Indianapolis Metropolitan High School is Goodwill’s best-fit school for grades 9-12, supporting teenaged students experiencing barriers to education and ensuring graduates can either enter college or the workforce. These outcomes are met through a number of wraparound services Indy Met offers for its student population, including transportation, child care and family empowerment coaching.

As Mental Health Awareness Month comes to a close, Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana is reflecting on the progress we’ve made as an organization in supporting our employees through their mental health struggles, while removing the stigma surrounding mental illness. However, we also recognize that challenges remain to ensuring quality and affordable mental health care is available to all, and we’re taking steps to provide all of our employees with adequate mental health support.

When Johnny Manson joined Goodwill in October 2016 as a part-time donation attendant, he had been struggling to secure employment due to past legal issues and a lifelong history of depression. 

Bea Sweet joined the Goodwill retail crew at our Columbus location in November 2021. Although she has the support of a few friends and her co-workers at Goodwill, Bea has experienced the judgment and stigma associated with coming out as a transgender person. She began living as a woman almost seven years ago, when she was 41 years old. 

When Edward Rickenbach first joined Goodwill in 2009 as an assistant site leader, he was struggling with homelessness and severe depression — a diagnosis he had first received in college but learned would be a lifelong battle. In just 18 months, he worked hard and was promoted to site leader, where he was responsible for managing the store and all of its employees.

In 2015, Amber Burleson, PMHNP-BC and her husband moved from Tennessee to Indianapolis where Amber began working as a bilingual NFP Nurse with Goodwill of Central and Southern Indiana’s Nurse-Family Partnership® (NFP) serving mothers whose first language is Spanish.  Amber enjoyed her work as a bilingual nurse home visitor and quickly realized at the base of everything were mental health needs.  

Laura Torres moved to Indiana at 22 years old without an education and spoke only Spanish. Today, Laura speaks fluent English, is finishing her high school diploma through The Excel Center®, Goodwill’s tuition-free high school for adults, and is pursuing a degree in psychology after she graduates.

Even before the mass outbreak of COVID-19, the World Health Organization had declared 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and Midwife, and the American Nurses Association extended the traditional National Nurses Week to a month of recognition in May. Did you know that Goodwill of Central and Southern Indiana employs over 60 nurses?