Hope's Community Employment Service Celebrates 25 Years

What began 25 years ago as an innovative program to help integrate individuals with intellectual disABILITIES into the area's workforce has become a highly successful venture that many area businesses count on to find dedicated, hardworking employees.

The Community Employment Services program at Hope Enterprises marks a quarter century of matching individuals who have intellectual disABILITIES and want to work with job opportunities that allow them to work alongside job coaches who help them succeed. In what Hope Enterprises' assistant director of employment services, Tanya Weber, calls a "two-for-one deal," local employers pay the minimum-wage salaries of the individuals they employ, while also reaping the benefit of the job coach, who is paid by Hope and provides supervision and assistance to help ensure that each worker learns and masters required job skills and tasks.

"Twenty-five years ago, we had to go back many times to re-establish Hope Enterprises with employers," said Weber, who has worked with the program since its start. "Bringing individuals with special needs into the community, we really had to sell the program and explain what we were doing. But those relationships have changed. The perception of our service within the business community has changed. Now, when we approach an employer and ask if they would like to hire our workers – they already know that our individuals are reliable and dependable. They know our individuals want to be there and want to work."

Workers in the program perform such job duties as food prep for restaurants; stocking shelves, unloading groceries and returning shopping carts and baskets for customers at supermarkets; washing and detailing vehicles at automotive dealerships; performing custodial tasks; and working in the dish room or cleaning dining tables at a local college. Employers participating in the program may be eligible for a federal work-opportunity tax credit.

According to Weber, employers take notice of the positive attitude and work ethic that Hope's individuals bring to their roles.

"When Olive Garden was brand new to Lycoming County, they hired one of our workers. It didn't matter if it snowed, rained or even if she had transportation or not," said Weber. "She got herself there. She never missed a shift. She would say, ‘They need me.'"

According to Weber, individuals might remain in the program for five to 15 years before they no longer need the assistance of a job coach and are able to perform job duties all on their own. Sometimes they do so well they even gain promotions while they're still in the program.

After graduating from the program's supported employment, some individuals remain with their original employers for many years, even retiring from those positions. Weber said these kinds of consistent, positive experiences have led to long-term, positive relationships between the program and area employers.

"We started out with Wendy's in Montoursville 25 years ago, and they still work with us," she said.  "When you talk about our standing history with the community and its employers, they've embraced us."

Other currently participating businesses include Lycoming College, Weis Markets, Blaise Alexander Family Dealerships, Murray Motors, Olive Garden, and Villa Restaurant.

Weber credits the program's success to its staff and the team approach job coaches take in working with the individuals they support.

"It's the rapport that staff members have with the individuals, and how we communicate with the community, and the training we provide," she said. "There's no ‘I' in team, and the individual responds to that. They know that the coaches are resources for them. It helps them learn the job a little better and a little quicker, and it reduces stress."

Throughout the program's history, Hope's job coaches have supported an average of 60 individuals per year.

Hope's Community Employment Services program is open to individuals age 18 and older who have intellectual disABILITIES. The program accepts referrals from the Lycoming-Clinton Mental Health/Intellectual Disabilities Program Office and the Pennsylvania Office of Vocational Rehabilitation.  The program provides one-on-one work-skills assessments, job-search support, job placement, on-the-job training, job coaching and follow-up services.