NORTH CANTON ‒ Beth Humbert’s newest idea emerged out of her concern that people with developmental disabilities aren’t being adequately prepared for the workforce.
The former vocational rehabilitation counselor and owner of the nonprofit Whole Latte Love Cafe, 1308 S. Main St., cut the ribbon Sept. 29 on the Whole CommUNITY Academy, a new program that offers workforce training for those adults.
Of the 4,000 Stark County residents diagnosed with a developmental disability, only about 200 are employed, Humbert said, adding that in Ohio, it is legal to pay employees who have developmental disabilities less than minimum wage.
“We pay minimum wage, and that’s why they’re so few of us here in Stark County because it’s hard to be a sustainable business when your payroll is like 70% of your operating budget,” she said.
Humbert answers some questions about the new operation:
What prompted you to create Whole CommUNITY Academy now?
Our referrals for Whole Latte Love come from the (developmental disabilities agencies in Stark and Summit counties), and some of the referrals that we were getting just weren’t quite ready for supported employment, which is our business model. Essentially there’s a job coach up front and there’s a job coach in the kitchen, and some of our referrals just weren’t quite ready for that whole working concept of teaching work-readiness skills.
The reality is, high school students on IEPs, people with disabilities, are not graduating with the self-awareness or the self-advocacy skills or the vocational experiences that they really truly need to have in order to come into the workforce.
So, I wanted to provide an intro to what it’s like to work in this crazy world. The only really way to do that is through the program that we created at Whole CommUNITY. It’s all about career exploration and discovering our talents, and our skills and our preferences.
How will the academy work?
So, this program is all about the individual. All of our services are person-centered.
There will be segments of 12 different vocational areas and then once we’ve finished with one unit, we’ll take them out into the community to visit with an employer that is directly related to what they just learned, and we’ll spend the day there learning and evolving and allowing them to make the choice, “Yeah, this job is for me” or “No, it’s not.”
So, we’re trying to empower them to have a few more choices in their life. … Eventually, if they find a vocation that’s interesting to them, I want them to maybe do some volunteering in that area, and if they really truly like it, then let’s do a paid internship.
How is the academy funded?
Initially, the program was designed to be what we call a “Grade 23” option because people with disabilities can stay in school until they’re 22. If they’ve met all of their academic requirements, they can stay in school for two more years to focus on job readiness like entering a job training program, but there are so few around here.
We paused as an organization earlier this year and pivoted to the Department of Developmental Disabilities, so it’s a Medicaid waiver-funded program. So, the folks that are coming into this program also have to have graduated from high school, have to be linked with the (Stark) County Board of Developmental Disabilities, and have to have a Medicaid waiver.
How does its curriculum differ from DD workshops?
Workshops have kind of just been dismantled fo several years, but not everybody knows that. So, there are gosh, probably over 130 Medicaid waiver providers in Stark County, but not everybody provides paid training like we do.
A lot of the programs are just social day programs and and it really doesn’t allow for work readiness, for one to actually get a job in the community.
In terms of work, what do you think is the biggest misconception people have about those with developmental disabilities?
I don’t blame anyone necessarily because if you don’t have a family member with a disability, you don’t walk on their shoes, so you just don’t know. So, I’ve spent the last 25 years trying to change that disability lens, to make the workforce more inclusive.
To learn more visit www.wholelattelovecafe.org/Academy or call 234-360-2233.
Reach Charita at charita.goshay@cantonrep.com.
On Twitter: @cgoshayREP
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Whole CommUNITY Academy launches in North Canton. What the mission?
Reporting by Charita M. Goshay, Canton Repository / The Repository
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