Students learn skills to help them land jobs

Amber Arceneaux (right), Texas Home Living care coordinator, and Karen Orellana, Youth Transition to Adult Program coordinator, Opportunity Center, Bay Area Rehabilitation Center.

“I really enjoy seeing our Opportunity Center clients succeed in life and accomplish things they never thought they could.

“I saw a little girl today who mentioned that she just wrote her name, which was a big achievement for her. It’s something other people take for granted, writing our name, knowing our address, living independently.

“We see 30-something-year-old adults who are still underneath their parents’ roof, and some of them do understand the concept that they are disabled. But they don’t necessarily want to be stuck in that situation forever. Our programs help them realize that you don’t have to be limited by your disability. You can achieve certain things if you put your heart and mind into it.”

“Through YTAP (Youth Transition to Adult Program), students from local and area high schools come to our center for skills training to improve their employability after graduation. We work with them on things like how to fill out job applications, how to put together resumes, and how to communicate with a new employer or coworkers. So whenever they graduate, they have the skills needed to get a real job.

“It’s really fulfilling to see some of them grow and end up doing things that, at first, they weren’t able to do.”

— Amber Arceneaux and Karen Orellana