Tapestry Winter 2020

Employment Creates Rewarding Opportunities A new business meant a new opportunity for Deborah.

When the new Topgolf opened in Schaumburg this past December, it didn’t take long for them to see the potential in Little City’s Employee Development Services (EDS) program as they hired two people, including Deborah, from the EDS program in time for their opening.

The hirings emphasize the growing success of the Employee Development Services program as it has placed an average of two people per month in community jobs over the last six months.

“Deborah was a particularly big accomplishment because it was her first community job,” said Lori Palmer Kane, EDS Coordinator. “She has made tremendous progress in EDS. I didn’t know her prior to the program, but what I kept hearing was she was a completely new person after joining EDS.” Lori said Deborah’s rate of improvement was about as fast as she had ever seen as she learned to take instruction and feedback much better, improve interpersonal skills and develop the confidence to learn new skills such as planning the needed public transportation to get to and from work.

Already at Topgolf, Deborah is working three days a week helping to do prep work for kitchen and dining needs. She has already shown the motivation and work ethic to build off that foundation and Lori said there is little doubt she will achieve those goals.

“She so tremendously wants to be able to work without the need of a job coach and to be as independent as possible and I know she’ll get there,” Lori said. “I’ve had to give her difficult feedback in the past and she handles it amazingly. She never says ‘I can’t,’ despite some of her physical limitations, without trying first. She always takes on challenges and tries.”

Another person who received a long sought-after job in the recent slew of placements was Howard. Howard has been a part of the EDS program for a long time and had previous work experience, including a successful position at Twin Orchard Country Club on a seasonal basis.

But Howard wanted more than just seasonal work and found it at the Cheesecake Factory.

Howard’s love for the food service industry and history of success in community employment has him poised for a long, successful career.

“I’ve seen a lot of progress in him and he’s worked so hard. It’s not always an easy road and he faced some challenges, but he always kept his focus on getting that job,” Lori said. “He came up to me, he was jumping up and down, saying ‘I got a job!’ I don’t think I’ve ever been hugged so tight. He started to cry he was so happy and I cried with him.”

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