A new program is preparing professional skills for a community for special needs

Rochester, NY – Creation of a safe place to acquire precious professional skills – this is what a program made for the community of special needs. Arc Ontario and Wayne-Finger Lakes Boces joined forces to open a coffee at the Orchard Cafe in Newark.

Caxe is how Jolene Webster has started her days for more than a month since the opening of coffee.

“I don't like when it's black. The black is black, “Gloussé Webster.

“The opportunity we have here with Wayne Finger Lakes Boces allows our reaction program, exploration of employment and training. Offer the training here at the Orchard Cafe, and they learn these skills to move to a job of support, and hopefully, perhaps even find a job or get a job with our social enterprises from North Star Cafe, which also helps us with the coffee and certain articles here, “said Kristen Lankton, director of the planned Ontario programs.

Twice a week, coffee opens for the construction of employees for people with developmental disabilities to acquire skills they may need for their future career.

“Not only do they learn to make coffee, but they work on their communication skills. They therefore do this customer service part of their training. They work with money, with the register. They balance the books, they make inventories, they learn their bakery skills with muffins and bagels and the preparation of coffee. We therefore also focus on safety skills in the workplace, as well as the transferable hard and hard skills that they can really use, not only in this type of domain, but also in other fields, “said Lankton.

“I learned to smile at customers when they enter. And I also learned to take the customer's order, ”said Webster. “It was nervousness for me when I started here before because I didn't know anything, but now that I learn it better, I can see customers. I can be able to take their orders and do their orders as they want them to give them the impression of like to love to come here more often. “”

Learning these types of sweet and hard skills in a working environment can be difficult for communities with special needs. Webster says it was difficult to find a job in the past.

“When we had both cocoated, no job was opened, no program here was opened. And I kept thinking about myself, I was wondering, I said to myself: “am I going to never enter a program here?” When will Cavid stop? So, in this way, I can access a program, “said Webster. “When I started here, I started to doubt myself in the past, but now I'm … I'm above myself, I doubt myself. I am above me that makes me fall. I am above me to say to myself: “No, you don't reach this work.” Because now look at me. I am in this kind of program. I love this kind of program and I want to stay in this kind of program. »»

“It is very difficult because many companies, you know, they want to bring people and they want to hire people who have experience and enter and cross the door and go to their work and it seems that these days, it is difficult to find people who have training within companies that might take our people a little more to get to speed. So, this allows us to bring them at this speed, so they can go to apply for jobs and get jobs and be right, capable of crossing the door and knowing: “Oh, I know how to manage this register” or “Oh, I know how to cook muffins so that they do not have to learn it”. Once they have arrived at the company, they already know it and they can enter this business with some experience on their curriculum vitae. »»

A program aimed to provide participants with essential professional skills to improve their independence and the future perspectives of employment were successful to webster while she jumps in her dream job.

“I would also like to be able to be a person working in a cafe to help people with their cafes,” she admitted.

The best part is that she gets to work with her new friends.

“It gives me the impression of walking in the air,” smiles Webster. “Now look at me. I'm where I want to be.