LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Goodwill Industries of Kentucky opened its latest Opportunity Center in the state Friday off Preston Highway in south Louisville.
The new facility is designed to help people by providing them with opportunities and second chances. It includes classes, services and programs that can help people with housing, resume building, addiction treatment, legal and expungement services, physical/mental health support and more.
South Louisville Opportunity Center
"As a 100-year-old organization in the state of Kentucky, I don't know if we've ever been more relevant than we are today," said DeVone Holt, chief of external affairs.
"That's our mission, to help people escape poverty," said Amy Luttrell, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of Kentucky. "And what does that mean? That means they will not need government subsidized housing. They will not need food stamps."
During the ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday morning to celebrate the grand opening, Pharra Burleson, an employee, spoke about her involvement with Goodwill.
"My Goodwill journey started on 3rd Street," Burleson said. "I was pushing a garbage can on wheels with all my belongings in it."
Burleson said she first got connected with Goodwill through its Another Way program. And now, she recently celebrated one full year as a Goodwill employee, working as an Another Way outreach specialist herself.
Burleson held the scissors Friday — in a room filled with people — to cut the ribbon on the new Opportunity Center. It's a spot 12 months ago, she said she would've never imagined to be in.
"There's no way that somebody could've saw the homeless me, the homeless version of me, and spoke life into me and brought it out of me like Goodwill can," Burleson said.
The March 24, 2023 ribbon-cutting at the south Louisville Goodwill opportunity center.
She said she believes this center will "open up people's doors of opportunities all over the state."
This is the 10th Goodwill Opportunity Center in Kentucky. There are plans in the works for two others, one in Paducah, the other in west Louisville.
Several people spoke at Friday's ribbon-cutting, including U.S. Sen. Rand Paul.
"I think that we have to try to figure out how to get people a second chance," Paul said.
He praised the expungement process Goodwill is helping people with. There was an expungement clinic at the Opportunity Center on Friday morning before the ribbon-cutting.
This center is also working to break down language barriers by hiring bilingual staff members to assist the community.
"It doesn't matter where you're at," Burleson said. "We're gonna meet you there and we're going to hold your hand and we're going to walk you to the next part of your journey."
The South Louisville Opportunity Center is located at 6201 Preston Highway.
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