Center for Employment Creates Rewarding Opportunities

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.”

A Special Reunion

Victoria Kilgannon was crying at her wedding. While it probably had something to do with her upcoming nuptials, that wasn’t the main reason for the tears in this specific moment. In this moment, the tears of joy came because Victoria was hearing Jerry Rose sing a song. “I was a mess. My makeup was just completely gone and the guests hadn’t even come yet,” recalled Victoria. “I had always wanted Jerry to sing at my wedding, and for him to make that video was just so special. It was incredible.” The special friendship between Victoria and Jerry was an unexpected one to begin with, as the native Englander and Little City resident first met at Camp Red Leaf in 2001. For Jerry, the Inglesidebased camp for people with disabilities had been an annual summer tradition. For Victoria, it was an exciting opportunity to get experience in a camp counselor role in the United States. The two quickly hit it off and Victoria was immediately blown away by Jerry’s incredible music talent. Whether it was playing his guitar at nightly campfires or his electric guitar inside, Jerry’s music resonated with Victoria. Victoria ended up being a counselor at Camp Red Leaf for three years and left with a lifelong friendship with Jerry and her fellow counselors. In fact, it was a fellow counselor who reached out to Jerry’s sister Andrea to set up the special video that was played at Victoria’s wedding back in England several years ago. The two had their long-awaited and emotional reunion this past September, the first time they had seen each other in person in well over a decade. The two met outside of Little City’s Horticulture Center, where Jerry had sang years ago for the wedding video, to enjoy some songs and celebrate a mutual birthday they never knew they shared. Victoria, eager to hear Jerry play guitar in person again, asked him to play any song that came to mind. Without hesitation, Jerry went into James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain.” “I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain. I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end,” Jerry sang. “I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend. But I always thought that I’d see you again.” And just as she did at her wedding years ago, Victoria cried tears of happiness. But before she left this time, she told Jerry she would have the surprise for him next time they met. She’d bring him a duet partner – her young son, who has already heard about his mom’s special friend with the special musical touch.