April 23, 2025 • 24 mins
Angela Calzone shares how Inroads to Opportunities supports individuals with disabilities through comprehensive programs designed to facilitate meaningful employment.
The organization's business-oriented approach focuses on integration, skills development, and changing employer perceptions about hiring people with both visible and invisible disabilities.
• Inroads to Opportunities serves approximately 400 individuals annually with various disabilities
• School-to-work transition programs allow students to remain until age 21, learning practical skills
• Contract packaging operation provides real-world work experience in assembly and shipping
• Certificate programs include Serv Safe food handling and OSHA forklift training
• On-site job coaches support both employees and employers during the transition
• New Jersey employers can receive tax credits for hiring individuals with disabilities
• Vocational assessments help identify skills, interests, and suitable career paths
• Success rates for program graduates are approximately 95%
• Community integration is central to the organization's philosophy and approach
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to why Not Me , the World podcast, hosted by
Tony Mantor, broadcasting fromMusic City, usa, nashville,
tennessee.
Join us as our guests tell ustheir stories.
Some will make you laugh, somewill make you cry.
Their stories Some will makeyou laugh, some will make you
(00:30):
cry.
Real life people who willinspire and show that you are
not alone in this world.
Hopefully, you gain moreawareness, acceptance and a
better understanding for autismaround the world.
Hi, I'm Tony Mantor.
(00:53):
Welcome to why Not Me, theWorld.
Joining us today is AngelaCalzone, president and CEO of
Inroads to Opportunities, anorganization dedicated in
supporting individuals withdisabilities, both visible and
invisible.
They provide training andassistance to facilitate a
seamless transition into theworkforce.
(01:15):
Angela brings a wealth ofknowledge and we are delighted
to have her with us today.
Thanks for coming on.
We're delighted to do this Ifyou would tell us a little bit
about what you do.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
We are Inroads to Opportunities and we are a 501c3
nonprofit organization, Beenaround about 66 years and we
support individuals withdisabilities, whether they're
visible disabilities orinvisible disabilities.
(01:47):
So what does that mean?
Disabilities or invisibledisabilities?
So what does that mean?
That means physical, mentalhealth, behavioral health,
intellectual, developmentaldisabilities, and we take folks
as young as 16 in our variousprograms and they can stay with
us through retirement and beyond.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
What prompted you to get into this line of work?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
So I had a management consulting practice for many
years, served clients in bothNew Jersey and New York City,
and this agency was one of myclients.
We used to do strategicplanning, we used to do a lot of
training for their staff, helpthem with the marketing, and we
had other nonprofits throughoutNew Jersey and New York that we
worked with.
(02:24):
But something about this placereally appealed to me the staff,
you can tell, genuinely caredfor and supported the
individuals that they served.
The longevity of people workinghere was really impressive.
You had young people workinghere from their graduation from
college right through to gettingready to retire.
(02:47):
So it was really impressive howmuch blood, sweat and tears the
staff really put into caringfor and supporting the
individuals that they serve.
I also was intrigued by howhappy the people who
participated in these programswere when I visited.
They were friendly, they wereengaging, they were engaging
(03:09):
with each other.
They had such an extraordinarycamaraderie.
It was just an overall veryimpressive place and I just you
know how when you walk in thedoor someplace, you're like,
yeah, you know what, I'm notleaving, it's just something.
There's going to be thisconnection here, and for a while
I served on the board for abouta hot minute and then my
(03:30):
daughter took ill so I had to.
I couldn't really make acommitment, a volunteer
commitment like that, but alwaysstayed in touch, always served
them as a client, and then whenI got word that the current
president and CEO was going toretire, that's when we started
the conversations about how Imight fit in to the future of
(03:51):
this place.
So it has been an incredible,great adventure and I love the
mission, the vision.
The people Couldn't ask for abetter place to be.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
That's nice.
Now, how long have you beenthere?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
I'm here five years.
I joined two months before thepandemic.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
What are some of the changes that you've seen from
when you started to what it istoday?
Speaker 2 (04:15):
I'm not a social worker.
I don't come from the mentalhealth or social services space.
I'm a business person, a serialentrepreneur.
I've also worked for large andmid-sized companies, national
multinational companies.
So what I've brought to thetable is the business acumen
that I think may have beenlacking in, not just here, but
(04:36):
in a lot of nonprofitsthroughout the country, through
no fault of their own.
I think they're very focused ondelivering quality programs and
services, which, of course, isthe priority, but maybe not as
much attention is paid to what'sour growth strategy, what's our
back office look like, whatdoes our bottom line look like?
So we can keep the lights on.
(04:56):
Having brought a lot of thatbusiness acumen and sort of
corporateness to the agency,I've seen a big shift in how we
market, how we develop businessand sponsors and just really
it's a very different way thatwe're engaging with the
community.
Now we are out in the communityand that's the whole purpose of
(05:20):
this place is to fullyintegrate our folks, because
they are your brothers andsisters and your sons and
daughters, and your neighborsand your friends.
They're not isolated.
People with disabilities arepart of the community, and so we
are out there in full force,engaging with local politicians,
(05:43):
we volunteer for things, we'reat the movies, we go on trips,
we're at the supermarket, we'relearning life skills and
vocational skills and we'regetting jobs in the community.
We're just citizens of theworld, just like everybody else.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
So how have you grown ?
How many people work withinyour organization?
Speaker 2 (06:03):
We serve approximately 400 individuals
each year with a variety ofservices.
We've got school-to-worktransition programs.
We've got pre-vocationalprograms.
We've got job development andjob coaching, where we're on the
job with our folks, supportingthem and making sure that they
(06:23):
understand the work that they'resupposed to do for their
employer.
We've got full complement ofmental health services.
We even have a contractpackaging operation here that we
run.
Also a full service kitchen.
We have training programs whereyou can earn a certificate.
So we've got quite a robustseries of programs and services
(06:44):
here.
That said, with us serving 400individuals each year, we're a
suburb of New York City, inUnion County, new Jersey.
I see us in the next five toseven years, doubling that
number because there's such agreat need in our area, in our
community, and we've got amazingpeople and amazing services.
(07:05):
So there really isn't anyreason why we couldn't be
doubling that number in the nextfive years.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
What's the criteria to get into your service, what's
the process they have to gothrough and how do you handle it
so that you know that it's agood fit for both them and your
company?
Speaker 2 (07:25):
That really depends on how they're referred and
their funding source.
16 to 21 year old crowd.
They are coming right fromtheir high school.
We are considered anout-of-district placement for
individuals who haveintellectual or developmental
disabilities.
If a school system or schooldistrict doesn't have a robust
(07:49):
enough special ed program orservices that can support an
individual who's got some morecomplicated challenges or
disabilities, then they canoutsource them or place them out
of district with us.
We don't provide the academiceducation.
We provide the life skillsdevelopment, getting them ready
(08:09):
potentially for employment,exposing them to different jobs
and careers out in the community.
We're really giving them thatpractical, real world how to
negotiate the day-to-day andthen what it looks like to start
looking for a job and to beemployment ready.
I think personally this shouldbe a curriculum in every school
(08:32):
district in every part of thecountry, and not just for
individuals with disabilitiesbut for all kids.
Because how difficult is itwhen our kids are getting ready
to graduate?
They don't know the first thingcoming out of high school about
how to put a resume together orwhat to wear on an interview.
What are the right things tosay?
How do you respond when theinterviewer is asking you
(08:55):
questions.
What job do you really thinkyou want?
What do you like and not like?
What have you been exposed toComing out of high school?
You have no clue most of thetime.
I think this is an advantagefor not only individuals with
disabilities but all kids.
But we focus on the IDDpopulation and we've had great
success with these kids.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
So is your situation like a vocational school where
someone will come in and learntheir craft.
How long do they have to learnit?
What's that process look like?
Speaker 2 (09:27):
They can stay with us In New Jersey.
You can remain in high schoolif you are diagnosed with
intellectual or developmentaldisabilities.
You can stay in high schooluntil you're 21 years old so
that you have ample time toprepare for your transition into
the workforce or if you'regoing to transition into a
(09:48):
college or other scenarios.
So they can stay with us fromages 16 to 21 in that particular
program.
At 21, their school districtgraduates them and then they can
move to a couple of differentprograms that we have here.
If they are ready foremployment, we put them in our
(10:09):
employment department and wework with them on again getting
ready to interview.
Let's get a resume and a coverletter together.
You've had some exposure todifferent types of jobs and
careers.
What do you think you mightwant to do?
Let's get you your first jobNow.
If they're graduating andthey're not quite ready for
(10:29):
employment, we have anotherprogram called Transition Plus,
where it's really an extensionof the school to work transition
program, where they can spendtwo additional years really
learning life skills, gettingsome pre-vocational skills and
again more of the same beingexposed to different jobs,
practicing different jobs,having speakers come in and and
(10:53):
work with them and talk withthem about different career
types and what kind ofqualifications that you need to
be able to take a job in theseareas.
So it's just an extension ofalmost like a community college.
You get those extra two yearsof exposure and then hopefully
at that point they're ready tomove into employment and if
(11:15):
they're not, we have othersocial programs that they can be
a part of.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
I should say so do you have people or organizations
that you work with?
So when the client goes throughyour classes, when they're
finished, they have maybe a jobto go to finished, they have
maybe a job to go to.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Absolutely, we do.
We work with local employersthroughout the county.
Again, it's got to be a rightfit.
They've got to have a need foran employee and then we've got a
roster of folks that mayqualify for that job.
We bring them together.
It's almost in a way like wefunction as an employment agency
but we're not getting any kindof payment from the employer.
We're funded by the state ofNew Jersey.
So, yeah, we'll work to do anemployer-employee match and we
(12:00):
navigate them through the wholeprocess.
There's some tax creditsavailable for New Jersey
employers to take advantage ofif they hire an individual with
a disability.
It's a win for everybody really.
They're getting a great,qualified, trained, loyal
employee.
They have the opportunity tobenefit from tax credit and our
folks are getting a job thatthey will do well at, have
(12:23):
support from us on a continuumand have a job that they love,
and they can make money andstart to build their lives like
any of us would want to do.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
With any company that does things like you do,
there's always bumps in the road, challenges to overcome.
What were some of thechallenges that you faced
initially, getting this started,and further, what are some of
the challenges that you face dayto day now that you've been up
and running for a while?
Speaker 2 (12:52):
We've been doing this for, like I said, about 66
years in various forms.
Of course, the agency is at itslargest right now.
So I think there's a lot ofdifferent challenges, perception
being the greatest one from anemployer's perspective and
having been an employer, I thinkas a business owner or a
business manager, you're alwaysconcerned.
(13:13):
Okay, if I take a person on whohas a disability, what's that
going to cost me?
How much do I have to make interms of accommodation?
Is it going to disrupt theworkflow of my other employees?
Are they going to have tocompensate or overcompensate for
this individual?
What are my customers going todo if this individual maybe
can't interact or communicate ina typical way?
(13:38):
There's a lot of concern andworry on the part of employers
and also in New Jersey ourminimum wage is like $15.49.
These days we're findingemployers are looking for a
person who could not only do oneor two tasks but they want them
to do the whole roster ofresponsibilities and sometimes
our folks may struggle with that.
Those are a big part of thechallenges, that perception, but
(14:00):
we work very closely with ourfolks where they're on the job
with them, oftentimes, wherethey're supporting them.
So we do a lot of on-the-jobtraining that the employer
doesn't have to do.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
We're always there when there's a need you
mentioned.
You have a contract forpackaging.
How does that work?
Speaker 2 (14:19):
So, like any other company, we do hand assembly and
shrink wrapping.
We have shipping and receiving,so we can do a number of things
and we've had some really greatcustomers and we continue to
enjoy that benefit.
And so we have a marketingdirector and a marketing program
(14:42):
goes out and gets new businessand we also have recurring
business for many years and ourfolks work in this packaging and
assembly company that we haveand they'll do anything from a
slight assembly, typically notsomething, not anything too
heavy.
For example, we've got acustomer who is an importer of
(15:02):
Italian foods and one of thethings that we do here is we
remove the label of tomato saucecans, large tomato sauce cans
that you see at Costco and BJ's.
So those cans will come indirectly from Italy and we'll
get them in our shipping andreceiving department.
We have to put them on ourassembly line, de-label the
(15:26):
Italian label and re-wrap themin the label of the company that
is our customer and then we getthem ready to ship off to
whatever big box store they'regoing to be in Costco, BJ's,
Sam's Club, etc.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Your facility seems to cover a multitude of things,
which is really good.
You've got the packaging.
I noticed that you hadsomething about cooking.
What does that entail and howdoes that work for them?
Speaker 2 (15:56):
We do so.
We have a training program herethat if an individual signs up
for it and goes through thetraining it's about an eight or
nine week course they are ableto sit for a test and get their
Surf Save food handlerscertificate, which is a
(16:18):
wonderful thing to have when youare looking for a job in the
food industry.
That's often a requirementeither to get the job or you
have to take that test onceyou're on the job within a
certain period of time.
So our folks are then able towork in restaurants, cafeterias,
within hospitals, nursing homesand school districts,
(16:38):
industrial and commercialkitchens.
It's a great program and it wasrecognized by the National
Restaurant Association too,because it's Serve Save
Certified.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
I noticed you have evaluations.
What does that encompass?
Are you evaluating what theycan do, what they can learn to
do?
What's that process look like?
Speaker 2 (17:02):
to do.
What's that process look like?
Yes, all of the things that wedo here, we want as part of our
mission, is to lead to work, tolead to meaningful, sustainable
employment, because that is whatallows us to live our lives.
We have a good job, we can payour bills, we can have a nice
(17:22):
place to live.
Our folks want the exact samething, so the evaluation process
can take place at any point intime in getting ready for
employment, or maybe it's are-evaluation.
They want to make a careerchange or a job change.
So the evaluation process isvery vocationally based.
For example, if we've got ahigh school student who's
(17:42):
getting ready to graduate, it'stime for them to have a
vocational assessment, and whatwe do is we look at their skills
, abilities, competency, areas.
We also evaluate what it isthat they like, what they feel
connected to in terms of avocation.
It's a very comprehensiveprocess, but what the result is
(18:05):
almost like.
I wish I could have had anevaluation coming out of college
, because it really helps informand provide you with a roadmap,
in a way, on how you can besuccessful, things that you're
good at, things you need to workon, areas of interest that you
have, but it's very engaging.
It's a great tool.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Yeah, that sounds really good.
I noticed you have janitorial.
You have several other things,including forklift training.
What's that training look like?
Speaker 2 (18:38):
So we have the OSHA.
Forklift training is acertificate training program,
like the Surf, save foodhandlers, our janitorial
maintenance program same thing.
That's one of the trainingprograms where you can secure a
certificate, the other types ofvocational learning that we do.
We also have some of our folkspracticing in our workshop,
(19:01):
which is the assembly andpackaging, and those folks will
go on to work in manufacturingor in warehouse distribution.
We also go out into thecommunity and have them do job
sampling so that they can learnwhile they're doing in retail or
(19:23):
in a hospital setting as aporter or an orderly Really
depends on what the individual'sinterest is, and so we'll
create a plan around them toaccommodate that vocational
interest.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
So basically that's just another form of getting out
there and shadow working.
How wide a net does the shadowworking encompass?
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Again, it's driven by the individual.
If we have someone who comes inand who is passionately
interested in gosh I don't knowworking in a bakery, we will dip
into our network in thecommunity and say, okay, where
can we find a bakery who willaccommodate us so that we can do
some initial job sampling?
Where can we find a bakery whowill accommodate us so that we
can do some initial job sampling?
(20:05):
Where can we find a bakerywho's got an open position for
this person?
Maybe we have a bakery contactwhere we can evaluate.
Just because we like to dosomething doesn't mean we're
necessarily going to be reallygood at it, and so we would find
a bakery where we can work withthat person for maybe 25 day
period or something like that onsite and evaluate whether or
(20:28):
not that's really an appropriatepick of a profession for them.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
So do you work with autistic people as well as those
that might have mental healthissues?
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Absolutely so.
With autism, that falls underthis classification of
intellectual or developmentallydisabled.
But we do have folks that havechallenges with mental health.
We have folks that are blindand visually impaired, Any
combination of thosewheelchair-bound, the folks that
(21:02):
use a walker, folks that haveCP.
So it really runs the gamut.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Yeah, that's great, pretty inclusive.
So how is your percentage ofthose that come in, learn and
then those that graduategraduate?
Do you have a high success rateof graduation as well as a high
success rate of getting peoplevalid work?
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Right, it really depends on the program.
With our contract packaging,for example, they can be here
two years.
They can be here 35 years.
It really it's up to them,because employment for everyone
is a choice, so you choose whereyou want to go and what you
want to do.
In terms of our school to worktransition programs, our
(21:51):
retention rate is incredible andevery year we're graduating
students.
Now, sometimes the class may beonly five people, sometimes the
class might be 15, 20 peopleand again when they're 21,.
If they've hit all theirmilestones, they're going to
graduate and I would say 95% ofour folks that go through our
School to Work transitionprogram graduate our program and
(22:13):
either go on to another programto hone their skills or go out
and secure meaningful employment.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
That's great.
Everyone wants to work.
What's the best way for peopleto find you and contact you?
Speaker 2 (22:28):
We have a website, we have a social media presence.
Our website is inroads2toorgand on there is a list of all of
our services, all of thewonderful activities that we do,
all of the news releasesbecause we're constantly in the
local media which we reallyenjoy, the attention and
(22:49):
affection that we get from thelocal community and, of course,
there's ways to donate.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
That's great.
What would you like to tell ourlisteners that you think is
very important for them to knowabout what you're doing and the
accomplishments that you've hadover the years?
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Probably the most important thing is our mission,
and that is everyone who wantsit deserves the right to
employment, an equal shot atgetting a job and keeping a job,
irrespective of disability.
If they're qualified andcapable and they have the
(23:30):
supports, they're going to be anamazing employee, and that's
really.
I think there's a lot ofmisconception around that.
That's what's most important tous that everybody's got a shot,
if they want it, at a great,meaningful job.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Yeah, that's great.
I really appreciate you takingthe time to come on.
Thank you for having me.
Oh, it's been my pleasure.
Thanks again.
Thanks for taking the time outof your busy schedule to listen
to our show today.
We hope that you enjoyed it asmuch as we enjoyed bringing it
(24:06):
to you.
If you know anyone that wouldlike to tell us their story,
send them to TonyMantorcomContact then they can give us
their information so one daythey may be a guest on our show.
One more thing we ask telleveryone everywhere about why
(24:28):
Not Me, the world, theconversations we're having and
the inspiration our guests giveto everyone everywhere that you
are not alone in this world.
Welcome to why Not Me , the World podcast, hosted by
Tony Mantor, broadcasting fromMusic City, usa, nashville,
tennessee.
Join us as our guests tell ustheir stories.
Some will make you laugh, somewill make you cry.
Their stories Some will makeyou laugh, some will make you
(00:30):
cry.
Real life people who willinspire and show that you are
not alone in this world.
Hopefully, you gain moreawareness, acceptance and a
better understanding for autismaround the world.
Hi, I'm Tony Mantor.
(00:53):
Welcome to why Not Me, theWorld.
Joining us today is AngelaCalzone, president and CEO of
Inroads to Opportunities, anorganization dedicated in
supporting individuals withdisabilities, both visible and
invisible.
They provide training andassistance to facilitate a
seamless transition into theworkforce.
(01:15):
Angela brings a wealth ofknowledge and we are delighted
to have her with us today.
Thanks for coming on.
We're delighted to do this Ifyou would tell us a little bit
about what you do.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
We are Inroads to Opportunities and we are a 501c3
nonprofit organization, Beenaround about 66 years and we
support individuals withdisabilities, whether they're
visible disabilities orinvisible disabilities.
(01:47):
So what does that mean?
Disabilities or invisibledisabilities?
So what does that mean?
That means physical, mentalhealth, behavioral health,
intellectual, developmentaldisabilities, and we take folks
as young as 16 in our variousprograms and they can stay with
us through retirement and beyond.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
What prompted you to get into this line of work?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
So I had a management consulting practice for many
years, served clients in bothNew Jersey and New York City,
and this agency was one of myclients.
We used to do strategicplanning, we used to do a lot of
training for their staff, helpthem with the marketing, and we
had other nonprofits throughoutNew Jersey and New York that we
worked with.
(02:24):
But something about this placereally appealed to me the staff,
you can tell, genuinely caredfor and supported the
individuals that they served.
The longevity of people workinghere was really impressive.
You had young people workinghere from their graduation from
college right through to gettingready to retire.
(02:47):
So it was really impressive howmuch blood, sweat and tears the
staff really put into caringfor and supporting the
individuals that they serve.
I also was intrigued by howhappy the people who
participated in these programswere when I visited.
They were friendly, they wereengaging, they were engaging
(03:09):
with each other.
They had such an extraordinarycamaraderie.
It was just an overall veryimpressive place and I just you
know how when you walk in thedoor someplace, you're like,
yeah, you know what, I'm notleaving, it's just something.
There's going to be thisconnection here, and for a while
I served on the board for abouta hot minute and then my
(03:30):
daughter took ill so I had to.
I couldn't really make acommitment, a volunteer
commitment like that, but alwaysstayed in touch, always served
them as a client, and then whenI got word that the current
president and CEO was going toretire, that's when we started
the conversations about how Imight fit in to the future of
(03:51):
this place.
So it has been an incredible,great adventure and I love the
mission, the vision.
The people Couldn't ask for abetter place to be.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
That's nice.
Now, how long have you beenthere?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
I'm here five years.
I joined two months before thepandemic.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
What are some of the changes that you've seen from
when you started to what it istoday?
Speaker 2 (04:15):
I'm not a social worker.
I don't come from the mentalhealth or social services space.
I'm a business person, a serialentrepreneur.
I've also worked for large andmid-sized companies, national
multinational companies.
So what I've brought to thetable is the business acumen
that I think may have beenlacking in, not just here, but
(04:36):
in a lot of nonprofitsthroughout the country, through
no fault of their own.
I think they're very focused ondelivering quality programs and
services, which, of course, isthe priority, but maybe not as
much attention is paid to what'sour growth strategy, what's our
back office look like, whatdoes our bottom line look like?
So we can keep the lights on.
(04:56):
Having brought a lot of thatbusiness acumen and sort of
corporateness to the agency,I've seen a big shift in how we
market, how we develop businessand sponsors and just really
it's a very different way thatwe're engaging with the
community.
Now we are out in the communityand that's the whole purpose of
(05:20):
this place is to fullyintegrate our folks, because
they are your brothers andsisters and your sons and
daughters, and your neighborsand your friends.
They're not isolated.
People with disabilities arepart of the community, and so we
are out there in full force,engaging with local politicians,
(05:43):
we volunteer for things, we'reat the movies, we go on trips,
we're at the supermarket, we'relearning life skills and
vocational skills and we'regetting jobs in the community.
We're just citizens of theworld, just like everybody else.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
So how have you grown ?
How many people work withinyour organization?
Speaker 2 (06:03):
We serve approximately 400 individuals
each year with a variety ofservices.
We've got school-to-worktransition programs.
We've got pre-vocationalprograms.
We've got job development andjob coaching, where we're on the
job with our folks, supportingthem and making sure that they
(06:23):
understand the work that they'resupposed to do for their
employer.
We've got full complement ofmental health services.
We even have a contractpackaging operation here that we
run.
Also a full service kitchen.
We have training programs whereyou can earn a certificate.
So we've got quite a robustseries of programs and services
(06:44):
here.
That said, with us serving 400individuals each year, we're a
suburb of New York City, inUnion County, new Jersey.
I see us in the next five toseven years, doubling that
number because there's such agreat need in our area, in our
community, and we've got amazingpeople and amazing services.
(07:05):
So there really isn't anyreason why we couldn't be
doubling that number in the nextfive years.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
What's the criteria to get into your service, what's
the process they have to gothrough and how do you handle it
so that you know that it's agood fit for both them and your
company?
Speaker 2 (07:25):
That really depends on how they're referred and
their funding source.
16 to 21 year old crowd.
They are coming right fromtheir high school.
We are considered anout-of-district placement for
individuals who haveintellectual or developmental
disabilities.
If a school system or schooldistrict doesn't have a robust
(07:49):
enough special ed program orservices that can support an
individual who's got some morecomplicated challenges or
disabilities, then they canoutsource them or place them out
of district with us.
We don't provide the academiceducation.
We provide the life skillsdevelopment, getting them ready
(08:09):
potentially for employment,exposing them to different jobs
and careers out in the community.
We're really giving them thatpractical, real world how to
negotiate the day-to-day andthen what it looks like to start
looking for a job and to beemployment ready.
I think personally this shouldbe a curriculum in every school
(08:32):
district in every part of thecountry, and not just for
individuals with disabilitiesbut for all kids.
Because how difficult is itwhen our kids are getting ready
to graduate?
They don't know the first thingcoming out of high school about
how to put a resume together orwhat to wear on an interview.
What are the right things tosay?
How do you respond when theinterviewer is asking you
(08:55):
questions.
What job do you really thinkyou want?
What do you like and not like?
What have you been exposed toComing out of high school?
You have no clue most of thetime.
I think this is an advantagefor not only individuals with
disabilities but all kids.
But we focus on the IDDpopulation and we've had great
success with these kids.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
So is your situation like a vocational school where
someone will come in and learntheir craft.
How long do they have to learnit?
What's that process look like?
Speaker 2 (09:27):
They can stay with us In New Jersey.
You can remain in high schoolif you are diagnosed with
intellectual or developmentaldisabilities.
You can stay in high schooluntil you're 21 years old so
that you have ample time toprepare for your transition into
the workforce or if you'regoing to transition into a
(09:48):
college or other scenarios.
So they can stay with us fromages 16 to 21 in that particular
program.
At 21, their school districtgraduates them and then they can
move to a couple of differentprograms that we have here.
If they are ready foremployment, we put them in our
(10:09):
employment department and wework with them on again getting
ready to interview.
Let's get a resume and a coverletter together.
You've had some exposure todifferent types of jobs and
careers.
What do you think you mightwant to do?
Let's get you your first jobNow.
If they're graduating andthey're not quite ready for
(10:29):
employment, we have anotherprogram called Transition Plus,
where it's really an extensionof the school to work transition
program, where they can spendtwo additional years really
learning life skills, gettingsome pre-vocational skills and
again more of the same beingexposed to different jobs,
practicing different jobs,having speakers come in and and
(10:53):
work with them and talk withthem about different career
types and what kind ofqualifications that you need to
be able to take a job in theseareas.
So it's just an extension ofalmost like a community college.
You get those extra two yearsof exposure and then hopefully
at that point they're ready tomove into employment and if
(11:15):
they're not, we have othersocial programs that they can be
a part of.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
I should say so do you have people or organizations
that you work with?
So when the client goes throughyour classes, when they're
finished, they have maybe a jobto go to finished, they have
maybe a job to go to.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Absolutely, we do.
We work with local employersthroughout the county.
Again, it's got to be a rightfit.
They've got to have a need foran employee and then we've got a
roster of folks that mayqualify for that job.
We bring them together.
It's almost in a way like wefunction as an employment agency
but we're not getting any kindof payment from the employer.
We're funded by the state ofNew Jersey.
So, yeah, we'll work to do anemployer-employee match and we
(12:00):
navigate them through the wholeprocess.
There's some tax creditsavailable for New Jersey
employers to take advantage ofif they hire an individual with
a disability.
It's a win for everybody really.
They're getting a great,qualified, trained, loyal
employee.
They have the opportunity tobenefit from tax credit and our
folks are getting a job thatthey will do well at, have
(12:23):
support from us on a continuumand have a job that they love,
and they can make money andstart to build their lives like
any of us would want to do.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
With any company that does things like you do,
there's always bumps in the road, challenges to overcome.
What were some of thechallenges that you faced
initially, getting this started,and further, what are some of
the challenges that you face dayto day now that you've been up
and running for a while?
Speaker 2 (12:52):
We've been doing this for, like I said, about 66
years in various forms.
Of course, the agency is at itslargest right now.
So I think there's a lot ofdifferent challenges, perception
being the greatest one from anemployer's perspective and
having been an employer, I thinkas a business owner or a
business manager, you're alwaysconcerned.
(13:13):
Okay, if I take a person on whohas a disability, what's that
going to cost me?
How much do I have to make interms of accommodation?
Is it going to disrupt theworkflow of my other employees?
Are they going to have tocompensate or overcompensate for
this individual?
What are my customers going todo if this individual maybe
can't interact or communicate ina typical way?
(13:38):
There's a lot of concern andworry on the part of employers
and also in New Jersey ourminimum wage is like $15.49.
These days we're findingemployers are looking for a
person who could not only do oneor two tasks but they want them
to do the whole roster ofresponsibilities and sometimes
our folks may struggle with that.
Those are a big part of thechallenges, that perception, but
(14:00):
we work very closely with ourfolks where they're on the job
with them, oftentimes, wherethey're supporting them.
So we do a lot of on-the-jobtraining that the employer
doesn't have to do.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
We're always there when there's a need you
mentioned.
You have a contract forpackaging.
How does that work?
Speaker 2 (14:19):
So, like any other company, we do hand assembly and
shrink wrapping.
We have shipping and receiving,so we can do a number of things
and we've had some really greatcustomers and we continue to
enjoy that benefit.
And so we have a marketingdirector and a marketing program
(14:42):
goes out and gets new businessand we also have recurring
business for many years and ourfolks work in this packaging and
assembly company that we haveand they'll do anything from a
slight assembly, typically notsomething, not anything too
heavy.
For example, we've got acustomer who is an importer of
(15:02):
Italian foods and one of thethings that we do here is we
remove the label of tomato saucecans, large tomato sauce cans
that you see at Costco and BJ's.
So those cans will come indirectly from Italy and we'll
get them in our shipping andreceiving department.
We have to put them on ourassembly line, de-label the
(15:26):
Italian label and re-wrap themin the label of the company that
is our customer and then we getthem ready to ship off to
whatever big box store they'regoing to be in Costco, BJ's,
Sam's Club, etc.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Your facility seems to cover a multitude of things,
which is really good.
You've got the packaging.
I noticed that you hadsomething about cooking.
What does that entail and howdoes that work for them?
Speaker 2 (15:56):
We do so.
We have a training program herethat if an individual signs up
for it and goes through thetraining it's about an eight or
nine week course they are ableto sit for a test and get their
Surf Save food handlerscertificate, which is a
(16:18):
wonderful thing to have when youare looking for a job in the
food industry.
That's often a requirementeither to get the job or you
have to take that test onceyou're on the job within a
certain period of time.
So our folks are then able towork in restaurants, cafeterias,
within hospitals, nursing homesand school districts,
(16:38):
industrial and commercialkitchens.
It's a great program and it wasrecognized by the National
Restaurant Association too,because it's Serve Save
Certified.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
I noticed you have evaluations.
What does that encompass?
Are you evaluating what theycan do, what they can learn to
do?
What's that process look like?
Speaker 2 (17:02):
to do.
What's that process look like?
Yes, all of the things that wedo here, we want as part of our
mission, is to lead to work, tolead to meaningful, sustainable
employment, because that is whatallows us to live our lives.
We have a good job, we can payour bills, we can have a nice
(17:22):
place to live.
Our folks want the exact samething, so the evaluation process
can take place at any point intime in getting ready for
employment, or maybe it's are-evaluation.
They want to make a careerchange or a job change.
So the evaluation process isvery vocationally based.
For example, if we've got ahigh school student who's
(17:42):
getting ready to graduate, it'stime for them to have a
vocational assessment, and whatwe do is we look at their skills
, abilities, competency, areas.
We also evaluate what it isthat they like, what they feel
connected to in terms of avocation.
It's a very comprehensiveprocess, but what the result is
(18:05):
almost like.
I wish I could have had anevaluation coming out of college
, because it really helps informand provide you with a roadmap,
in a way, on how you can besuccessful, things that you're
good at, things you need to workon, areas of interest that you
have, but it's very engaging.
It's a great tool.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Yeah, that sounds really good.
I noticed you have janitorial.
You have several other things,including forklift training.
What's that training look like?
Speaker 2 (18:38):
So we have the OSHA.
Forklift training is acertificate training program,
like the Surf, save foodhandlers, our janitorial
maintenance program same thing.
That's one of the trainingprograms where you can secure a
certificate, the other types ofvocational learning that we do.
We also have some of our folkspracticing in our workshop,
(19:01):
which is the assembly andpackaging, and those folks will
go on to work in manufacturingor in warehouse distribution.
We also go out into thecommunity and have them do job
sampling so that they can learnwhile they're doing in retail or
(19:23):
in a hospital setting as aporter or an orderly Really
depends on what the individual'sinterest is, and so we'll
create a plan around them toaccommodate that vocational
interest.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
So basically that's just another form of getting out
there and shadow working.
How wide a net does the shadowworking encompass?
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Again, it's driven by the individual.
If we have someone who comes inand who is passionately
interested in gosh I don't knowworking in a bakery, we will dip
into our network in thecommunity and say, okay, where
can we find a bakery who willaccommodate us so that we can do
some initial job sampling?
Where can we find a bakery whowill accommodate us so that we
can do some initial job sampling?
(20:05):
Where can we find a bakerywho's got an open position for
this person?
Maybe we have a bakery contactwhere we can evaluate.
Just because we like to dosomething doesn't mean we're
necessarily going to be reallygood at it, and so we would find
a bakery where we can work withthat person for maybe 25 day
period or something like that onsite and evaluate whether or
(20:28):
not that's really an appropriatepick of a profession for them.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
So do you work with autistic people as well as those
that might have mental healthissues?
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Absolutely so.
With autism, that falls underthis classification of
intellectual or developmentallydisabled.
But we do have folks that havechallenges with mental health.
We have folks that are blindand visually impaired, Any
combination of thosewheelchair-bound, the folks that
(21:02):
use a walker, folks that haveCP.
So it really runs the gamut.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Yeah, that's great, pretty inclusive.
So how is your percentage ofthose that come in, learn and
then those that graduategraduate?
Do you have a high success rateof graduation as well as a high
success rate of getting peoplevalid work?
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Right, it really depends on the program.
With our contract packaging,for example, they can be here
two years.
They can be here 35 years.
It really it's up to them,because employment for everyone
is a choice, so you choose whereyou want to go and what you
want to do.
In terms of our school to worktransition programs, our
(21:51):
retention rate is incredible andevery year we're graduating
students.
Now, sometimes the class may beonly five people, sometimes the
class might be 15, 20 peopleand again when they're 21,.
If they've hit all theirmilestones, they're going to
graduate and I would say 95% ofour folks that go through our
School to Work transitionprogram graduate our program and
(22:13):
either go on to another programto hone their skills or go out
and secure meaningful employment.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
That's great.
Everyone wants to work.
What's the best way for peopleto find you and contact you?
Speaker 2 (22:28):
We have a website, we have a social media presence.
Our website is inroads2toorgand on there is a list of all of
our services, all of thewonderful activities that we do,
all of the news releasesbecause we're constantly in the
local media which we reallyenjoy, the attention and
(22:49):
affection that we get from thelocal community and, of course,
there's ways to donate.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
That's great.
What would you like to tell ourlisteners that you think is
very important for them to knowabout what you're doing and the
accomplishments that you've hadover the years?
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Probably the most important thing is our mission,
and that is everyone who wantsit deserves the right to
employment, an equal shot atgetting a job and keeping a job,
irrespective of disability.
If they're qualified andcapable and they have the
(23:30):
supports, they're going to be anamazing employee, and that's
really.
I think there's a lot ofmisconception around that.
That's what's most important tous that everybody's got a shot,
if they want it, at a great,meaningful job.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Yeah, that's great.
I really appreciate you takingthe time to come on.
Thank you for having me.
Oh, it's been my pleasure.
Thanks again.
Thanks for taking the time outof your busy schedule to listen
to our show today.
We hope that you enjoyed it asmuch as we enjoyed bringing it
(24:06):
to you.
If you know anyone that wouldlike to tell us their story,
send them to TonyMantorcomContact then they can give us
their information so one daythey may be a guest on our show.
One more thing we ask telleveryone everywhere about why
(24:28):
Not Me, the world, theconversations we're having and
the inspiration our guests giveto everyone everywhere that you
are not alone in this world.
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