We encourage all of our consumers, who are interested, to secure paid employment.  This can be a tricky situation since most of our consumers are dependent on Social Security income to pay for their living expenses and Medi-Cal to provide funding for their medical care.  We work diligently with employers and the Social Security Administration, as well as other government agencies, to find the most suitable paid employment arrangement for each consumer.

 

During the job search process, we also assist our consumers with the task of marketing themselves at a variety of possible work locations.  As needed, we support our consumers by assisting with the completion with job applications, practicing for job interviews, and discussing and modeling appropriate dress and behavior.  When our consumers are hired for a particular job we assist in the arrangement to have the consumer's personal needs met throughout his/her work day.  Finally, we bus-train our consumers to their job sites and back home as necessary. 

 

Over the years, our consumers have obtained paid employment at a variety of jobs and locations.  Anthony has been employed at the Discovery Science Center for many years.  Viktor works with children full-time and even receives health insurance at his job. Hunter has worked off and on for us, helping with errands and grocery shopping.  Chris and Jennifer continue to actively pursue paid community employment.  Some of our consumers have even worked in the media with paid acting jobs.  While acting may not be considered a stable income, our consumers sure enjoy receiving that paycheck from Central Casting. In fact, Chris and Hunter have acted in big enough roles, on several television shows and movies, that they are now members of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), the union for professional actors.

 

We look forward to continuing to work with the community and our consumers to find and support appropriate paid job placements.