Building Careers and Community
INTRODUCTION:
Building Careers and Community is a three year project to engage local communities to more naturally support and welcome citizens with developmental disabilities to get desired jobs and be involved in their communities. This Person Centered Planning Implementation Grant funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is designed to intensively work with 36 individuals with developmental disabilities and their informal personal support and community networks in three very different geographic area of Washington State. Through the development of a person centered planning and action model we hope to learn, how to support and sustain informal supports and community networks assisting each person to reach his or her goals, and how to use these personal and community connections to find new community roles and paid jobs.
PURPOSE:
- To gather a group of family, friends, and community members to help each person create a plan and take action on dreams and goals that lead to a good life including community involvement and a great job.
- To bring together this group of people over time to learn together, build positive relationships, provide mutual support, and celebrate accomplishments.
- To create a person centered approach that feels natural, welcoming, empowering, and sustainable to the people involved.
- To engage the local community members, organizations, groups, and businesses to build collaborative relationships and opportunities for jobs and community contributions.
STORIES: Throughout the project, stories were collected about the progress people were making in their lives. Here are a few:
Chris' Story:
Summary:
It takes a village to raise a child to adulthood. But as most parents know, one's personal connections within the village are useful in helping a young adult find their place in the work force. This was certainly the case for Chris and his mother Sigrid. Realizing that his first job at Auntie Anne's Pretzels was not the ideal opportunity to use his many skills, Chris and Sigrid decided to invite their extended family, personal friends, and community contacts to help clarify his future goals and determine how to achieve them with the assistance of Joanne Drewsen, the Building Career and Community coordinator for Snohomish County. Chris' willingness, in turn, to explore opportunities and contribute his talents in his community led to volunteer positions with his church, the Silver Lake Fish Derby, and the Silverlake neighborhood association. With the help of his family's personal networks, his job specialist, a well-connected community member and his willingness to experiment, Chris has refined his employment goal to working in the manufacturing industry, specifically in the aerospace industry making parts for Boeing airplanes. He is currently following up on related employment leads. To read more about what worked for Chris and his family in creating this employment plan Click Here.
Nick's Story: Click Here.
View Tony's story printed in the Wenatchee World: Click here
Read Jenny's story printed in the WiSe Newsletter: Click here
Read Ian's Story: Click here
View Jairo's story printed in the Cashmere Valley record: Click here
Dan's Story
Follow Dan's story through this graphic illustration of how his community and personal networks have grown in the last two years. From expanding his church connections, to exploring his interest in composting and recycling, to rediscovering his musical talents, Dan has met many new people, explored a variety of job opportunities, and has gotten involved in interesting community activities.
With Dan's many interests and talents, his plan was more about clarifying and finding a focus for a career and ways to get involved. His family has always been his biggest supporter, continuously encouraging him to explore and hone his interests like piano tuning, testing boats at dry docks, composting with worm bins, manufacturing assembly, and even raising lady bugs.
Through all of this, Dan's family has became better connected to their community as well. Dan's mother accompanied him to their community garden and participated in several community workshops about the environment and emergency preparedness. Dan's brother organized a neighborhood summer barbeque for the neighbors to get to know each other. View Dan's Story Graphic, Facilitated by Tim Corey: Click here
Tara's Story
Tara and her mother Kathy live in an urban Everett neighborhood. Explore Tara's graphic story to see how her neighborhood relationships and involvement have expanded. A couple of years ago, Tara and Kathy didn't know anyone in their neighborhood and they expressed a desire not to feel so isolated and disconnected from their community. Now they know many of their neighbors and have gotten involved in several neighborhood meetings and events such as a neighborhood picnic, the Mutt Strut, and the Mother of All Garage Sales. Through this, Tara and Holly, a neighborhood leader, have become great friends by walking their dogs together, neighbors are helping Tara think about different job possibilities, and Kathy is even considering taking on a leadership role with the neighborhood association.
View Tara's Story Graphic, Facilitated by Tim Corey: Click here
HOW WE DO THIS:
- We begin with a set of values that guide the process: Listening (take direction from the person), Creativity (working toward basic ideals), Commitment (building relationships over time), Discovery (searching for capacities & opportunities), and Community (building community and change)
- We customize each plan and the planning process according to the desires and personality of each person and his or her informal support team. We ensure the person leads the process.
- We build on planning processes that are already in place in each local community (county)
- We facilitate collaborative efforts among everyone and avoid duplication with unnecessary meetings and plans.
- We learn and build from the unique approaches, abilities, and experiences of three local coordinators/facilitators in three unique communities.
- We learn from our experiences and facilitate efforts to make the planning process more effective.
- We utilize a variety of plans and facilitation techniques that engage and support personal preferences.
- We engage people (community builders/connectors who have personal knowledge and connections to community leaders, organizations, groups, and businesses who can help each person and their team make personal contributions and build welcoming and inclusive community places.
- We support the team between gatherings to take action on the plan, including making commitments, determining help team members want, and facilitating communication among the team.
WHAT WE ARE LEARNING:
Throughout this project, and the work with the 35 grant participants, we learned a tremendous amount about what works and doesn't in our attempts to connect people to their communities and jobs. We've gathered much of this learning and incorporated it into a planning "Tool" called the "BCC Seven Essential Elements Guideline." The purpose of this tool is to give planners, individuals, families, and groups a useful self-assessment tool including a variety of indicators which point toward success in building better lives. This is not a checklist or a tool to evaluate performance. Rather, it is a series of indicators which lead to a greater potential for successful outcomes. We believe if there is continuing effort to build success throughout these essential elements there will be more opportunities for people to have rich lives in their communities.
Visit the WA State Division of Developmental Disabilities, Department of Social and Health Services, website at: http://www.dshs.wa.gov/ddd/; Clark County DD website: http://www.co.clark.wa.us/dev-disabilities/index.html; and Snohomish County DD/Human Services website: http://www1.co.snohomish.wa.us/Departments/Human_Services/Divisions/DevDisabilities/. Chelan-Douglas County DD does not have a website at this time.