December 30, 2024 • 30 mins
“Taking a look at the Adult Employment Services offered to adults with autism by accomplished local agency and why this agency far exceeds others nationally.” vistaautismservices.org
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Sylvia MOUs This is Insight. We are back
with the folks from this to Autism School. Learned a
lot last week and please, the biggest thing I think
comes out of this program is if you think you
know something about autism, you're probably wrong because a lot
of places people assume they know and it's not at
all what you think it is. We talked a little
(00:21):
bit about that with my guest and I'm going to
introduce them to you in second. But some of the
misperceptions that we talked about that autism is a learning disability, Nope,
it is not. People with autism do not feel emotion.
They absolutely do. All autistic people thanks to the movie
The ray Man, they think everybody with autism is like that.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
That's not true.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
And the most important thing we were just discussing is
the biggest lie autism. People can't work and live independently.
And I've talked about how several years of doing programs
about autism. One of the things that was the biggest
concern was the fact that when someone whether a child
gets services or not, when they reach a.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Team, what do you do with them?
Speaker 1 (01:01):
And we're talking with the CEO of this autism services
of hers she enzi Obinello and Mary lou Winters. She's
the manager of this adult andromployment services team. We talked
about some one of their most uh one of our
favorite stories about what happened was awesome.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
You missed it. So you got to.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Listen to part one and I want to talk about partnerships.
You go out in the communion and you talk to
these employers about these young adults that you have and
is it difficult?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Are they receptive?
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Yeah? So We've got an incredibly talented team of career
developers and their responsibility, their sole responsibility, is to build
these partnerships. Of course, we want to inspire people to
hire people with autism, and hopefully I'll get a chance
to kind of share some of the benefits of that.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Please do yes, absolutely, do take it all right, I will.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
But really we want to foster these relationships in the community,
and the goal would be the end goal would be
that these employers are hiring people with autism. But I
would say that, you know, when we are able to
sit down and talk about the benefits of hiring someone,
we're pretty successful. And another piece of that is, really,
(02:19):
you know, a lot of the individuals that we serve
can't necessarily fulfill an entire job description. So you know,
when I'm applying for a job on indeed, and this huge,
long job description is in front of me, there are
just bits in parts that are a really great match
for our individuals, but the whole thing might be a
little bit overwhelming. So we've been really successful in sitting
(02:40):
down with employers and asking them, you know, some questions.
What are you paying over time for? What are the
things that just never get done when you're when you
have audits or inspections, what are the areas where you're
not quite meeting the standard? Or and this is a
really big one, you know, what are your really highly
(03:01):
paid professional staff doing that could be you know, stripped
off of their responsibilities given to someone else and allowing
them to be more productive and maybe even you know,
generate more revenue. So we're successful in learning what are
their needs and then helping them fulfill those needs.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Okay, okay, so tell me about some of the types.
You don't have to identify them. They're up to use.
The types of businesses that you have because you put
three almost three hundred people in the positions. Tell me
about the type of companies.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Sure, any and all. We really work with a variety
of employers. And again, you know, we're working with individuals
that have very varying skills and talents. So it's just
really about finding where they want to work and where they,
you know, will be most successful and most able to contribute.
(03:54):
I will say that distribution warehouses are booming right now.
You know, we just came out of COVID and people
are shopping at home more than ever. So we work
with you know, many many distribution warehouses in the local area.
But we've also got individuals working at restaurants and offices,
you know, you name it where we've probably got a
(04:16):
partner in that industry. So we work really hard not
to kind of pigeonhole the individuals that we're working with.
And again, it's really about finding that best match. We're
not just placing people in jobs and trying to get
them a paycheck. We really care about making that match.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Okay, they're in your school, say they're in your school
for a time, whether they're living residentially, they're someplace else
or at home. It's an everyday thing pretty much. And
they go through what about up through the high school?
What are they taught? Are they do? You have teachers
in places teach the typical things. Okay, So then they're
eighteen years old and you sit down with them, you
try to figure out what they want to do, and
(04:57):
you evaluate that. Then you go to the employers and say, hey,
we need these are the certain things with these kids
that sticks. I would think commitment. I mean, okay, say
I have I don't know, say I'm I'm a hair stylist. Whatever,
you come in, you talk to me. What are you
(05:19):
going to say to me?
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Sell it to me? In other words?
Speaker 3 (05:22):
Sure, Yeah, I think I think that comes back to
the benefits of hiring the individuals.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
And of course, you know they say when you meet
one person with autism, you've met one person with autism.
You know, the people that we support are just as
unique as you and I. So this isn't there's no
general rule. You never know, right, right, But some of
the benefits that we come across often are you know,
a lot of the individuals that we serve are really
(05:50):
routine based. So our individuals don't call off work it's Wednesday,
you know, I'm really sick. My vistas staff sometimes have
to say you really need to stay home today, you're sick,
but it's Wednesday. I go to work on Wednesday. So
you know, we're we really provide a lot of dependable
individuals because they're very routine based. Yep. Yeah, we have
(06:14):
a decreased amount of what we call water cooler drama
because most of the individuals that we serve, you know,
are focused on their work and you know, some of
those characteristics of autism being social, some trouble with social interactions.
Most of them just want to work. They're not at
work for the drama.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
What do you do?
Speaker 1 (06:38):
How do you handle situations like that? They just don't listen,
They just keep going right.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Yes, but but I would say that for the most part,
they've got really great relationships with you know, their their
supervisors and even their co workers. Really but you know,
if that would come up, that's another service that we
provide that we're always available for a phone call from
(07:04):
the employer. Something happened here today. You know, he works independently,
he doesn't have a job coach with him. Maybe, but
we're having a rough day and we need a little
bit of help.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
What about insurance? Are they do? They provide insurance great question.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
So, when one of our individuals is hired by an employer,
they are covered by their employers insurance, just like you
and I would be medical benefits. It depends if they're
not working full time then they've got other things going on.
But yeah, yeah, but liability insurance or workman's com things
like that get just like anyone else.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
To stop treating them like they're special or not. They're
just exactly and better.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
And that's part of like we we really negotiate through
the process. We help negotiate pay rates and and things
like that. But the bottom line when we're you know,
creating these positions for individuals is they're they're just like anyone.
They might need a little bit more support. Something I
didn't get a chance to talk about is our job coaching.
So my next question, Yeah, so, yes, that's another thing
(08:07):
that we offer employers. Another benefit of hiring somebody from
our team especially is we provide job coaches. So and
some people need job coaching for one day, just the
first day getting up and running. Some people need you know,
more longer term job coaching depend depending on you know,
what they need help with. But we do provide job
(08:30):
coaches for our individuals if and when they need them,
And those job coaches work really closely with the employers
as well.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
Well.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
They've got to come back to you all these employees
that are out there, and what do they typically say
about these jobs that you got them involved in?
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Are they is there? Okay? What this job sucks?
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Yeah, that's a great question. So you know, we work
really hard. The model that I haven't even used the
term for yet is customized employment, and it really is
about finding that right fit. But of course, you know
somebody working just like you and I. We get tired
of doing the same thing, you know, for a long time.
(09:09):
So we are our team is really in tune with
being aware and listening to the individuals when they're either
telling us verbally I don't want to work here anymore,
or I don't like this about my job, or I
don't like that about my job, or sometimes nonverbally because
they can't express you know, we talked about expressing feelings.
Sometimes they can't really process and say to you, I
(09:31):
don't I don't like my job. So really being in
tune with the nonverbal cues as well, and knowing our
individuals well enough to know when they're kind of letting
us know that it's not a good match.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
There's a question for you. What about parents? They are
they involved? You teach parents about how to handle the
kids where they get jobs.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Absolutely, So we work really closely with the families, especially
on the front end before someone has a job to learn,
you know, everything that they already know about their son
or but they say involved in the process, you know,
the whole way through. We have UH meetings virtually in
person just to talk about how things are going. And
(10:11):
you know, when issues do arise, you know, somebody's productivity
drops all of a sudden. You know, we work really
closely with the families to learn what they might have
going on outside of work. But also you know, what
are some strategies that work at home for you to
help us?
Speaker 2 (10:25):
You guys never go home.
Speaker 5 (10:26):
Do They're an incredible team and Mary living team incredible Mary.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Well, what did you do before you did this?
Speaker 6 (10:34):
So?
Speaker 3 (10:34):
I've been with FISA for seventeen years, so I didn't
do much before.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
This, but about seven she looks like a kid. Wow,
what was it that got you into this?
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Yes, so I was going to college and had a
family friend who needed a one on one aid for
a seven year old that was in school, and uh,
I was always the in high school especially, I was
always the kid that was helping everybody in the hallway.
And you know, it was just something that I knew
I wanted. I wanted to help people. So when I
(11:08):
got the job opportunity, I was really excited to take
it and just fell in love with autism. I fell
in love with the seven year old. He's not seven anymore,
but he he sort of just opened my view to,
you know, the unique talents that these individuals have that
(11:28):
you know, if I was walking down the street, I
wouldn't be able to tell yeah. So and then, you know,
I kind of worked my way. I started at Vesta
as a behavior technician, working in a classroom in the school,
and we were just starting to talk about employment and
pre employment skills. And I moved into that world and
(11:49):
found my second love of employment. And so now I,
you know, am really lucky to be able to put
autism and employment together.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
So I wondered to ask, you were talking if you
want mind you shared a story before You're gonna have
to listen to that show, But tell me about something.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Tell me about a young lady.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Oh, challenging me on this one.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
You talked about a young guy this week.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Although is it true that more there are more young
men that have our children boys are diagnosed more often
than girls.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Right, absolutely, yes, But we do serve a lot of
females in our program, and you know, our staff, especially
our female staff, are really excited when they get to
work with a female. So let's see a female story.
So we had an individual who started with us. Her
interests and skills were shopping. She likes to wear sparkly
(12:41):
bows and my numbers. Yeah, those those sessions were fun
before she got a job, you know, just getting to
know her. And so she likes fashion and shopping and
she is just exceedingly social. So when we created a
position for her, we were really looking She didn't have
(13:02):
as much interest in doing a lot of work necessarily.
She would just rather socialize. So when we were looking,
sounds good, I'm in where.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
Can I found one of those?
Speaker 3 (13:15):
So when we were looking for a job position for her,
we really just wanted to find the right environment with
the right coworkers that would be willing to socialize with her.
And you know, it's kind of hard to find sometimes,
you know, everybody's nose to the grindstone. You know, we
(13:35):
all work a lot of hours in a day and
we just want to get our job done and go home.
But we found a local restaurant where the coworkers just
welcomed her with open arms. If you asked me what
she does there, I'd have to think about it. I'm
pretty sure she rolls silverware in her few hours that
she works a few days a week. But they are
(13:56):
just incredibly social. They love her. She's smart, she's grinning
from year to year the whole time she's there, and
she's happy.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
So that's what it's all about. And you know it's funny.
I said to my grandson, he's going to be a
senior this year, and I said, listen, do something that
you know is going to make it happy. Because the
worst thing in the world, you're going to spend most
of your life at work. The worst thing is to
go to a job every day that you dread. And
that's exactly what you're doing. You're finding your you're listening,
(14:28):
you're providing a program that helps to support them in
that way, and that's all that matters, isn't it. I
want to ask you Nzi too. You know, as I said,
Governor Shapiro just signed I think it was two hundred
and eighty million bucks for raised wages for support professionals.
Speaker 5 (14:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
I was just talking on her account commission about that
last week. How we desperately need that. There's got to
be some sort of incentive to do this. Tell me
about how important these they support professionals are. How are
we talking about?
Speaker 5 (15:01):
They are incredibly important, and I think the pandemic hit
us like a hole in the head how important they
are and were because those are jobs that you couldn't
do remote and you know, those are jobs where you're
supporting individuals each and every day. You may be supporting
(15:21):
them with daily living skills, you may be med administration individuals,
as we spoke about with autism. Socialization is so important.
So being able to have someone there physically working with you.
They are so important. And that's why the governor's budget,
which gave some rate increases.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Is helpful.
Speaker 5 (15:46):
We need to continue, Yeah, we need to continue, and
those are jobs that people It's not like someone wakes
up one morning and says I want to be a
direct support professional or DS is the acronym A lot
of people in students. The high school students don't know
much about the field of autism or even developmental disabilities,
(16:09):
and how are you going to know about that without
interning or being involved. And that's why it's so important
in the non profit sector. How can we retain like
our HR human resources department works so hard trying to
figure out retention plans and how to recruit and how
to keep the people that we have because at the
(16:32):
end of the day, as Mary lou was talking about
the individuals we're working with, it's about making an impact.
You get people like today, I welcomed ten new staff
people to Vista and they're all coming. Some of them
are fresh grads, some of them have been working in
the public school system for twenty years. I want to
make an impact NZI. I came here because I had
(16:54):
friends who worked here and said it was a great place,
your great employers that I can see the difference I'm
making in an individual, And it's all about that impact
and quality of life for that individual we're working for
and also for our staff too, So it's so important.
So direct service. We could not do the work that
(17:15):
we do at Vista without the direct service support.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Well, it's not only you guys. Let me share something
with you. I had someone in here's coming in a
couple of weeks from now. I to talk more about
what that situation is. But there are nursing homes closing. Yes, yes,
because they're not getting the funding they need. And the
majority of the people when you get older, that's where
you're going to go, whether it's medicator, Medicare or private pay.
And like you said, since a pandemic. But can you
(17:42):
imagine these people that are in nursing homes, they're out.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
On the street.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Yes, they're eighty ninety years old. Yes, And there's got
to be some type of incentive. Like I've mentioned. I've
mentioned this so many times on the show because I'm
almost obsessed with that, the fact that ten years ago
I had people come in here from two companies out
in the western part of the state. So saying we
desperately need a skilled workforce, we'll pay these kids while
(18:07):
they're in high school, we'll train them right after. A
year later, they're going to make sixty eighty grand a year.
What kid, at twenty years old is it going to
turn his nose up or her nose to sixty eighty thousand,
that's all they talk about. Well, this is across the industry,
I mean across all industries, and you're one of them,
and we desperately need support fit. So we've got to
(18:27):
figure some way to get it into schools, to make
it sexy. Like I tell the Nurses Association when they
when they wanted to figure out when they were trying
to figure out how to get more nurses, I said, watch,
put a young kid on there, a young guy who's built.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Guys can be nurses too. We've got to come.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Up with something. You guys have to come up with
some sort of incentive. But it's good to hear the
governor at least he understands that kind of thing. And
so let me ask you this, guys, how if I
am an employer out there, what should I consider before
I get a hold of you to say, hey, I'm
kind of interested in what you were talking about. Tell
me about it.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
Don't consider anything, just get a hold of us. Yes, yes,
I mean consider consider. The other you know, point that
I usually share when I'm talking with employers is, you know,
we just talked about the rates of autism. They're they're
steadily increasing over time. The workforce is full of people
with autism, So you know, diversify your workforce, hire people
(19:31):
with autism because a lot of people have autism.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
And we can tell you more loyal That's a big deal,
I know because my family was in business and loyalty.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
Dependability exactly, and it's not the same as it used
to be in the olden days. So we can bring
you people that are dependable. But then I'm speaking from experience,
but yeah, we can. We can bring you dependable people
and uh, you know, diversify the workforce. Arale boosters the
people that you know, we serve. They bring such such
(20:05):
a great morale to environments. They're they're unique, I don't know,
tendencies and yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Yeah, so let's get ahold of us. Okay, so you're
gonna play somebody. You've got this deal worked out with
whatever the company is to hire this person and everything else.
For the parents, say, I have a parent, does let
me ask you this, Does a child have to be
at using Vista services to come in at eighteen years
old to get that type of service?
Speaker 6 (20:40):
No?
Speaker 3 (20:40):
So I think you're asking if they need to be
part of our best of school And the answer is
absolutely not. More than half of the individuals that we
serve right now had nothing to do with our best
of school when they came to us.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Still the same evaluation and support and everything like this,
So anybody can really come in. I know you have
a website. Tell us about that. And we didn't even
say where you're located.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
Yeah, so website. I don't know if you're gonna plug it,
but of course what is it. We do have a website,
Vista Autism Services dot org is where you can find us.
There's a lot of information. We didn't really talk specifically
about all the programs that Vista offers, but we have lots.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
And meeting eleven okay eleven program a couple of minutes.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
If you want to talk about something you think I forgot,
go ahead. Well.
Speaker 5 (21:27):
In the school, Mary lou was good with the adult program,
we have the early intervention, as we spoke about, we
have that Carlisle, the Cove program. We also have an
outreach program which dovetails with that Carlisle program. We've got
the Transition program, which I think that is a beautiful
(21:48):
partnership because when you were talking about when individuals are eighteen, yes,
it's not just okay, eighteen. Now, okay, we're just gonna Yeah,
it's that transition starting like fifteen age sixteen. That's excess
staff preparing totally and they're working with Mary lou and
her staff just to figure out who this individual is.
(22:10):
You're not just gonna figure out at eighteen, right, kind
of thing. So it's important all those programs and the
clinical there's a clinical piece about the school where when
we were talking about ABA, the applied behavioral analysis that's used,
and you know we've got speech people, we've got occupational therapists.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 5 (22:33):
Yeah, So it's it's yeah, it's comprehensive. It's a wonderful
it's a wonderful program. And you know, again this that
has been around for twenty some years. They know what
they're doing, and you know, we have the staff with
the expertise, and we continue to get new staff in
and we also have staff. You know, every so often
(22:55):
people are going for their different degrees and certifications and
look out into the community and try other things and
come back to Vista. And for me, people who come back,
that's like the people who stay are wonderful people who
come back because they've gone to see the other side
(23:15):
of the grass and you know what, Wow, it's not
as green as we all thought. And now they can
honestly accurately compare the two. And yeah, Vista is where
I want to be. I want a home and professionally,
that's it, you know, to be here Vista, because again,
it's all about it's all about the impact.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
So anybody out there who has children who wants these services,
anybody who is a direct support professional, you absolutely need them.
What about the general public? You are a nonprofit, how
can we support you?
Speaker 5 (23:45):
Yeah, that's a great one. I mean we're always looking
for donations and again, looking on our website you will
find different events we have and different ways to donate
to our various programs. And I believe through those programs
is how we outreach into the community and people. You know,
we've got a golf tournament, that we have a walk
(24:09):
that's going to be happening in the fall, We've got
our gala in November. It's through those events that people here,
Oh wow, you do that, you do this. I didn't
know that exactly. Like what they say about people with thought.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Yes, totally totally.
Speaker 5 (24:23):
So yes, certainly people should go to our website and
see the different ways that they can donate, and our donations,
uh go to the you know, the every day to
make that impact. The positive impacts that we continue to
make are through those donations that people have so that
our staff are able to provide the services that are
(24:45):
needed by our individuals.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Well, I hope my listeners learned a lot today, thanks
for my goodness, about exactly what autism is and autism
is not. And it's not something to freak out about.
Speaker 5 (24:58):
Nope.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
If you're some out there who is an employer, your
best employees are waiting for you. There's autism services And
as we said, started out as a school from kindergarten
first grade, still is, but you've got so many other
eleven different programs in addition to that for kids. The
whole thing is, don't think you know. I've said this
(25:20):
so many times. I don't think you know about something
because things have changed. But one thing I need to
let my listeners know is back in about ninety two
thousand and four or five, there were the prevalence of
autism in this country was one hundred and twenty five.
I remember that ten years ago. One in sixty nine. Today,
thirty six kids out of every kid is diagnosed with autism.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
We don't know what causes it.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
But if your kid is diagnosed, get them diagnosed as
early as possible. Problem probably when they're what at least
what I was told eighteen months.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Old, is that thing.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
If there are services, and I can guarantee you this
is like the complete package. At Vista Autism Services, people
are extremely dedicated to what they're doing.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Get them in there.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Find out what the process is by getting in touch
with them at their website. It's Vistaautism Services Dot or
the phone number kids, I have one here if I
don't know if it's the same one, it's seven win
seven five eight three five one h two, good number. Okay,
contact me as I said anytime. Here at the Ihearts
stations again, my guests, Enzie Obinello, she's the CEO, Mary,
(26:30):
the winners, the managers of the manager excuse me of
the very successful adult employment services team at Vista Autism
Services and her she's thanks not only for coming in, guys,
for all the you know, I thought I know a
lot about autism. I learned a lot today. So if
you're gonna find this more autism in the in the
general public, more and more, and if any of the
(26:55):
clients have gone to the Vista and Autism services, you
probably won't even know that they are autistic. Well yeah,
because you worked so terribly hard to get ready for
society and for good job. So this is wonderful. Finally,
a reminder cat Insight This Sunday on Wonder. Where can
I heard stations or any timeline your favorite podcast snap
Part Wonder. This program aired last week, so check that out.
(27:18):
I'm Sylvia Moss. This has been Insight. Thanks so much
for listening. See you next week.
Speaker 4 (27:24):
The thought of my son's growing up without me inspired
me to quit smoking.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
I talked to my doctors and then I threw away
all my cigarettes, ashtros and lighters.
Speaker 4 (27:33):
I started exercising instead of smoking. Getting support from friends
online kept me on track.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
Staying away from alcohol when I was first quitting was key.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
Instead of smoking, after I ate, i'd get up and
take a walk. I missed having a cigarette in my hand,
so I'd hold a pen or straw, anything, and so
I knew I wouldn't give into temptation. I spent more
time with my friends who didn't smoke. I went to
places that were smoked free I didn't stay quit the
very first time I tried. I kept on trying, and
(28:03):
I learned something each time.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
Do whatever it takes, no matter.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
How many times it takes.
Speaker 4 (28:09):
I quit.
Speaker 5 (28:10):
I quit, I quit.
Speaker 4 (28:12):
We did it. So can you? You can quit for
free help call one eight hundred quit now a message
from the US Department of Health and Human Services and CDC.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
It took me a long time to be able to
say Chandler.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
Has cancer because that is such a scary word.
Speaker 4 (28:30):
Saint Jude takes care of absolutely everything.
Speaker 6 (28:34):
And knowing that we don't have to pay for all
of the medical expenses, that's huge.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
Saint Jude allowed me to focus on being a mom
to Bryce.
Speaker 5 (28:44):
And sometimes I'm just in awe of the impact Saint
Jude has not only on this community, but the world.
Speaker 4 (28:51):
Saint Jude is uniquely positioned to advance the cures of
pediatric cancer.
Speaker 6 (28:56):
I think better than any other institution in the world.
Speaker 5 (28:58):
The contributions make a difference.
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We have the resources, and we have the focus. And
so if Saint Jude doesn't do it, who will Saint
Jude Children's Research Hospital finding cures, saving children.
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Learn more at Saint Jude dot org.
Speaker 6 (29:22):
Every day, the men and women of the United States
Marine Corps demonstrate their commitment to defend the American.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Way of life.
Speaker 6 (29:34):
Since seventeen seventy five, we have served our nation as
a force in readiness, from combat operations to humanitarian assistance
in every corner of the world. No matter where the
mission takes us today or wherever our country needs us tomorrow,
(29:56):
we always remember the land we call home. As Marines,
we take a stand for each other, for our nation,
for us, all the few, the proud, the Marines
Hi, I'm Sylvia MOUs This is Insight. We are back
with the folks from this to Autism School. Learned a
lot last week and please, the biggest thing I think
comes out of this program is if you think you
know something about autism, you're probably wrong because a lot
of places people assume they know and it's not at
all what you think it is. We talked a little
(00:21):
bit about that with my guest and I'm going to
introduce them to you in second. But some of the
misperceptions that we talked about that autism is a learning disability, Nope,
it is not. People with autism do not feel emotion.
They absolutely do. All autistic people thanks to the movie
The ray Man, they think everybody with autism is like that.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
That's not true.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
And the most important thing we were just discussing is
the biggest lie autism. People can't work and live independently.
And I've talked about how several years of doing programs
about autism. One of the things that was the biggest
concern was the fact that when someone whether a child
gets services or not, when they reach a.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Team, what do you do with them?
Speaker 1 (01:01):
And we're talking with the CEO of this autism services
of hers she enzi Obinello and Mary lou Winters. She's
the manager of this adult andromployment services team. We talked
about some one of their most uh one of our
favorite stories about what happened was awesome.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
You missed it. So you got to.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Listen to part one and I want to talk about partnerships.
You go out in the communion and you talk to
these employers about these young adults that you have and
is it difficult?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Are they receptive?
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Yeah? So We've got an incredibly talented team of career
developers and their responsibility, their sole responsibility, is to build
these partnerships. Of course, we want to inspire people to
hire people with autism, and hopefully I'll get a chance
to kind of share some of the benefits of that.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Please do yes, absolutely, do take it all right, I will.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
But really we want to foster these relationships in the community,
and the goal would be the end goal would be
that these employers are hiring people with autism. But I
would say that, you know, when we are able to
sit down and talk about the benefits of hiring someone,
we're pretty successful. And another piece of that is, really,
(02:19):
you know, a lot of the individuals that we serve
can't necessarily fulfill an entire job description. So you know,
when I'm applying for a job on indeed, and this huge,
long job description is in front of me, there are
just bits in parts that are a really great match
for our individuals, but the whole thing might be a
little bit overwhelming. So we've been really successful in sitting
(02:40):
down with employers and asking them, you know, some questions.
What are you paying over time for? What are the
things that just never get done when you're when you
have audits or inspections, what are the areas where you're
not quite meeting the standard? Or and this is a
really big one, you know, what are your really highly
(03:01):
paid professional staff doing that could be you know, stripped
off of their responsibilities given to someone else and allowing
them to be more productive and maybe even you know,
generate more revenue. So we're successful in learning what are
their needs and then helping them fulfill those needs.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Okay, okay, so tell me about some of the types.
You don't have to identify them. They're up to use.
The types of businesses that you have because you put
three almost three hundred people in the positions. Tell me
about the type of companies.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Sure, any and all. We really work with a variety
of employers. And again, you know, we're working with individuals
that have very varying skills and talents. So it's just
really about finding where they want to work and where they,
you know, will be most successful and most able to contribute.
(03:54):
I will say that distribution warehouses are booming right now.
You know, we just came out of COVID and people
are shopping at home more than ever. So we work
with you know, many many distribution warehouses in the local area.
But we've also got individuals working at restaurants and offices,
you know, you name it where we've probably got a
(04:16):
partner in that industry. So we work really hard not
to kind of pigeonhole the individuals that we're working with.
And again, it's really about finding that best match. We're
not just placing people in jobs and trying to get
them a paycheck. We really care about making that match.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Okay, they're in your school, say they're in your school
for a time, whether they're living residentially, they're someplace else
or at home. It's an everyday thing pretty much. And
they go through what about up through the high school?
What are they taught? Are they do? You have teachers
in places teach the typical things. Okay, So then they're
eighteen years old and you sit down with them, you
try to figure out what they want to do, and
(04:57):
you evaluate that. Then you go to the employers and say, hey,
we need these are the certain things with these kids
that sticks. I would think commitment. I mean, okay, say
I have I don't know, say I'm I'm a hair stylist. Whatever,
you come in, you talk to me. What are you
(05:19):
going to say to me?
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Sell it to me? In other words?
Speaker 3 (05:22):
Sure, Yeah, I think I think that comes back to
the benefits of hiring the individuals.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
And of course, you know they say when you meet
one person with autism, you've met one person with autism.
You know, the people that we support are just as
unique as you and I. So this isn't there's no
general rule. You never know, right, right, But some of
the benefits that we come across often are you know,
a lot of the individuals that we serve are really
(05:50):
routine based. So our individuals don't call off work it's Wednesday,
you know, I'm really sick. My vistas staff sometimes have
to say you really need to stay home today, you're sick,
but it's Wednesday. I go to work on Wednesday. So
you know, we're we really provide a lot of dependable
individuals because they're very routine based. Yep. Yeah, we have
(06:14):
a decreased amount of what we call water cooler drama
because most of the individuals that we serve, you know,
are focused on their work and you know, some of
those characteristics of autism being social, some trouble with social interactions.
Most of them just want to work. They're not at
work for the drama.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
What do you do?
Speaker 1 (06:38):
How do you handle situations like that? They just don't listen,
They just keep going right.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Yes, but but I would say that for the most part,
they've got really great relationships with you know, their their
supervisors and even their co workers. Really but you know,
if that would come up, that's another service that we
provide that we're always available for a phone call from
(07:04):
the employer. Something happened here today. You know, he works independently,
he doesn't have a job coach with him. Maybe, but
we're having a rough day and we need a little
bit of help.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
What about insurance? Are they do? They provide insurance great question.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
So, when one of our individuals is hired by an employer,
they are covered by their employers insurance, just like you
and I would be medical benefits. It depends if they're
not working full time then they've got other things going on.
But yeah, yeah, but liability insurance or workman's com things
like that get just like anyone else.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
To stop treating them like they're special or not. They're
just exactly and better.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
And that's part of like we we really negotiate through
the process. We help negotiate pay rates and and things
like that. But the bottom line when we're you know,
creating these positions for individuals is they're they're just like anyone.
They might need a little bit more support. Something I
didn't get a chance to talk about is our job coaching.
So my next question, Yeah, so, yes, that's another thing
(08:07):
that we offer employers. Another benefit of hiring somebody from
our team especially is we provide job coaches. So and
some people need job coaching for one day, just the
first day getting up and running. Some people need you know,
more longer term job coaching depend depending on you know,
what they need help with. But we do provide job
(08:30):
coaches for our individuals if and when they need them,
And those job coaches work really closely with the employers
as well.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
Well.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
They've got to come back to you all these employees
that are out there, and what do they typically say
about these jobs that you got them involved in?
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Are they is there? Okay? What this job sucks?
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Yeah, that's a great question. So you know, we work
really hard. The model that I haven't even used the
term for yet is customized employment, and it really is
about finding that right fit. But of course, you know
somebody working just like you and I. We get tired
of doing the same thing, you know, for a long time.
(09:09):
So we are our team is really in tune with
being aware and listening to the individuals when they're either
telling us verbally I don't want to work here anymore,
or I don't like this about my job, or I
don't like that about my job, or sometimes nonverbally because
they can't express you know, we talked about expressing feelings.
Sometimes they can't really process and say to you, I
(09:31):
don't I don't like my job. So really being in
tune with the nonverbal cues as well, and knowing our
individuals well enough to know when they're kind of letting
us know that it's not a good match.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
There's a question for you. What about parents? They are
they involved? You teach parents about how to handle the
kids where they get jobs.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Absolutely, So we work really closely with the families, especially
on the front end before someone has a job to learn,
you know, everything that they already know about their son
or but they say involved in the process, you know,
the whole way through. We have UH meetings virtually in
person just to talk about how things are going. And
(10:11):
you know, when issues do arise, you know, somebody's productivity
drops all of a sudden. You know, we work really
closely with the families to learn what they might have
going on outside of work. But also you know, what
are some strategies that work at home for you to
help us?
Speaker 2 (10:25):
You guys never go home.
Speaker 5 (10:26):
Do They're an incredible team and Mary living team incredible Mary.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Well, what did you do before you did this?
Speaker 6 (10:34):
So?
Speaker 3 (10:34):
I've been with FISA for seventeen years, so I didn't
do much before.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
This, but about seven she looks like a kid. Wow,
what was it that got you into this?
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Yes, so I was going to college and had a
family friend who needed a one on one aid for
a seven year old that was in school, and uh,
I was always the in high school especially, I was
always the kid that was helping everybody in the hallway.
And you know, it was just something that I knew
I wanted. I wanted to help people. So when I
(11:08):
got the job opportunity, I was really excited to take
it and just fell in love with autism. I fell
in love with the seven year old. He's not seven anymore,
but he he sort of just opened my view to,
you know, the unique talents that these individuals have that
(11:28):
you know, if I was walking down the street, I
wouldn't be able to tell yeah. So and then, you know,
I kind of worked my way. I started at Vesta
as a behavior technician, working in a classroom in the school,
and we were just starting to talk about employment and
pre employment skills. And I moved into that world and
(11:49):
found my second love of employment. And so now I,
you know, am really lucky to be able to put
autism and employment together.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
So I wondered to ask, you were talking if you
want mind you shared a story before You're gonna have
to listen to that show, But tell me about something.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Tell me about a young lady.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Oh, challenging me on this one.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
You talked about a young guy this week.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Although is it true that more there are more young
men that have our children boys are diagnosed more often
than girls.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Right, absolutely, yes, But we do serve a lot of
females in our program, and you know, our staff, especially
our female staff, are really excited when they get to
work with a female. So let's see a female story.
So we had an individual who started with us. Her
interests and skills were shopping. She likes to wear sparkly
(12:41):
bows and my numbers. Yeah, those those sessions were fun
before she got a job, you know, just getting to
know her. And so she likes fashion and shopping and
she is just exceedingly social. So when we created a
position for her, we were really looking She didn't have
(13:02):
as much interest in doing a lot of work necessarily.
She would just rather socialize. So when we were looking,
sounds good, I'm in where.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
Can I found one of those?
Speaker 3 (13:15):
So when we were looking for a job position for her,
we really just wanted to find the right environment with
the right coworkers that would be willing to socialize with her.
And you know, it's kind of hard to find sometimes,
you know, everybody's nose to the grindstone. You know, we
(13:35):
all work a lot of hours in a day and
we just want to get our job done and go home.
But we found a local restaurant where the coworkers just
welcomed her with open arms. If you asked me what
she does there, I'd have to think about it. I'm
pretty sure she rolls silverware in her few hours that
she works a few days a week. But they are
(13:56):
just incredibly social. They love her. She's smart, she's grinning
from year to year the whole time she's there, and
she's happy.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
So that's what it's all about. And you know it's funny.
I said to my grandson, he's going to be a
senior this year, and I said, listen, do something that
you know is going to make it happy. Because the
worst thing in the world, you're going to spend most
of your life at work. The worst thing is to
go to a job every day that you dread. And
that's exactly what you're doing. You're finding your you're listening,
(14:28):
you're providing a program that helps to support them in
that way, and that's all that matters, isn't it. I
want to ask you Nzi too. You know, as I said,
Governor Shapiro just signed I think it was two hundred
and eighty million bucks for raised wages for support professionals.
Speaker 5 (14:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
I was just talking on her account commission about that
last week. How we desperately need that. There's got to
be some sort of incentive to do this. Tell me
about how important these they support professionals are. How are
we talking about?
Speaker 5 (15:01):
They are incredibly important, and I think the pandemic hit
us like a hole in the head how important they
are and were because those are jobs that you couldn't
do remote and you know, those are jobs where you're
supporting individuals each and every day. You may be supporting
(15:21):
them with daily living skills, you may be med administration individuals,
as we spoke about with autism. Socialization is so important.
So being able to have someone there physically working with you.
They are so important. And that's why the governor's budget,
which gave some rate increases.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Is helpful.
Speaker 5 (15:46):
We need to continue, Yeah, we need to continue, and
those are jobs that people It's not like someone wakes
up one morning and says I want to be a
direct support professional or DS is the acronym A lot
of people in students. The high school students don't know
much about the field of autism or even developmental disabilities,
(16:09):
and how are you going to know about that without
interning or being involved. And that's why it's so important
in the non profit sector. How can we retain like
our HR human resources department works so hard trying to
figure out retention plans and how to recruit and how
to keep the people that we have because at the
(16:32):
end of the day, as Mary lou was talking about
the individuals we're working with, it's about making an impact.
You get people like today, I welcomed ten new staff
people to Vista and they're all coming. Some of them
are fresh grads, some of them have been working in
the public school system for twenty years. I want to
make an impact NZI. I came here because I had
(16:54):
friends who worked here and said it was a great place,
your great employers that I can see the difference I'm
making in an individual, And it's all about that impact
and quality of life for that individual we're working for
and also for our staff too, So it's so important.
So direct service. We could not do the work that
(17:15):
we do at Vista without the direct service support.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Well, it's not only you guys. Let me share something
with you. I had someone in here's coming in a
couple of weeks from now. I to talk more about
what that situation is. But there are nursing homes closing. Yes, yes,
because they're not getting the funding they need. And the
majority of the people when you get older, that's where
you're going to go, whether it's medicator, Medicare or private pay.
And like you said, since a pandemic. But can you
(17:42):
imagine these people that are in nursing homes, they're out.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
On the street.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Yes, they're eighty ninety years old. Yes, And there's got
to be some type of incentive. Like I've mentioned. I've
mentioned this so many times on the show because I'm
almost obsessed with that, the fact that ten years ago
I had people come in here from two companies out
in the western part of the state. So saying we
desperately need a skilled workforce, we'll pay these kids while
(18:07):
they're in high school, we'll train them right after. A
year later, they're going to make sixty eighty grand a year.
What kid, at twenty years old is it going to
turn his nose up or her nose to sixty eighty thousand,
that's all they talk about. Well, this is across the industry,
I mean across all industries, and you're one of them,
and we desperately need support fit. So we've got to
(18:27):
figure some way to get it into schools, to make
it sexy. Like I tell the Nurses Association when they
when they wanted to figure out when they were trying
to figure out how to get more nurses, I said, watch,
put a young kid on there, a young guy who's built.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Guys can be nurses too. We've got to come.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Up with something. You guys have to come up with
some sort of incentive. But it's good to hear the
governor at least he understands that kind of thing. And
so let me ask you this, guys, how if I
am an employer out there, what should I consider before
I get a hold of you to say, hey, I'm
kind of interested in what you were talking about. Tell
me about it.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
Don't consider anything, just get a hold of us. Yes, yes,
I mean consider consider. The other you know, point that
I usually share when I'm talking with employers is, you know,
we just talked about the rates of autism. They're they're
steadily increasing over time. The workforce is full of people
with autism, So you know, diversify your workforce, hire people
(19:31):
with autism because a lot of people have autism.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
And we can tell you more loyal That's a big deal,
I know because my family was in business and loyalty.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
Dependability exactly, and it's not the same as it used
to be in the olden days. So we can bring
you people that are dependable. But then I'm speaking from experience,
but yeah, we can. We can bring you dependable people
and uh, you know, diversify the workforce. Arale boosters the
people that you know, we serve. They bring such such
(20:05):
a great morale to environments. They're they're unique, I don't know,
tendencies and yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Yeah, so let's get ahold of us. Okay, so you're
gonna play somebody. You've got this deal worked out with
whatever the company is to hire this person and everything else.
For the parents, say, I have a parent, does let
me ask you this, Does a child have to be
at using Vista services to come in at eighteen years
old to get that type of service?
Speaker 6 (20:40):
No?
Speaker 3 (20:40):
So I think you're asking if they need to be
part of our best of school And the answer is
absolutely not. More than half of the individuals that we
serve right now had nothing to do with our best
of school when they came to us.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Still the same evaluation and support and everything like this,
So anybody can really come in. I know you have
a website. Tell us about that. And we didn't even
say where you're located.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
Yeah, so website. I don't know if you're gonna plug it,
but of course what is it. We do have a website,
Vista Autism Services dot org is where you can find us.
There's a lot of information. We didn't really talk specifically
about all the programs that Vista offers, but we have lots.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
And meeting eleven okay eleven program a couple of minutes.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
If you want to talk about something you think I forgot,
go ahead. Well.
Speaker 5 (21:27):
In the school, Mary lou was good with the adult program,
we have the early intervention, as we spoke about, we
have that Carlisle, the Cove program. We also have an
outreach program which dovetails with that Carlisle program. We've got
the Transition program, which I think that is a beautiful
(21:48):
partnership because when you were talking about when individuals are eighteen, yes,
it's not just okay, eighteen. Now, okay, we're just gonna Yeah,
it's that transition starting like fifteen age sixteen. That's excess
staff preparing totally and they're working with Mary lou and
her staff just to figure out who this individual is.
(22:10):
You're not just gonna figure out at eighteen, right, kind
of thing. So it's important all those programs and the
clinical there's a clinical piece about the school where when
we were talking about ABA, the applied behavioral analysis that's used,
and you know we've got speech people, we've got occupational therapists.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 5 (22:33):
Yeah, So it's it's yeah, it's comprehensive. It's a wonderful
it's a wonderful program. And you know, again this that
has been around for twenty some years. They know what
they're doing, and you know, we have the staff with
the expertise, and we continue to get new staff in
and we also have staff. You know, every so often
(22:55):
people are going for their different degrees and certifications and
look out into the community and try other things and
come back to Vista. And for me, people who come back,
that's like the people who stay are wonderful people who
come back because they've gone to see the other side
(23:15):
of the grass and you know what, Wow, it's not
as green as we all thought. And now they can
honestly accurately compare the two. And yeah, Vista is where
I want to be. I want a home and professionally,
that's it, you know, to be here Vista, because again,
it's all about it's all about the impact.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
So anybody out there who has children who wants these services,
anybody who is a direct support professional, you absolutely need them.
What about the general public? You are a nonprofit, how
can we support you?
Speaker 5 (23:45):
Yeah, that's a great one. I mean we're always looking
for donations and again, looking on our website you will
find different events we have and different ways to donate
to our various programs. And I believe through those programs
is how we outreach into the community and people. You know,
we've got a golf tournament, that we have a walk
(24:09):
that's going to be happening in the fall, We've got
our gala in November. It's through those events that people here,
Oh wow, you do that, you do this. I didn't
know that exactly. Like what they say about people with thought.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Yes, totally totally.
Speaker 5 (24:23):
So yes, certainly people should go to our website and
see the different ways that they can donate, and our donations,
uh go to the you know, the every day to
make that impact. The positive impacts that we continue to
make are through those donations that people have so that
our staff are able to provide the services that are
(24:45):
needed by our individuals.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Well, I hope my listeners learned a lot today, thanks
for my goodness, about exactly what autism is and autism
is not. And it's not something to freak out about.
Speaker 5 (24:58):
Nope.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
If you're some out there who is an employer, your
best employees are waiting for you. There's autism services And
as we said, started out as a school from kindergarten
first grade, still is, but you've got so many other
eleven different programs in addition to that for kids. The
whole thing is, don't think you know. I've said this
(25:20):
so many times. I don't think you know about something
because things have changed. But one thing I need to
let my listeners know is back in about ninety two
thousand and four or five, there were the prevalence of
autism in this country was one hundred and twenty five.
I remember that ten years ago. One in sixty nine. Today,
thirty six kids out of every kid is diagnosed with autism.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
We don't know what causes it.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
But if your kid is diagnosed, get them diagnosed as
early as possible. Problem probably when they're what at least
what I was told eighteen months.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Old, is that thing.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
If there are services, and I can guarantee you this
is like the complete package. At Vista Autism Services, people
are extremely dedicated to what they're doing.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Get them in there.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Find out what the process is by getting in touch
with them at their website. It's Vistaautism Services Dot or
the phone number kids, I have one here if I
don't know if it's the same one, it's seven win
seven five eight three five one h two, good number. Okay,
contact me as I said anytime. Here at the Ihearts
stations again, my guests, Enzie Obinello, she's the CEO, Mary,
(26:30):
the winners, the managers of the manager excuse me of
the very successful adult employment services team at Vista Autism
Services and her she's thanks not only for coming in, guys,
for all the you know, I thought I know a
lot about autism. I learned a lot today. So if
you're gonna find this more autism in the in the
general public, more and more, and if any of the
(26:55):
clients have gone to the Vista and Autism services, you
probably won't even know that they are autistic. Well yeah,
because you worked so terribly hard to get ready for
society and for good job. So this is wonderful. Finally,
a reminder cat Insight This Sunday on Wonder. Where can
I heard stations or any timeline your favorite podcast snap
Part Wonder. This program aired last week, so check that out.
(27:18):
I'm Sylvia Moss. This has been Insight. Thanks so much
for listening. See you next week.
Speaker 4 (27:24):
The thought of my son's growing up without me inspired
me to quit smoking.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
I talked to my doctors and then I threw away
all my cigarettes, ashtros and lighters.
Speaker 4 (27:33):
I started exercising instead of smoking. Getting support from friends
online kept me on track.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
Staying away from alcohol when I was first quitting was key.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
Instead of smoking, after I ate, i'd get up and
take a walk. I missed having a cigarette in my hand,
so I'd hold a pen or straw, anything, and so
I knew I wouldn't give into temptation. I spent more
time with my friends who didn't smoke. I went to
places that were smoked free I didn't stay quit the
very first time I tried. I kept on trying, and
(28:03):
I learned something each time.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
Do whatever it takes, no matter.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
How many times it takes.
Speaker 4 (28:09):
I quit.
Speaker 5 (28:10):
I quit, I quit.
Speaker 4 (28:12):
We did it. So can you? You can quit for
free help call one eight hundred quit now a message
from the US Department of Health and Human Services and CDC.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
It took me a long time to be able to
say Chandler.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
Has cancer because that is such a scary word.
Speaker 4 (28:30):
Saint Jude takes care of absolutely everything.
Speaker 6 (28:34):
And knowing that we don't have to pay for all
of the medical expenses, that's huge.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
Saint Jude allowed me to focus on being a mom
to Bryce.
Speaker 5 (28:44):
And sometimes I'm just in awe of the impact Saint
Jude has not only on this community, but the world.
Speaker 4 (28:51):
Saint Jude is uniquely positioned to advance the cures of
pediatric cancer.
Speaker 6 (28:56):
I think better than any other institution in the world.
Speaker 5 (28:58):
The contributions make a difference.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
Donors are important to us because you get the feeling
that you have a team behind you.
Speaker 6 (29:06):
We have the resources, and we have the focus. And
so if Saint Jude doesn't do it, who will Saint
Jude Children's Research Hospital finding cures, saving children.
Speaker 5 (29:19):
Learn more at Saint Jude dot org.
Speaker 6 (29:22):
Every day, the men and women of the United States
Marine Corps demonstrate their commitment to defend the American.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Way of life.
Speaker 6 (29:34):
Since seventeen seventy five, we have served our nation as
a force in readiness, from combat operations to humanitarian assistance
in every corner of the world. No matter where the
mission takes us today or wherever our country needs us tomorrow,
(29:56):
we always remember the land we call home. As Marines,
we take a stand for each other, for our nation,
for us, all the few, the proud, the Marines
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