Goodwill Industries International, a U.S. nonprofit organization with many state chapters, provides assistance to unhoused communities in Kentucky.
According to a news release from the Goodwill Industries of Kentucky, the organization, founded in 1923, is launching an “Another Way” program in Bowling Green on July 1 to support unhoused individuals in the community.
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According to a 2021 Western Kentucky University study, the city has experienced increased economic growth in recent years, resulting in poverty and homelessness for residents and workers in the area.
How people without homes can get help
Recipients can gain job skills and on-the-job learning opportunities, as well as transportation to and from workplaces around the city, and the program follows a partnership between Goodwill and the city of Bowling Green, which donated more than $81,000 to support the nonprofit’s efforts .
The program runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays and accommodates up to four people for up to four hours in one van per day. “Participants will earn $50, lunch and an introduction to the internal and external resources to reduce barriers at Goodwill’s Bowling Green Opportunity Center,” the release said.
“The ‘Another Way’ program is exactly what it says on the tin: it will provide our homeless population with another way to earn a living, experience Goodwill programming and live their best lives,” said Chad Spencer, Goodwill’s director of Career Services for the Southwest Region.
Homeless assistance program has started in Louisville
The program began as a pilot in Louisville in 2019 and has since served more than 1,500 people, including connecting more than 600 people with resources for self-sufficiency, transporting more than 75 people to substance abuse or mental health facilities, and placing more than 130 people in temporary to permanent housing and helping more than 150 people find work.
This article originally appeared in the Louisville Courier Journal: Bowling Green, Kentucky: Goodwill offers help to combat homelessness
