Sharing the Journey – October 2024
Check out the October edition of Sharing the Journey View the October Edition of Sharing the Journey Missed previous editions? Check out our Agency News page to see all editions from this past year!
Learning New Skills in a Professional Setting
Molly graduated from Hudson Valley Community College in December 2022 with a degree in Liberal Arts. She continued working at a grocery store where she had been employed part-time since 2019. She wanted to try something new, but needed a gentle push to consider a more professional job. With the support of her job coach here at Living Resources, Frank Padula, she was willing to consider a part-time administrative job at Capital Care Family practice in Rotterdam. Molly has excelled at the medical office, where she has learned many knew skills and has flourished under her new responsibilities. She assists with many administrative tasks, [...]
Connection and Caregiving on the Autism Spectrum
Cason is a graduate of the 2024 College Experience class. During her time in the program, she showed an interest in retail and childcare, having held internships at both Peter Harris and Mercy Care for Kids. It was at Mercy Care for Kids where she found her calling. She instantly connected with the children and showed empathy with them. As one of her post-graduation goals, Cason decided she wanted to work as a Teaching Assistant (TA) at a daycare. Cason worked with her job coach and interviewed at the Anderson Center, a special education preschool that provides children ages three [...]
Celebrating Five Years on the Job!
Austin Johnsen recently passed his five year employment anniversary benchmark at Price Chopper on Albany Shaker Road. He is a maintenance associate and has been working there since 2019. Austin works four shifts per week, four hours a day. His maintenance title allows him to work in several capacities, and he enjoys them all. On any given day he can be found gathering carts in the parking lot, cleaning and organizing the bottle room along with servicing the machines when they need new bags, or become jammed with plastic or glass bottles. Austin maintains the customer bathrooms if [...]
Promoting Independence and Connection in the Workplace
Canaan Cassano has known what he wanted to do with his life since he was in 5th grade. Today, he is living out his dream of working with computers right here at Living Resources. Canaan is a graduate of Living Resources’ College Experience Program and now he works part-time as a Computer Support Specialist. Canaan began his career in computers as an intern at Bethlehem High School. There, he assisted with setting up and troubleshooting audio/visual equipment. From there, he went on to intern at the College of Saint Rose prior to their closure. In October of 2023, he began [...]
Employment Sessions Come to Living Resources
Recently, our Employment Services and Community Living programs came together to hold employment learning sessions for individuals in our Supportive Living program. These sessions allow individuals to learn about the qualities that make a responsible employee, as well as the proper way to conduct themselves in a professional setting. Professionalism was the theme of the day in this past session, with individuals sharing stories of their first jobs and what they learned about professionalism through that employment experience. Sessions like these are vital to promoting a life of dignity, independence, and happiness by giving individuals the tools they need [...]
Bountiful Bread: An Inclusive Place to Work
What happens when you realize the job you have, isn’t the job you want for the rest of your life? Maybe you’ll send out your resume and try to get a foot in the door in a new industry. But change is hard, and can sometimes be scary and overwhelming for anybody. For those with developmental disabilities, these changes can be daunting. Just ask Tor, a graduate of The College Experience Program at Living Resources. Tor worked in retail for years, then he went on to work at a local market. While he was happy in his independence, he [...]
Finding Meaning and Connection Through Work
Bill is a graduate of Living Resources’ College Experience Program. When he graduated the program, it was time for him to enter the employment world. Bill worked with his job coach Leslye and found a job as a cashier at Market32. When Bill first started, he was nervous and you could tell he didn’t have a lot of confidence. Now, Bill’s confidence in his work is strong and he interacts and connects with people very well each time he’s at work. Bill’s supervisor “absolutely loves him” according to Leslye. Bill loves working at Market32 and says “it’s really inclusive, you [...]
Beetlejuice…Beetlejuice!
All amazing things take a lot of time. Sometimes they take approximately 35 years to cook into a macabre cinematic potion. On that note, the Alumni Activities Club was very excited to see the long-awaited Beetlejuice sequel starring three of the original actors from the first movie all the way back in 1988! Friday, September 6 was the big day that so many have been waiting for so very long! Rob Corso and Jesse Saperstein excitedly went to the Crossgates Mall and were photographed with a Cos Play Player who went all out for this amazing moment. The movie did [...]
Sharing the Journey – September 2024
Check out the September edition of Sharing the Journey View the September Edition of Sharing the Journey Missed previous editions? Check out our Agency News page to see all editions from this past year!