For National Dropout Awareness Month, Goodwill's Indianapolis Metropolitan High School is promoting awareness of the challenges students face that may lead to them leaving school before they graduate. This challenge is so great, Lebron James, an NBA all-star, recently created a new school in Ohio called I Promise, designed to help at-risk youths. Indianapolis Metropolitan High School has been serving students since 2004, providing the additional support, guidance and wraparound services that are necessary for success.
Getting an education does not come easy for everyone. Situations that we cannot control, such as family illness or relocating for employment, impact many individuals’ academic progress.
In 2010, Goodwill opened The Excel Center®, a public charter school for adults who want to earn an Indiana Core 40 diploma. The Excel Center is designed to address educational barriers and to accelerate coursework and career readiness through academic and life coaching, free onsite child care for young children, transportation assistance, flexible scheduling, accelerated (8-week) terms and year-round classes.
Students enrolled at The Excel Center can also earn free college credits and industry-recognized certifications.
In June 2018, Mercedes Cantrell, 22, graduated from The Excel Center in Shelbyville with a high school diploma. A mother to a young son, Cantrell now looks toward the future with hope. Read the speech she gave during her commencement ceremony below to learn more about her story.
Mental Health Matters
About one in seven women will experience some type of mood or anxiety disorder during pregnancy or through the first year postpartum. While depression and anxiety are common, pregnant and postpartum women can experience a myriad of mental health conditions, including panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder and, in rare cases, psychosis.
Finding healing in faith while incarcerated
Cory Tipton doesn’t make any excuses but admits his lack of adult guidance led him down the wrong path as a teen.
Dianna Tolentino was referred to Goodwill’s Nurse-Family Partnership® program by her OB in 2013.
Grace is a typical 5-year-old who likes to play dress up and watch cartoons on YouTube. She’s healthy, has lots of friends and has hit every developmental milestone since infancy. She’s eager to start kindergarten. Each of these things is a small miracle given that her mother’s journey to Indianapolis began 20 years ago and more than 8,000 miles away.
“If I do it, then you have to do it, too.” These were the last words Courtney Messer had said to her mom, Misty Weikel, before they both enrolled at The Excel Center in August of 2013.
Returning to school can have a big impact on someone’s life. Julio Chavira found himself in the Juvenile Detention Center realizing he didn't want to continue down the road he was going.
Goodwill’s Nurse-Family Partnership® (NFP) pairs mothers pregnant with their first child with a registered nurse for ongoing home visits aimed at supporting mothers and families in providing the very best start for their children during the earliest, most developmentally critical years. NFP is an international, community health program, widely researched and recognized for increasing health care access and improving health outcomes.
Goodwill’s NFP expanded its reach in southern Indiana in early 2017 and our first baby was born in November.