In the heart of rural Indiana, where the roads stretch long and the opportunities can sometimes feel sparse, you would find David. When Susan Sheets, Goodwill TalentSource™ Rural Career Pathways Grant Coordinator, first met David in January 2025, he had just graduated from The Excel Center® in Richmond. He was a young man with a sharp mind for logic and math but faced barriers that would have caused many to stay exactly where they were.

When Lynne came to Goodwill of Central Illinois in the fall of 2025, she knew that she could do more with her life. She wanted to maintain employment somewhere that actually fulfilled her. To achieve that goal, she was recommended to work with Beyond Barriers, an employment program for neurodiverse individuals.

The world is made up of individuals and each individual has strengths and weaknesses. Goodwill’s Beyond Barriers program is based on this. Beyond Barriers is an employment program for neurodiverse young adults. While the concept is straight forward, the program is about much more than employment, it’s about growth and success.