Seamas began working with LIFEDesigns Employment Services earlier this year. Seamas is a volunteer at the IU Art Museum and he plays Euphonium in the Bloomington Community Band. Like many younger adults, Seamas didn’t have much employment experience. He had some experience working in a café at Holiday World, but it was very limited as he only worked there when he was visiting extended family.
With the help of his Employment Consultant JD, he started his career exploration with a work experience that was set up with Freddy’s. The work experience allowed Seamas to see if he liked working in a kitchen like Freddy’s and gave him a chance to show that he was able to do the job. This is not only a success story because Seamas was hired after his work experience ended, but showed success in that work experiences that are paid by the services provider for clients to participate in, help clients in the discovery process to help consider employment in an area with little or no experience. Since LIFEDesigns pays the client to work during the work experience, the employer doesn’t have to say no immediately to a person with disabilities seeking employment opportunities due to fiscal concerns. Instead they get to see the client in action! Even if the work experience ends without a successful placement into a job, their Employment Consultant can use this experience to help guide further employment discovery.
The culture is good for Seamas at Freddy’s as they believe in a “work family” philosophy where they all help and support one another to succeed. Freddy’s was able to set Seamas up with a mentor/trainer when he first started and that beginning had a lot to do with his success! We wish Seamas the very best with his “work family” at Freddy’s.