Center for an Urban Future released a report titled, “Access Opportunity: Expanding Economic Opportunity for New Yorkers with Disabilities”, which features ICD's Co-Presidents, Joseph McDonald and Dio Gica, as well as a graduate from our Human Services Assistant training program, Nuris Mercedes.
In the report, Mr. Gica states,
We really need to present solutions that are going to be reality-informed, and COVID helped us get there where we otherwise would’ve taken a lot longer.
Mr. McDonald adds,
There’s a lot of new councils and committees and conversations where individuals with disabilities are in some ways for the first time being invited to the table.
The report also includes a short profile on ICD graduate Nuris Mercedes, which can be read below or on page 12 of the report.
Nuris Mercedes, 21, works as an intern at Brooklyn Collegiate High School, helping teachers set up their online classes, ensuring students know how to enter remote sessions, and attending sessions to make sure classes run well. She found this job after taking a human services assistant training program at the Institute for Career Development (ICD). After emigrating from the Dominican Republic, Mercedes had tried to enroll in Bronx Community College but failed the assessment tests. She was able to find a job at McDonald’s but the environment was stressful, and as a slower learner she struggled to teach herself how to use the cash register and other tasks. Her Adult Career and Continuing Education Services–Vocational Rehabilitation counselor referred her to ICD, where she learned professional skills such as writing a resume and public speaking, but also specific training such as how to report child abuse or show empathy for a client or coworker. “It’s been meaningful because I learned a lot of things that I didn’t know how to do before, and I feel very confident about myself now,” says Mercedes. “Honestly, I’m really interested in child protective services. That’s where I’m kind of leaning. If there are any other trainings that I have to take, I’ll take them.”
To read the full report, click here.
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