Linking Employment, Abilities and Potential (LEAP)

Shiela Brown, Erika Rios-Sparks, and Becky Labus led Job Link students from their respective schools through a volunteer experience at the Ronald McDonald House in Cleveland. The Ronald McDonald House hosts families from all over the world who are staying in Cleveland with a child who is undergoing a long-term hospital stay. The Job Link students prepared a pasta dinner with green beans and cookies for these families. They were able to serve about 30 people at the house and then saved some leftovers for those who may have been away for the evening.

Erika Rios-Sparks and graduate Diego Miranda attended a Legislative Rally sponsored by the Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council where constituants attended workshops to enhance their advocacy skills. Erika and Diego visited with representatives Michael Skindell, Matt Lundy and Timothy DeGeeter to speak about the difficulties young adults with disabilities encounter when searching for a job after graduation. Diego spoke about his situation and did a great job. Read more...

When LEAP’s Job Link students were given the opportunity to volunteer, they jumped at the chance. The YouthAbility Program at Jewish Family Services Association provided a survey offering areas of service to choose from. Of the 18 Job Link students who completed the survey, 13 opted to volunteer at nearby St. Herman’s House of Hospitality, a shelter for the homeless.

“There is so much value in our youth serving the community,” said Sandra Carlson, director of Job Link. “Students gain not only the work experience, but they make their own choices and gain social value from their experiences.”

Job Link students from Lincoln West High School helped throughout March and April, once a week, by preparing food for the homeless population that St. Herman’s serves, and by walking the homeless dogs the shelter cares for.

“This is a really great opportunity for these students to choose where they want to get involved,” Carlson said. “You have to keep in mind, this may be some of the first decisions these youth have ever been allowed to make, and it’s really beneficial for them to have that option.”

This giving group of youngsters even took volunteering a step further after the program was finished. They organized their own food drive by donating food, clothes, and even dog food for the center’s residents. One student, who lives near St. Herman’s, has since continued to volunteer by walking the dogs.

When given the opportunity to help out, these students rose to the occasion and discovered the rewards of community service.

In December 2005, three of LEAP’s Job Link students, Ana, Christian, and Lizmarie attended the All Ohio Youth Leadership Summit with their program coordinator, Erika Rios. The Columbus held, day-long conference featured role-playing activities, unification exercises and team-building trainings centered on violence prevention methods. “The activities encouraged the students to work together and find their similarities by reading social issues out loud.” Rios said. “The final activity was to, as a group, choose a topic of interest, create a project, and carry out this project in their home school.

The three Job Link students decided to focus on violence prevention. They created a list of ideas on how to do this project in their school, what to focus on, and who they would present the activities to.” With the help of their program coordinator, they successfully completed a mini-grant proposal based on the theme “Violence Solves Nothing.” When the three Lincoln West High School students were awarded $200 in funding from the Learning-Work Connection, they spent it on a conflict resolution game, anti-violence posters and pencils, guides for keeping safe, as well as certificates for participation.

Three classrooms at Lincoln West High School participated in the activity which included the conflict resolution role-playing game facilitated by the Job Link students. Participants needed to find the common ground of a disagreement, reach a compromise fair to both sides, and enter a nonviolent agreement about the resolution in order to win. The participating students received the pencils and guides, and certificates of completion. The posters were donated to the school.

“It’s so interesting to listen to the [Job Link] students say ‘We are the future, and we need to learn different ways to avoid a mistake that will ruin our lives.’” Rios said.

“We are just so proud of them because it was student led, it was their project.” said Sandra Carlson, director of Job Link. “It was a conference for all youth on leadership and our students took advantage of the opportunity.”