiencing a traumatic brain injury, Aaron Yates has trouble storing long-term memories. In 2016, he started working with Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana’s Disability Services team to find a job.

Benjamin Westley learned about Goodwill’s Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) in 2013. A serious car accident, caused by a diabetic blackout, left him unable to return to his janitorial duties at the St. Vincent Heart Center.

Greg Wieneke has been employed at Goodwill for nearly a decade. For many years, he dreamed of riding a bicycle across the country, in part, to prove to himself that he could. Greg was born with cerebral palsy, a disorder that affects balance, movement and muscle tone, and epilepsy, a central nervous system disorder.

Geno Cox, blind since birth, recently celebrated 10 years as an associate at the Anderson Goodwill store. After attending the Indiana School for the Blind, Geno had difficulty finding a job locally.  

Michelle Williamson doesn’t remember the date or even the year that she lost both of her legs. Her memories are hazy. She was struggling with addiction and homelessness when she acquired frostbite in her toes. They became infected after doctors amputated them, resulting in the amputation of both legs from the knee down. Shortly after, her youngest son was born, and the state was threatening to take custody of him.

Paula Buford was a Qualified Medication Aide for 25 years, working primarily in nursing homes. In 2000, she was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a disorder resulting in varying degrees of paralysis. She went from working in a nursing home to living in one for seven months, receiving intense physical and speech therapy.

Passed by Congress in 1990, The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a civil rights law that protects individuals from discrimination based on a disability. The ADA requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with a disability and imposes accessibility requirements on public accommodations.