Gloria Combs has shown amazing drive and passion for education, always pushing limits to prove her capabilities. After graduating from The Excel Center® in 2013 and finishing her high school diploma, Gloria went on to pursue a career as a life coach to inspire others just as she was inspired by her own life coach. She has been a major advocate for education ever since. 

Anyone who has spent time at The Excel Center® in Clarksville during the last three years knows Ana Gonzalez, but not many know the full story behind her path to Goodwill. Ana is the director of the Young Learner’s Child Care (YLCC) in Clarksville, where her time is split between planning each day’s activities and putting those plans into action. Years before her time at Goodwill, Ana’s journey began in her small hometown in Mexico. She enjoyed her childhood, but as the region grew more complicated with heavy cartel presence, her family decided to move to the United States.

Goodwill’s Nurse-Family Partnership® (NFP), a program that pairs first-time mothers with a registered nurse, celebrated its 10th anniversary in October. Goodwill’s NFP supports the Indiana Department of Health’s campaign to reduce infant death, provide prenatal care and teach parents about smoking cessation, breastfeeding and safe sleep. 

The Children's Learning Center (CLC) by Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana opened in June 1980 as BridgePointe Children’s Academy in response to a growing need for childcare services for children with disabilities. Today, the CLC provides over 10,000 hours of childcare for all children, challenged to gifted, ranging from six weeks old to five years old, which includes more than 150 families each year.

Sarah Verhines graduated from The Excel Center®, Goodwill’s high school for adults, in January 2020 at 26 years old while working full time and expecting her first child. Even though she was top 15 in her original high school class, circumstances beyond her control prevented her from graduating.

When April Mattingly graduated from high school, she had no idea that one of the first places she worked would be her home away from home for the next 20 years.

Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana’s Nurse-Family PartnershipⓇ client Mikala Turner always felt inspired by this quote from Confucius—“It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop.” So inspired in fact, that it serves as her guiding principle throughout her life as she consistently sets and achieves her goals, overcomes tragedy and challenges and eventually discovers a path that allows her to provide support to others facing many of the same challenges she did. 

Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana is excited to announce the receipt of a $40,000 grant from Early Learning Indiana’s Come Back Stronger Fund, supported by Lilly Endowment, which was created to reinforce Indiana’s supply of high-quality early learning opportunities, especially for the state’s most vulnerable children. 

Though it has been around for as long as mothers have fed their children, for first-time mothers, breastfeeding is a very new, emotional and sometimes challenging experience that mom and baby have to work through together. That is where the skill and expertise of a Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) Nurse can be a huge benefit to both mom and baby. 

Goodwill’s Nurse-Family Partnership currently includes over 60 nurses and nurse supervisors who serve at-risk women and their families across 29 central and southern Indiana counties. When first implemented in 2011, there was a single team of eight nurses who served families living in Marion county. Marilynn Berry-Stamm was the first nurse to join that team.