{"id":1001,"date":"2026-05-14T01:56:40","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T01:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/upliftindy.org\/?p=1001"},"modified":"2026-05-16T01:59:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T01:59:27","slug":"40-years-of-shepherd-breaking-the-cycle-of-unemployment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/upliftindy.org\/index.php\/2026\/05\/14\/40-years-of-shepherd-breaking-the-cycle-of-unemployment\/","title":{"rendered":"40 Years of Shepherd: Breaking the Cycle of Unemployment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There\u2019s a little shed on what looks like an abandoned lot across from the Speedway at the intersection of East Washington and State Street. Often, a group of men can be seen standing around just waiting at all hours of the day. This is a stop for day laborers. Individuals who do not have full-time employment but have skills and abilities to be hired on for jobs as a way to provide for their families. One staff member remarked, <em>\u201cEvery time I drive by that lot and see those men waiting, trying to find a way to provide for their family &#8211; to see if they will have money to pay rent or buy food &#8211; I am humbled and grieved.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Employment has always been a challenge for our neighbors. Often, it isn\u2019t a lack of willingness to work, but other barriers that get in the way: education, language differences, childcare, the ability to advocate and ask questions, interview skills, social skills, and more. That\u2019s where Shepherd steps in to offer education, full-time childcare, training or certification courses, or simply connect them with our \u201cnetwork\u201d of employers looking to hire. Many times, Shepherd has been the reference on an application that gets them the job they need to not only provide financial stability but emotional stability as well; a boost of self-worth and value to accomplish more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But, finding stable employment isn\u2019t just a matter of meeting financial needs; it means transforming a life physically, emotionally, spiritually, and academically. <strong>Because the way of the future is by working, but it is more than just a job. Like Jerry and Suzi.*<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jerry and Suzi came to Shepherd Community seeking help with overdue rent. Jerry had taken time off work to enter rehab for alcohol addiction, and while he\u2019d returned to his job, his next paycheck was weeks away. Suzi was job-hunting but hadn\u2019t had any luck yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our team responded with compassion\u2014reviewing their finances, helping them budget, connecting Suzi with our Employment Coach, and Jerry with our Addiction Recovery Ministry. With a Citizen 7 loan and Barrier Buster funds, we covered their rent. Grateful and hopeful, they embraced every opportunity: attending financial classes, reviewing their credit, and working with our Family Engagement team toward future homeownership. They even asked us to pray with them and wanted to attend Shepherd Community Church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shepherd comes alongside individuals like Jerry and Suzi to break the cycle of poverty and give them hope. By meeting physical, emotional, financial, and academic needs, we continue to empower men and women of all ages to be the best they can be. For the next 40 years at Shepherd, we will continue to provide professional development, holistic care, and a community that will always have their backs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>*Names changed for privacy<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There\u2019s a little shed on what looks like an abandoned lot across from the Speedway at the intersection of East Washington and State Street. Often, a group of men can be seen standing around just waiting at all hours of the day. This is a stop for day laborers. Individuals who do not have full-time [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1002,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-about-shepherd","category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/upliftindy.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/upliftindy.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/upliftindy.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upliftindy.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upliftindy.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1001"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/upliftindy.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1001\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1003,"href":"https:\/\/upliftindy.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1001\/revisions\/1003"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upliftindy.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/upliftindy.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upliftindy.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upliftindy.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}