Empowering Employment  

The Empowering Employment Program provides hands-on, on the job training for individuals with disabilities through full workplace immersion, combined with structured employability skills training and ongoing job development support. It also partners with employers to build awareness and create more inclusive work environments, while collaborating with adult service providers to ensure participants receive the support they need. Designed to be scalable and sustainable, the program runs in small cohorts with the goal of developing skills that lead to competitive, integrated employment and long-term job retention.

CORE careers participants work in a kitchen.

CORE Careers

CORE Foundations takes a multifaceted, person-centered approach to helping individuals with disabilities obtain and maintain meaningful employment. These supports span across the job cycle and include everything from job searching and preparation to support for independent workers. Outlined below are several service offerings through our CORE Careers program.  

  • Job Readiness: If an individual is interested in future employment, but is not ready to actively seek employment, they can still participate in the CORE Careers program by working on job readiness. In this program, community members work with staff to learn meaningful employment skills (work/life balance, advocacy, professionalism, etc.) that they will one day be able to apply to their future employment.
  • Job Development: Job Development Services provide support to community members to obtain a meaningful job in a competitive integrated employment setting. Working directly with qualified staff, community members engage in a variety of tasks and exercises to secure paid employment.  Job development activities include but are not limited to:
    • Resume Building
    • Interview Preparation and Support
    • Informational Interviews
    • Mock Interviews
    • Community Surveying
    • Application Completion and Follow-up
    • Social Skills
    • Use of virtual reality curriculum to support skill acquisition
  • Ongoing Job Supports: Ongoing Job Supports provide community members support in learning and completing job tasks when beginning a new job, after a promotion, or following a significant change in duties or circumstances. We develop individualized support in collaboration with the Person-Centered Planning Team to support successful employment
  • Follow Along Job Supports: Follow-along support provides a faded support structure to ensure that community members have the support needed to maintain their job 

Sequence of 20-week curriculum for Empowering Employment