Jessica is 27 years old and lives at Oberman Residence since March 2009. Jessica is very bright young woman and very expressive of her needs and wants.
Jessica expressed that she would like a job so she can make money to spend on items that she wants. Jessica was very motivated to work and participated in different opportunities in seeking employment. Jessica’s team included the residence and day program staff as well as her mother.
Through the discovery process we learned that Jessica wants to work with people as this matches her outgoing personality. Jessica was accepted into the Pre-Voc/SEMP (Supported Employment for People with Disabilities) program at YAI National Institute for people with Disabilities September 2014. Jessica began working with an employment specialist where she focused on work readiness skills. Jessica began going on job interviews with her job coach in January 2015. Jessica worked on finding employment by completing online applications, flyers and opportunities presented to her by her job coach.
In February 2015, Jessica informed her residence staff about a flyer that Rye Play Land was advertising a job fair at the Westchester County Center. Jessica saw the opportunity and was able to identify an open position that was available and appropriate for her. Once again she reached out to staff for help in doing a mock interview with her (Jessica) before going to the job fair. Through planning and support Jessica landed the job and began working at Rye Play Land in April 2015. Two weeks later Jessica receives a letter from Marshalls Shoes Store offering her a position that she had interviewed for in their store. Jessica was excited and so happy and it was everything that she hoped for. She resigned from Rye Play Land and began working at Marshall Store on April 23rd 2015. Jessica works as a store clerk. Her responsibilities are providing customer service for patrons on the floor. She greets and interacts with customers, restocks, monitors patrons and assists in loss prevention at the store Jessica’s supervisor reported that Jessica is doing very well and has never been late. She is always available to work and has never been absent.
Jessica now receives minimal support from her job coach in maintaining her employment at Marshalls. Jessica schedules her own transportation to get to and from work. She also maintains a separate bank account and spends her earned money as she wishes. She recently vacationed in Jamaica with her earned money. We are very proud of Jessica!
