Goodwill in Omaha has grown far beyond the place where you donate old clothes. This year they're celebrating 50 years of job training with their work experience program.
This time of year, most high school students are looking to the future. Because of their special needs, students like Kourtney Smoot might have a future with a look a little different than a typical high school student.
"I'm 19 years old, this is my second year of being in the transition program {at school}."
In OPS's transition program, students focus on living skills and functioning outside of school.
For Kourtney, life, and getting a job after school, has been intimidating.
"I just wasn't used to meeting new people. My teachers encouraged me to try to make new friends."
Until she was enrolled in a program called Goodwill Work Experience. The goal of this program is simple, get kids out of the classroom, and into a real life work experience at a Goodwill store. This year Goodwill's work experience saw it's largest group yet. 106 students work at 7 different Goodwill sites from 14 area schools.
At Goodwill, Kourtney does a variety of tasks. She sorts inventory, hangs up clothes, and cleans. She gets paid nine bucks an hour, and works between two to five hours a day.
"She became more outgoing. She thought more for herself," Kourtney's grandmother, Adrian Smoot said. "I can just see her without this program. No she would just be another, just another person out there lost."
Most of all, besides the confidence, it's given Kourtney the opportunity to find a future.
"I can handle a lot of things on my own," she said.
