Congratulations to the most recent Transitions to Work graduates!

 

Transitions to Work, a collaboration among Combined Jewish Philanthropies, The Ruderman Family Foundation, and Jewish Vocational Service (JVS), is a high quality supported employment program for young adults with disabilities and based on an intensive 12 week training and internship cycle. Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) embraced Transitions to Work, hosting program participants in Environmental Services and Patient Transport internships. Geoff Vercauteren, BWH Director of Workforce Development, praised Transitions to Work as a great program “creating opportunity, potential, and growth for both the participants and the employer”.  

 

Etai Belinky, BWH Community Career Liaison, highlighted the Transitions to Work employer focused philosophy and the dedication of JVS instructors who develop customized training programs and teach transferable skills and job responsibilities. Etai complemented BWH staff who “recognized a great opportunity and acted as managers and mentors for the Transitions to Work participants”.  Etai explained,” Transitions to Work participants were integrated into the BWH employee team, held to standards that met and exceeded the expectations of their managers and mentors, and were an integral part of the BWH workforce”.  A culminating event was the Transitions participants celebrating with other employees at “Street Beat”- a BWH annual employee festival. 

 

Transitions to Work instructors, Micah Fleisig and Corie Scibelli, were thrilled with the opportunity to offer the Transitions to Work program at BWH.  They complimented the BWH mentors and staff and were excited to watch mentors transform from not knowing what to expect to developing meaningful relationships with the participants, finding great value in their work, and viewing the success of the participants as “our success”.  A highlight was “watching the students transform, gaining confidence, self- esteem and dignity, and to understand themselves better as workers”.

The Transitions to Work graduation was filled with parents, friends and many BWH staff and mentors. Next steps for Transitions graduates will be to find jobs, apply transferable skills to their new positions, and bring with them lessons learned.  Transitions to Work graduates captured the meaning of the program in the quotes they shared. One explained, “I like working with my mentor because he is a great teacher. Thanks to him, I feel I got faster and more confident with the tasks given (to me). The positive impact the Transitions to Work had on me is that I was able to show what kind of worker I was and I was able to improve on the things that my teachers and mentor asked me to do.”  Another summed it up perfectly, “I feel hopeful about finding a job.”

 

Transitions to Work enables young adults with disabilities to develop the skills needed for employment and place them into jobs that provide earnings and a sense of purpose and builds relationships with employers to raise awareness about inclusive hiring practices and engage corporate partners to consider young adults with disabilities as qualified, committed candidates for employment opportunities.  You can find more information about Transitions to Work at www.cjp.org/transitionstowork

  

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