Melissa lives in Montana, and loves dogs. She owns and operates Lissie's Luv Yums, a gourmet dog-biscuit business. Melissa also educates others about employment for people with disabilities and about living with and preventing fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).
Emilea lives in a small town in Iowa. She loves spending time with her family and her pets, CeCe and Harley. She also owns and operates her own coffee shop, Em's Coffee Company. With the support of her family, Emilea planned for a career and then used local contacts and several funding streams to start her own business.
John's planning process was a combined effort of focused planning, aggressive job development, strong family advocacy, good use of personal networks, and professional collaboration; this allowed John to reach his goal of getting a job in the community. He currently works at Jo-Ann Fabrics three days per week, stocking and organizing bolts of fabric and filling bins of yarn.
Brian is a man in his 20s who loves working with animals. He was able to purchase valuable equipment with the help of his job developer and use it to negotiate with a business where he was eventually hired. Brian now works 30 hours per week as a pet groomer.
Joe describes himself as smart and friendly. He works as an administrative assistant at Hardy, Wolf and Downing, a law firm in Lewiston, Maine. He found this position with the help of Aaron, his job developer. Aaron helped Joe look for jobs that might be interesting to him, and thought about ways that Joe could help an employer. Then Aaron set up a chance for Joe to work for a specific business so they could see if the job was a good match.
Ken is a 46-year-old man who lives in Seattle, Washington. He has been a devoted Starbucks Partner at the Starbucks corporate headquarters there for the past 20 years. Ken assists with stocking 23 kitchens with teas and condiments. He also conducts weekly tea tastings for his coworkers.
Brenda is a woman in her 30s who has been working at the Fitness Plus gym for about two years. She works there twice a week, completing a list of tasks to keep the gym clean and organized, including putting away equipment. To obtain this job, Brenda’s job developer assessed the employer's needs and showed Brenda's ability to meet those needs. Together Brenda, the job developer and the employer carved out a new position.
Zachary lives in Hammond, Indiana and says he has been programming computers since he was eleven years old. For the last two and a half years, he has worked part-time for Alkon Consulting, a local web design studio. His boss met Zachary through his job developer, reviewed his work to see if he was ready to work in the web design field, and decided to hire him.
Jared works at Microtek, a cable-assembly company in Chicopee, Mass. With his family's help, he found an employer who supports his success. Jared has natural on-the-job supports from his line managers and coworkers. He reports that he and his coworkers get along well. He is expected to make his own decisions and be responsible for his own work.
Cindy has always expressed an interest in working with children. With the help of a job developer, a formal employment proposal was developed and presented to an employer, which outlined potential job responsibilities and how they would meet a business need. Through an effective and persistent job negotiation process, Cindy now works as a day care assistant in a child-care center close to her home.
Emilea lives in a small town in Iowa. She loves spending time with her family and her pets, CeCe and Harley. She also owns and operates her own coffee shop, Em's Coffee Company. With the support of her family, Emilea planned for a career and then used local contacts and several funding streams to start her own business.
Brian is a man in his 20s who loves working with animals. He was able to purchase valuable equipment with the help of his job developer and use it to negotiate with a business where he was eventually hired. Brian now works 30 hours per week as a pet groomer.
Ken is a 46-year-old man who lives in Seattle, Washington. He has been a devoted Starbucks Partner at the Starbucks corporate headquarters there for the past 20 years. Ken assists with stocking 23 kitchens with teas and condiments. He also conducts weekly tea tastings for his coworkers.
Zachary lives in Hammond, Indiana and says he has been programming computers since he was eleven years old. For the last two and a half years, he has worked part-time for Alkon Consulting, a local web design studio. His boss met Zachary through his job developer, reviewed his work to see if he was ready to work in the web design field, and decided to hire him.
Jared works at Microtek, a cable-assembly company in Chicopee, Mass. With his family's help, he found an employer who supports his success. Jared has natural on-the-job supports from his line managers and coworkers. He reports that he and his coworkers get along well. He is expected to make his own decisions and be responsible for his own work.