Thirteen parents and educators traveled to Hillside on November 30th to tour Aspire, an innovative non-profit serving children and adults with developmental disabilities, their families and the Chicagoland community. Our tour focused on the Aspire Careers and Aspire Living programs.
Aspire Careers offers job training and job placement for adults with disabilities and also works with area businesses to create inclusive workplaces. Within Aspire Careers is CareerLink, a 10-week training program that includes hands-on experience in both retail and warehouse distribution and which takes place in simulated real-world work environments. CareerLink classes focus on learning both soft skills (workplace readiness, social interaction, communication and safety) and hard skills (customer service, stocking, cash register use and filling orders) and the program culminates in a 2-week paid internship with their partner, Office Depot/OfficeMax. Over 90% of CareerLink graduates have found employment in the community.
Aspire Living helps individuals achieve a greater level of independence through formal, informal and real-life experiences. Our tour focused on the Life on My Own program (LOMO) which prepares individuals to live independently in their own home. The LOMO team can provide support in the family home before an individual moves out, in the individual’s current home or apartment, or in Aspire’s Teaching Home, shown in some of the photos above, where individuals can live on a short-term basis to learn skills and “test the waters” in a safe environment. In addition to LOMO, Aspire offers Community Homes with ongoing support, Shared Living arrangements featuring one or two individuals living with a 24-hour companion, and apartment living with intermittent support. Each option allows the individual to live life with the greatest amount of independence possible.
Finally, we were also able to squeeze in a quick tour of Aspire’s Life Enrichment day program which serves approximately 40 participants plus 30 additional individuals in a “senior” program.
Thank you to Bridget Oliveri for scheduling our visit and to Jack Regan, April Dislers and Bridget Oliveri for presenting to our group. For more information about Aspire, visit their website at http://www.aspirechicago.com
Comments are closed.