Cindy Bray believes there’s a job out there for everyone, and everyone should have an opportunity for a job — especially those with disabilities.
As executive director of the Wesley Chapel-based nonprofit Hope Services, Bray’s job is just that: Aiding in finding employment opportunities for youth and adults who have disabilities.
She launched the organization by herself in 2003.
Since then, she and Hope Services staff have helped hundreds, if not thousands of people with disabilities find employment with local businesses, through its array of job search and training programs.
Upwards of 400 people have landed jobs through Hope Services in the last year alone, Bray said. Positions have been secured a variety of fields, including retail, food service, warehouses, the medical field and more, she said.
“We have people doing everything. We have people everywhere,” Bray said. “They’re not limited, and their disability does not limit them, either.”
Hope Services is a vendor for the Florida Department of Education, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation.
It works from referrals and the support of families as a provider of vocational rehabilitation.
The organization aids in job coaching, on-the-job training, self-advocacy training, work readiness and more. That encompasses resume-building, learning how to find and apply for jobs online, interview techniques, developing socialization skills, understanding human resources requirements and documents, navigating public transportation and more.
Because its funding comes from the state of Florida, Hope Services programming is free to its clientele.
Hope Services itself has grown to over a dozen employees who service the Gulf Coast (Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Polk counties).
“It’s really growing,” Bray said. “Other employers want to be more involved in it because they’re seeing our people can make a difference in their employment.”
Bray said the organization’s staff of employment and vocational training specialists work to accentuate people’s abilities, rather than their disabilities.
In addition to assisting people with physical or learning disabilities, the organization helps find meaningful employment opportunities to those who have suffered life-changing injuries or illnesses, providing them “a second opportunity in life.”
Bray observed: “You find a lot of times, with the disabled population, they’re better employees because they’re serious about their jobs and they want to do their best to succeed with their employer, too.”
Each success story brings a feeling of warmth to Hope Services staffers.
“It’s a very rewarding job. It really is,” said Bray, who estimates over 90 percent of Hope Services clients have found success in employment.
In recent years, the organization has placed more focus on ramping up programs for the teenagers and young adults, those ages 15 to 22 that are still in school
Bray explained there’s a “huge need” for servicing that population, noting many have difficulty with the very basics of finding and keeping employment.
Said Bray: “We’re trying real hard to help those students, once they hit that 16, 17, 18-year-old age, to think ahead of employment, and also give mom and dad a ray of hope.”
To help with that, Hope Services will be offering free support group seminars each month that will bring clients (and prospective clients) and family members together, in a supportive and educational forum. The meetings will be guided by a licensed clinician, who will help participants celebrate successes, encourage each other through ongoing challenges, learn new techniques, and provide and receive feedback on their personal journey through life with disabilities.
Seminar topics will include the following:
- Mindfulness & Goal Setting
- Self-Awareness & Emotional Regulation
- Time Management & Organizational Skills
- The Challenge of Adjusting Expectations
- Encouraging Fatigue: When the Helper Needs Help
- Distorted Thinking: Brains don’t always tell the truth
- Coping Skills: What helps & what hurts?
- Communication Skills: The differences of what is said & what is heard
The first seminar will be on Jan. 7 at 7 p.m., at the Hope Services offices, 2406 Cypress Glen Drive, Suite 102, Wesley Chapel. Seminars will be held the first Monday of each month, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. They are free and open to the public.
For information, visit HopeGetsJobs.com, or call (813) 907-1903.
Published January 2, 2019
