Because implementation is a nuanced process, bringing Padua Michiana to life has offered a challenging, but rewarding opportunity for Goodwill Industries of Michiana to learn and systematically build our capabilities.
When I sat down with Goodwill’s president and CEO, Debie Coble, to ask her what it was like to first talk with LEO and Catholic Charities Fort Worth about bringing Padua to South Bend, she described the process as a courtship.
“It was fun. We were told that this was going to be almost like a dating process,” Coble said. “We would have conversations, we’re going steady. Is there commitment? Put a ring on it. We’re walking down the aisle.”
We chuckled when she said this, yet there was a true sincerity in what she was capturing. “What I really appreciated about it is the openness in the conversations.”
It was more of a patient courtship than anything else. Over months of calls and site visits, the two organizations moved toward a shared commitment: Goodwill Industries of Michiana would become the inaugural mission site to replicate Padua outside its original home in Fort Worth, Texas.
For Coble, saying “yes” wasn’t a leap so much as a recognition of truth. Goodwill’s underlying mission is “to empower people to live their most abundant life,” and Padua, an evidence-based, holistic case management model built to help participants rise above generational poverty, does exactly that.
“It absolutely aligns with our core values,” Coble said. “We get to walk alongside [our clients]. We get to help them break barriers.”
Still, the decision carried real weight. Coble’s biggest hesitation wasn’t whether Padua worked, but one of long-term sustainability: could Goodwill raise and steward the funds needed to keep it running? She credits LEO and Catholic Charities Fort Worth for their support as her team worked through that question before committing.
The Groundwork
Once the “yes” was officially cemented, the real work began. Sara Brodzinski, Goodwill Michiana’s chief people officer, and Erin Stojic, senior director of mission impact, remember the months leading up to launch as a period of shared learning between Fort Worth and South Bend. Over several months, the two teams launched a new journey, and forged a bond together.
“Being the first site is obviously a growing experience for both sides, especially because we’re in a different part of the country,” Stojic shared. “It’s so exciting, yet it also has to be incredibly delicate and careful.”
What stuck with Brodzinski from those early meetings with LEO was the program’s emphasis on emotional resilience and inner dignity. Describing the belief Padua tries to nurture in participants, she said:
“If they don’t believe deep down that they can do it, and we have proof that they can do it, being able to encourage and walk with people as they go through those ups and downs…to me, that’s the most critical piece.”
Brodzinski knew her team would embrace Padua because it filled a gap in Goodwill’s services they were eager to address: the chance to stand by clients without a time limit.
“The people that stood by you when you were at your lowest, who were there for you consistently. You’re not going to forget that.”
As Coble put it, simply and plainly: “We hired the right people.”
The Welcome
Claire Coleman, Padua Michiana’s program manager, saw the internal excitement and hope building well before launch. Part of her job was forging the referral relationships the program would need to grow. But when she arrived, Goodwill staff already knew who she was.
“People were just randomly walking up to me, ‘Oh, you’re the Padua lady, we’ve been waiting for you,’” she said.
That anticipation turned quickly into action: Padua Michiana’s initial cohort of 18 participants all came through internal referrals, and community reception has been overwhelmingly warm.
“Everyone at Goodwill was very hospitable and happy to have this resource internally to provide additional support to the people they serve,” Coleman recalls.
Coleman also credits Padua’s proven model, existing structure, and program supports with softening the most harrowing aspect of any launch: figuring out what works. Padua arrived fully formed with proven impact.
Breanna Fitzhugh, one of Padua’s case managers, feels that same credibility from the other side of the table: sitting across from someone new. In past roles, she said, showing up meant asking a client to trust an approach with no track record. With Padua, she doesn’t have to ask for that leap of faith.
The Response
Padua Michiana is far too early for outcome data. Yet, it’s how clients talk about the program and Goodwill that has struck staff most. The impact of the program is already clear through the stories clients share.
“They come to us with this sort of abundant excitement about Goodwill and what it has done for them,” Coble said. “Many of them say that they didn’t feel accepted anywhere else.” Several participants have told staff this is the first place they’ve ever been treated like a human being, rather than a problem to be managed.
When I asked one Padua participant what they would say about their experience so far, they stated: “What you’re all doing, the way you’re here for me and the way I can count on you…it’s not something I’ve gotten…consistently in my life. I’m grateful to Goodwill for being the only place that welcomed me like this,” the participant said, opening his arms wide. “I’m just grateful to know that you’re not going to give up on me even if I sometimes give up on myself.”
The Future
When Coble brought Padua to Goodwill’s board, she told them something that could have been a hard sell: Padua would mean serving fewer people than some of Goodwill’s other programs. But the board’s response wasn’t hesitation, rather: they knew that helping break cycles of poverty holistically mattered more than raw volume.
“We know that for every person in this community that we get to help lift up, it’s a stronger community as a whole,” Coble said.
And, as the pioneering mission site, Goodwill Michiana will now be sharing lessons learned with the next wave of replication sites.
“We aren’t just building this for Michiana,” Stojic said. “By working through the early growth lessons here, we get to help smooth the path for every site that comes after us.”
But finally, and perhaps most impactfully, Brodzinski stated that for many participants, a Padua case manager might be the first person who has ever offered them consistency.
“They might be the first person to come along and offer grace. That’s something impossibly special.”
Only time will tell the scope of this exciting new future, but we feel nothing but raw optimism here at Padua Michiana. And I could not be more thrilled to be a part of it.