LOUISVILLE, KY. – Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg and Metro Louisville Councilmen Markus Winkler and Phillip Baker will join leaders and participants of Goodwill Industries of Kentucky’s Another Way program – which gives individuals with visible needs the opportunity to be transported to a worksite to earn a stipend, lunch and connections with Goodwill’s resources – on a ride-along on Friday, June 9 to get a firsthand look at the program’s impact.
The ride-along will begin at Goodwill’s East Louisville Opportunity Center at 909 East Broadway. Once the pickup process is complete, the team will travel to a worksite at Shelby Park. The ride-along is scheduled from 8-10 a.m. Media members are welcome to follow in their own vehicles.
The Another Way program is designed to address the gap in the labor market by canvassing highly trafficked areas of the city, such as homeless shelters, highways, byways and street corners, picking up as many as 22 willing workers daily and taking them to a worksite to work for four hours. In return, the participants earn $50, lunch and an introduction to the internal and external barrier-reduction resources at Goodwill’s Opportunity Center, which offer a hand up, not a handout, to individuals searching for a way to reintegrate into society.
Louisville Metro and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield are sponsors of the Another Way program. The program has received $1 million in funding from Metro Louisville since its inception in 2022.
“The Another Way program is a real highlight in our work to address homelessness,” Councilman Winkler said. “By giving participants the dignity of work and connecting them with resources, Goodwill is providing them an opportunity to seek healing, find permanent housing and explore employment options.”
What began as a pilot program in 2019 has grown into a resource that has served 1,312 individuals. It has connected 593 individuals to self-sufficiency resources, transported 62 individuals to substance abuse/mental health treatment facilities, placed 126 in temporary-to-permanent housing and helped 133 find employment. The program started with one van but now operates three and has a seven-member team.
“Anthem Medicaid is committed to ensuring the most vulnerable have any and every way to improve their physical, mental and emotional health,” said Leon Lamoreaux, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicaid president in Kentucky. “The Another Way program is doing just that for so many individuals and families. That is why Anthem Medicaid is proud to support initiatives and organizations like Another Way that are providing hope, help and an opportunity to build a brighter future to more Kentuckians every day, everywhere.”
ANOTHER WAY TO GIVE
To help reduce panhandling in the City of Louisville and give individuals at stoplights and other rights of way a new, more effective way of giving to those experiencing poverty, Goodwill and its Another Way program, in partnership with Metro Louisville, have set up a donation portal that will support the Another Way program’s efforts. The donation portal can be accessed by way of a QR code at certain rights of way.
All proceeds from the donation portal will support Another Way program and its mission to reduce poverty in the City of Louisville. For more information about Another Way, contact Program Manager Sharon Allgeier at Sharon.Allgeier@08r.7e6.myftpupload.com or Director of Community Based Career Services Kimberly Boyd-Lane at Kim.Boyd-Lane@08r.7e6.myftpupload.com.
About Goodwill Industries of Kentucky
Goodwill Industries of Kentucky is a 100-year-old nonprofit organization that operates in 103 of Kentucky’s 120 counties. The organization is committed to using resources from its 67 retail stores to help build pathways out of poverty for individuals who need a hand up in life. In 2022, Goodwill helped place 2,368 Kentuckians into jobs with 877 of its employer partners and inside its own retail stores. Goodwill uses approximately 90 cents from every dollar generated in its retail stores to operate programs and services that help Kentucky’s hardest-to-serve job seekers build the life they desire.