New ice cream shop with a mission opens in Downtown Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS — At a new shop next to Needler's Fresh Market, howdy is more than a greeting.

Howdy Homemade Ice Cream opened its first Indianapolis location earlier this month. It's full of bright colors, ice cream decor and the Howdy Wall - which lists the company's signature flavors. They're all made in the shop, located off of N New Jersey Street.

WRTV/Michelle Kaufman

Outside of the frozen treats, the Texas-based company makes it a priority to hire employees with intellectual and developmental disabilities so they can have a job and earn a paycheck.

"[That mission] fit exactly in with what we believe in and what we believe every community should be doing," Cindy Carter, co-owner, said.

"People who heard that we actually give fair wage, a typical paycheck to people who have disabilities, they are like that's crazy. They love it, they're saying we should have been there, we should have been doing this," Carmela Toler, co-owner, said.

Howdy Homemade has already served hundreds of customers, and the three co-owners say they hope the space becomes a gathering place for the community.

"[The vision is] life, fun, energy, excitement," Toler said.

Howdy Homemade is open Tuesday - Sunday from 12 - 9 p.m.