Before connecting with her Goodwill de Puerto Rico Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) nurse home visitor, Jeylines Santiago Vargas felt overwhelmed by uncertainty. Facing pregnancy, childbirth, and the prospect of breastfeeding , her head was full of questions and fear, feeling as though she had to navigate the journey entirely on her own.

While searching for employment opportunities at one of Goodwill of Central Illinois’ monthly hiring events, Hunter Raissner was referred to Goodwill’s Beyond Barriers program. Beyond Barriers is a program for neurodiverse individuals to receive assistance with building job skills and support with securing and maintaining employment.

When Alexandria, known to her friends and teachers as Alex, first walked through the doors of Indianapolis Metropolitan High School in 2022, she carried more than just a backpack. She carried the weight of a difficult past and a hesitant heart.

There is a profound power in the moment you hold your high school diploma, knowing you fought for every bit of the success it represents and knowing it is the key that unlocks your future. For Brandi Demmings, her November 2025 graduation from The Excel Center® campus in southeast Indianapolis was the culmination of a journey defined by resilience, family, and an unbreakable spirit.

Each year, Goodwill employees are encouraged to share stories of individuals who have overcome significant barriers to achieve success. Through a formal nomination and selection process, candidates are narrowed down to the top three finalists in each category.Once the award winners are selected, a video production process begins to bring these remarkable stories of resilience to life.

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.

In the heart of Franklin, Indiana, the local Goodwill of Southern & Central Indiana retail store is more than just a place to find a hidden treasure or a vintage sweater. For Carly Stevason, it’s the place where the blurry edges of her world finally came into sharp focus.

Life has a funny way of taking us on detours. For Wendi, that detour started early, when she was just 16 years old and she dropped out of high school.

Montez Day knows firsthand that a single moment does not define a lifetime. Today, he serves as the Manager of Goodwill New Beginnings at Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana, a role he stepped into in 2025 after starting as a facilitator and receiving several promotions since joining the organization in September 2021. But his path to leadership was shaped by years of transformation, education, and an unwavering belief in the power of second chances.

When Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana and Per Scholas officially partnered in late 2022, they shared a simple but powerful goal: to open doors to opportunity through education. Per Scholas, a national nonprofit that provides no-cost technology career training and job connections, especially for individuals traditionally underrepresented in tech, moved into Goodwill’s corporate offices on West Michigan Street in January 2023. By March, the first cohort of learners had begun, bringing new energy, hope, and possibility into the space.