Howdy Homemade serves up opportunities for EPISD students

The scrumptious ice cream scooped up at the new Howdy Homemade isn’t the only thing that makes the new downtown shop extra sweet. It’s the franchise concept: “Harnessing hope and hard work to empower people with special needs one scoop at a time.” The El Paso Community Foundation, which opened the first of at least two Howdy Homemade Ice Cream shops a few weeks ago, was drawn to the approach of providing jobs for teens and adults with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Among the employees at the El Paso location are six former El Paso ISD students known as heroes. The employees prepared on Dec. 1, 2022 for the grand opening the following day. (Leonel Monroy, Jr./El Paso ISD)