Celebrating National Disability Employment Awareness Month

Programs and Services, Stories Of People We Support, Uncategorized

Celebrating National Disability Employment Awareness Month During October, we are celebrating National Disability Employment Awareness Month and highlighting a few people we support who are employed through our Job Path program. First up, we highlight Steve Blum who works as a Lot Attendant at Home Depot where he’s been since 2002. Steve says he enjoys the job and his coworkers very much. He’s been working throughout the pandemic, thankful for the opportunity to keep patrons safe by sanitizing the Home Depot carts – something completely new for him. Now he’s used to it and enjoys keep the customers know the …

Manufacturing at ArcWorks

Meet Audrey: 13 years at ArcWorks

Employment, Programs and Services, Stories Of People We Support

Meet Audrey who is celebrating 13 years ArcWorks. If you have the opportunity to work alongside Audrey you’ll quickly see she is positive, enthusiastic, hard-working and a great role model to colleagues. Audrey likes the manufacturing and production work she does, especially on the assembly line or packaging. Audrey really enjoys her work hours which are 8:30AM to 2:30PM. Today you can find Audrey packaging medicine, making sure there are 12 bottles in each box. Audrey also enjoys putting together the boxes that will eventually be filled by other ArcWorks teams. “I like busy work,” she explains. Other recent packaging …

Nutrition, Diet Technician

Nutrition: making small changes for a big impact

Health and Wellness, Programs and Services

Antonietta Alfano is a Diet Technician working with individuals who live in our residential homes. She coaches both Arc of Monroe staff and residents on healthy eating while working closely with each person she supports on nutritional needs. To assist staff at each house, Antonietta will check receipts as needed to ensure healthy eating and recommends foods to purchase as needed for the individual’s diets as well as the rest of the home. To help people she supports, she provides pictures of the foods that are recommended on their plates and work with them one-on-one to make healthier choices. Antonietta …

woman smiling

Determining autism in children

Programs and Services

In our current world of social media, we are quick to post updates about our children.  When they walk, their first words, playdates with their friends.  While it can be great to stay so connected, it seems that this is also increasing parent’s concerns about their children and if they are developing appropriately.  Seeing a similar aged child meeting developmental milestones sooner than your child can often cause parents to worry.  It is important to remember that children follow their own timelines of development, and slight variances are not usually a cause for concern.  But what is typical, and what …

College Experience

Getting a college experience

Programs and Services

Victoria, or Tori, Campbell attends the Arc of Monroe’s MCC Experience program at Monroe Community College. This is her second year in the MCC Experience program. About MCC Experience MCC Experience is a higher education transitional service that prepares people such as Tori for employment. Through classroom learning, participating in campus activities, internships and volunteering Tori is learning all the necessary skills that will help her reach her goals. This program shares a classroom with Greece Central School District. Together they work on survival skills, career development, go to the fitness center, socialize at College Hours, and participate in clubs …

ArcWorks, Contract Manufacturing

ArcWorks integrating people with disabilities into the workforce

Programs and Services

By: Velvet Spicer November 27, 2019 published in the Rochester Business Journal. In 2017, just 6 percent of Monroe County’s more than 57,000 disabled residents were employed, and of the nearly 20,000 total individuals unemployed in the county that year, some 19 percent were people with disabilities. ArcWorks, a program of the Arc of Monroe, is looking to improve that. “We’re an integrated contract manufacturer that employs assembly operators and individuals with disabilities,” said ArcWorks’ business development manager Melissa Mayo. “Many people who come in to take a tour, I don’t know what their thoughts were in the past, but when they …

Transition Service

College experience participants out and about in Rochester

Programs and Services

Our Monroe Community College (MCC) Experience participants had a busy summer and wrote about the experiences below. Support college experience programs like these by making a DONATION now. Community Involvement By: Britanie Smith & Alexander Gresens We went to the Buffalo Bills Training Camp at St John Fisher College.We played games with LifePrep@Naz students, like a Family Feud game! We took some individual photos with the mascot and then a group photo after. We took a group photo with LifePrep. We went to Charlotte Beach and we had fun in the sun plus some people decided to walk on the …

Residential housing opportunities

Programs and Services

The Arc of Monroe offers great opportunities for people who are looking for a more independent housing opportunity. Both options provide a supported apartment setting where people can make friends, form a supportive community, and work towards living more independently. Supported Apartments at Fernwood Fernwood Apartments is a great option for people who are working towards living independently in the community. The apartments are in Irondequoit area and is on a bus line. It provides on-site staff support from 6am to 10pm daily, and there is a 24 hour manager on call to support as needed. The staff support with …

ArcWorks' Daylite Program

Success at Daylite, ArcWorks

Programs and Services

If you haven’t heard, ArcWorks is now an integrated business, hiring both people with and without disabilities.  Part of the ArcWorks experience is participating in a group called Daylite.  Daylite provides service learning/volunteer experiences as a stepping stone for people who will eventually move on to community employment.  Daylite focuses on team building, job skills training, confidence building, self-advocacy, and making friends. Volunteering helps with employment skills and provides a variety of experiences. There are currently three Daylite groups that volunteer at places such as Unity Hospital, Ogden Senior Center and Ronald McDonald House.   “We offer different learning opportunities and …

LifePrep@Naz college graduates and their experiences

Programs and Services

LifePrep@Naz (Nazareth College) is an employment readiness service that provides a college campus experience to its participants. It provides opportunities for people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities to continue their education and development with peers in a college classroom setting.  Program participants participate in internships to build job skills, educational opportunities like auditing college classes, and the opportunity to be a part of all campus activities. LifePrep students get to know Nazareth College student mentors who take them to lunch, classes and social events, along with opportunity to form relationships with campus staff and faculty. We are so proud of …