All year we’ve shared stories of success in our blog, in our newsletters and online newsletters, on our website; the awe inspiring progress made on individual pathways to a good job, a good life, acceptance, and community inclusion. It’s the end of our fiscal year and time to tell the story “by the numbers.”

In Fiscal Year 2009 (October 2008 thru September 2009) AtWork! placed 20 people in community jobs…the same number placed in 2008; great results given that the unemployment rate was 9+% in 2009.

Some people we serve are on a fast track to a job…we do an intake, assessment of skills and interests, a couple of job tours, a work trial…and then we make a good job match with an eager employer…all in the matter of a few months.

In Fiscal Year 2009 people supported by AtWork! working in community jobs earned over $351,000 at an average hourly wage of $9.58.

Some are on a longer pathway to that perfect job…sometimes the progress is very slow…finally after 30 years you leave the confines of a state institution. Years of segregation, low expectations, isolation…a life devoid of ordinary experiences takes you on a different pathway….for many months we work together to build confidence, to discover your unique talents and interests, to see beyond your institutional behaviors, to hear your communication without words….until finally you are feeling valued for the first time in your life….you are a volunteer at a food bank…you can do this and you have purpose.

In Fiscal Year 2009 90 people with complex support needs discovered new talents and learned new skills by volunteering in their community.

To read inspiring stories of progress, acceptance and inclusion visit our website.