MEANINGFUL WORK

The plan for Zo Much More was always to include both goods (custom bracelets, etc.) and services (swag bag/kit assembly, etc.). While the bracelet side has really taken off and gotten a lot of exposure during our first year - and we couldn't be more grateful for all the support - Zoe has also been building a lot of experience for the service side of the business through her work at Chestnut Dental Associates and Temple Beth Shalom. Zoe has seriously struck gold twice (already!) with these two employers!

Zoe has been working at Temple Beth Shalom (TBS) for a few years already. It's a great arrangement - easily walkable for Zoe and her school-based job coach - never mind that it's also been Zoe's congregation for her whole life and they couldn't be more welcoming. Most of Zoe's time is spent doing what I have come to say is the equivalent of "bar-backing" but for preschool teachers. She assembles various materials into kits that enable the teachers to move right into their lessons without having to spend as many prep hours or lose time in the classroom making sure that each kid has exactly 17 blue beads, 14 green legos, 6 feathers, 3 crayons and 2 plastic gorillas - or whatever else that day's project calls for. Zoe has also helped out with a variety of TBS initiatives such as labeling and delivering COVID kits, making Tashlich bags and setting up the bags for High Holiday food drive. Thanks to consistently thoughtful planning on the part of the TBS staff, there seems as though there is always something that needs to be done that Zoe is well-suited to do. Zoe continues to work there twice a week.

This past summer, Zoe's school team identified Chestnut Dental Associates (CDA) - another pillar of the Needham community - as a place where Zoe might also be able to make a contribution. Zoe’s team approached CDA and arranged for a summer internship trial 4 hours a week for 3 weeks before Zoe left for camp. Again, this was a familiar setting where Zoe has been a patient for years already - and since they serve pediatrics, orthodontics and adults - she will be for many more years to come. Thanks to great collaborative planning, this arrangement was a success from the first day; in fact, I am fairly certain that if you look up the colloquial definition of the term “home run”, you will see a picture of Zoe working at CDA.

The best part is that when Zoe's school team checked in with CDA to see if they'd like Zoe to come back this fall to resume her internship, CDA quickly countered by saying they'd like to hire Zoe - at a competitive market wage - to be part of their regular staff for a few hours a day twice a week. Everything about the experience has made it clear that, like TBS, CDA is a role model when it comes to an inclusive workforce. We had imagined there would be a few tasks that Zoe could help with, but have been blown away to see the range of projects they have had ready and waiting for her - many of which even we, who know Zoe so well, would not have thought to try.

But when I say that Zoe has struck gold twice, it's more than just because she is surrounded by a supportive community at each place (which she absolutely is) or because she has amazing school team/job coaches (which she absolutely does); It's because both of her employers recognize that Zoe possesses many strengths AND they make sure they always provide her with meaningful work that plays to those strengths. I honestly do not believe that either TBS or CDA has ever made up a task just for the sake of keeping Zoe busy; instead, they fill her time with work that helps their organization run - and if Zoe didn't do, someone else would. There is no question that Zoe enjoys her work and feels a sense of pride and accomplishment. It's the ultimate win-win scenario.

We saved this post for October 1st because October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). Click here to learn more about this initiative. Meaningful employment for individuals with disabilities is a huge passion of ours at Zo Much More and one you will be hearing more about from us.

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ACEing Autism - Cincinnati & Beyond