Karen Waltuck & Johnadam Haridopoulos

Original Air Date: July 14, 2024

Karen Waltuck & Johnadam Haridopoulos  work with Job Path NYC, matching hard-to-fill jobs with members of the neuro-diverse community, including those with autism. It’s a win-win in NYC!!

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to Sunstein Sessions on iHeartRadio,Conversations about issues that matter. Here's your
host, three time Gracie Award winner, Shelley Sunstein. I want to introduce
you to two new friends of mine, Karen Walltalk and John Adam Haradopolis.
They both work with job Path now. Job Path helps people with autism and

(00:28):
other developmental disabilities find jobs. Primarilyfind jobs, but job Path also helps
them live homes, get involved intheir community, and navigate benefits. And
navigating benefits is a challenge for everyone. You don't have to be neuro diverse

(00:50):
to have an issue with that.So thank you So Karen, or who
wants to tell me? Karen cango first generally about job Path and how
it can help people that you mayknow who would need this. Of course,
it gives individuals with developmental disabilities andopportunity to live a full, productive

(01:14):
life. And I think that employmentis a really powerful entry into all levels
of the community. And that's whatwe want in our lives as adults.
You know, something we feel productiveand passionate about, because that's what gets
you up in the morning. Andwhen you find that thing that you're good

(01:34):
at and you're surrounded by a communitythat you feel you're at your best.
You know, the rest really justunfolds in your life in a beautiful way.
How long has job path been aroundover forty years, Shelley. We
actually started as a pilot program fromthe Ford Foundation, and we initially we

(01:56):
worked with individuals and prisons to getthem into working in the workforce. But
in the late seventies eighties, youknow, Willowbrook and developmental disabilities, you
know, that was something that wasreally a problem. So job Paths started
focus on people with autism and developmentaldisabilities. And again, what we do,

(02:16):
just like Karen said, we workwith companies in the individual to kind
of get them into the workplace.We utilize what's called it's not ours,
it's actually recognized by the Department ofLabor something that's called customized employment. And
customized employment is all about finding aneed within a business that fits the skill

(02:40):
set and the interests of that individual. How do people find out about it?
How, you know, how dothey even come to you for help?
Well, you know, this issuch a tremendous platform because there's a
lot of people that don't know aboutthings like this. When I talk to

(03:00):
businesses. I you know, thisthis country is so great. There's so
many great schools for young people withdisabilities, but after school, things drop
off. I speak to I havea caseload. I'm a senior employment specialist,
and I have a caseload of individuals. And you know, some of
them I've gotten jobs, but someof them are right now, they're just

(03:23):
home, they're they're playing video gamesthere. It's it's it's it's it's a
shame because they they have so muchto offer. Businesses. We just have
to find the right what works forthem because you know, I mean these
are things I could talk about alldifferent things, but you know, I
mean a job requisition in a companyand it has about twenty different skill sets

(03:46):
that that that someone's looking for alot of the people we work with don't
have those twenty different skill sets.But you know what, if we could
find two or three of them there, they could do it better than all
of us. We just have tofind that. And that's what the customized
coach does. It finds. Ittalks to their parents, it talks to
their you know, it's support group. It we do different assessments and different

(04:09):
things to really find where that personshines and then on the other end of
it where they don't shine, andthen we talk to businesses to kind of
find that need. So that's theprocess real quick, and I could go
on. That's so nicely, saidJohn Adam. And I think we're matchmakers.
You know, we're hr companies,but we curate and find out what

(04:30):
someone is really talented at and thenmatch them with the need of a company.
You know, we're a you know, an incredible pipeline to talent.
But again, how does the individualor the parent of the individual find out
about you? Yeah, schools,word of mouth and also the state you

(04:56):
know that we work with that fundsUS send us individuals adults with developmental disabilities,
and we find out what is thatperson, where are they at their
best, what are their skills,and then we find a company that really
needs that skill, needs that thingdone, and we make a match.
How about the companies, how dothey find you well or do you find

(05:19):
them? Stepping back to what whatwhat Karen said, you know is parents
have to be involved to find outabout I mean, what ultimately has to
happen. There's something called access VR, which is like the initial step of
them. And again there's tests toshow that that child has a developmental disability

(05:42):
or is on the autistic spectrum.And once that then then there are these
waiver services. So parents have tojump through a lot of hoops. I
again, when I talk to businesses, I mean I talk about to the
businesses about you know, placing somebodythere, but I also talk about if
they you know, know, anyonehave any young families that have children that

(06:02):
have developmental disabilities, because it's nevertoo early to get these things in place
so when they do get out ofschool, they can hit the ground running
and have a company like job Pathwork for them to kind of customize to
find the right fit for them toget them in the workplace. Because what
Karen said, you know, andthis is why I do do what I

(06:24):
do, is you know, thebusiness is going to get a great employee,
they're going to do a bang upjob, but you're going to change
that person's life. You're going tochange that family's life. And I really
believe a business is a better businesswhen they have all they're very inclusive and
they're trying to you know, haveall different people in there. Karen,

(06:46):
you've been doing this for a while, right, Yes, now I'm in
my thirteenth year. Okay, sothings have changed a lot, don't you
think Over the thirteen years. Ithink there's been a tremendous change. I
think as we're sitting here in media, you know, even seeing individuals that
are different and diverse, you know, every day on television, in the

(07:11):
radio, you know, I thinkthings have changed profoundly. Yeah, I
think absolutely, And I think thereis DEI there's programming within large companies too,
in order to diversify their workforce becauseit makes such powerful business sense.
Do you want to give a shoutout perhaps to some of the bigger companies

(07:32):
that are involved. No, becauseI think that's something important. I think
it's important to reward them for thinkingfor first of all, having a heart
and also and doing the right thing. But this also helps business and it
helps society in general. Absolutely.You know, of where I came here,

(07:54):
I was just trying to think ofjust a list. There's just it's
so diverse the companies themselves, fromyou know, a small bakery Angelina Paris
to having a young baker there toLincoln Center and Bam and Uniclo and Ikea
shake Shack just past their forty firstemployees. But I always say to any

(08:18):
of the businesses, yes it iswonderful, but it's not charity. You're
gonna get a person that's gonna doa great job. They want to be
there. They they again we talkabout having a more fulfilling life. And
I work with people that are justhome. You know, again I have
that call and John Adam and anyluck finding me a job. I mean,
so they want to be there.And again, you know, just

(08:43):
going even a long further on thatis they do have so much to offer
if they're given that chance. Imean I I've worked with so many people
who before they had a job,and then once they got in that job,
and then the third step of there'sdiscovery of customized deployment job development talking
to that business, and then wesupport all the individuals because a lot of

(09:05):
the individuals we work with, thetask is the easy part. It's going
into the business talking to individuals.You know, that's that's so that's where
we support. And once that individualis given that chance, it's amazing what
they can do. I could tella story of a young lady excac.
Wait, let me first, letme first recap for the audience who I'm

(09:26):
talking to issue emotion. That wasthat was my next question was, you
know, give me an example.I'm speaking with Karen Waltuck and John Adam
Harodopolis. They work with job Pathand job Path helps people with autism and
others who are neuro diverse. Theythey help them, they link them with

(09:48):
jobs, they get them jobs.They also help with independent living, getting
involved in the community, and navigatingbenefits. But we're mostly focused in on
our jobs because you know, everybodyneeds a purpose. We all need a
purpose and everybody feels better if you'reserving your purpose. Okay, John Adam,

(10:09):
give us an example. Tell usa beautiful story. Okay, I
will tell you a beautiful story.And but just to step back, and
job Path believes there is a jobout there for everyone. There's something that
that and that's that's very important.But you know, again customized employment that
we follow, it's not job paths. It's recognized by the Department of Labor.

(10:31):
It's finding that need in a businessthat fits the skill set and interests
of the individuals. I worked witha young lady. You know, this
was during COVID where it was allyou know, visual, you know,
virtual stuff, and she loved fashion. That was her thing. She showed
me how she hangs clothes and shefolds clothes and things like that. I

(10:52):
developed a relationship. So that wasthe you know, discovery, discovering what
she was wonderful at what she whatgot her up and got her excited.
The next thing, I developed arelationship with Sacks Fifth Avenue, and that
was the match. So that wasAnd then once we and then again she
Sacks fifth Avenue met her, wehad an interview. I was there at

(11:15):
the interview because again that's the partof the support, and the support comes
later as well. But I wasat that interview. She was offered that
job. When that job started,it was four days a week, just
a couple of hours a day.I mean the jobs, the customized jobs
we have, they couldn't can befull time, but they can be a
couple hours a day, a coupleof days a week. Many a time,

(11:37):
the job grows over time because abusiness may say, boy, I
wonder if this person could do this, because in any business there's always something
that's not getting done or something thatsomeone else is doing. In boy,
if they didn't have to do it, they could free themselves up to do
others. You know, John Aden, this is such a lovely example about

(11:58):
getting something done that freeze a personup to do the job they've actually been
engaged for. And for our restaurantgroup, they had a manager at one
of their wonderful restaurants at Robert andthey the manager who really needed to be
on the floor, also had todo the wine inventory, so he didn't

(12:18):
have the time. He would giveit to the waiters. The waiters would
get it wrong. It wasn't evenpart of the tip pool. And we
had a young lady who's just sodetail oriented and she ends up doing the
wine inventory fifteen hours a week fortwo different restaurants. It's always perfect.
The manager is on the floor,the waiters are thrilled. It always comes

(12:43):
in on time and accurately, andyou know it's so those are these sweet
spots also that can really help acompany. You know everyone it just yeah.
So that was a perfect example ofhow companies and individuals three two best
way we reach out to them.Often times I think you know, just

(13:07):
all our I mean we're job somebodyis listening and they know somebody we need
your job, job job pat NYC. That's we're based in New York City.
I mean you can google us.You know, it's you know more
than anything. You know, someonejust can't call job Then this is with
the child like well, I guessfor businesses. If business wants to call,

(13:28):
they can call and we can workwith them right away. Because we
have so many individuals. Part ofthe discovery, part of the process is
when I call on businesses. Now, I'm what's called an employment specialist,
and I have a caseload of individualsthat I know what works for them and
what doesn't work for them. SoI so so I will speak to them.

(13:50):
Now, if I speak to abusiness that has is looking for something
that doesn't fit one of my individuals, I open it up to the other
employment specialists in my company, andthere's a number of them. Because this
works employment that job path in manycompanies. It's not short term. I
always when I talk to the individuals, I say, it's not a job,

(14:13):
it's a career. You're going togrow with a company, just like
anyone else. So finding that rightfit is the key. So again,
job Path NYC. Any businesses thatare interested, that's who they show.
I'm afraid a time, but jobPath NYC. You need more employers that

(14:35):
we can get more people on thespectrum employed and finding and serving their purpose,
and the company is going to beblessed as well. Job Path NYC.
You've been listening to Sunstein Sessions oniHeartRadio, a production of New York's
classic rock Q one O four pointthree