A South Florida nonprofit is working to get young adults with autism workforce-ready through a new pilot program called Summer of Success.
The program began Monday and is set to wrap up on July 21 with a job expo for the students.
"My son is 26, and basically, he is at home — like a lot of these kids — playing on the computer all day long, and looking for a job, and looking for friends and opportunities," Summer of Success Program Organizer Eddy Martinez said. "In order to do that, we brought together this group. [It is] very curated because, with autism, you want to make sure that the group is sort of in the same spectrum. That way, they can continue to grow and foster."
Program organizers have been working with approximately a dozen young adults, many of whom have graduated high school and are pursuing higher education. In its first few days, students of the program went through a resume and job course with professionals from Jackson Health Systems, learned about small business from Well Groomed Gentleman in Coral Gables, and visited Zoo Miami to learn not only about the animals but also about the behind-the-scenes employment opportunities that make the zoo function.
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"My son, we want to be able to give him a life and an opportunity to flourish and get full employment," Martinez said. "I've just learned to love these kids, and they're just growing on me day by day because they just have so much potential, and their eyes are being opened up for the first time to a lot of opportunities that they may not even know were available before."
NBC6 spoke with some of the students before they departed for their Zoo Miami field trip on Thursday. They said that the program — which also includes tackling challenges such as ordering lunch for themselves and interacting in a group setting — has helped build their self-confidence and communication skills.
"Sense of responsibility, independence," one student said. "And the fun. Have fun. Talk to each other. Good self-esteem."
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Martinez said that, with the support of additional sponsors, program organizers hope to be able to expand Summer of Success next year.
"What we're planning is perhaps having two groups. This first group that went through the program now has some amazing sponsors and they've been opening the doors to us," he said. "Adults with autism just need that little bit of extra help. You just need to be aware that they're going to need a little bit of extra guidance, direction, and help to just get to where you want them to be. But, once they're there, the opportunities are endless."
In addition to sponsorship support, Summer of Success was made possible by nonprofit Dr. Gigi's Raise Me Up Foundation, which provides free recreational programs, events and family support services to children with special needs in the South Florida community.
