It is unbelievable to me how fast time flies and how much we have accomplished! Rather, how much God has accomplished through us :)
We have just started our sixth 16-week session of the pre-vocational training session and we are already looking to set our dates and start the application process for the next session which will begin in January.
Our current session has another 8 students (two groups of four students). We will provide all the “regular” classes for them: Thirty minutes of social skills/job skills training, sixty minutes of sensory integration therapy (OT), sixty minutes of Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment training (cognitive training) and sixty minutes of vocational classes twice a week until November 21st.
Each of these students will have an employment specialist assigned to him/her to complete the person centered employment plan by the end of September so that we can start the job process before our session is even completed! We have found that if we wait until the session is over, a lot of momentum is lost and there is not as much positive peer pressure :)
We have added an element to our program that we prayed about from the beginning: job opportunities during the session for the students to earn some money while getting vocational training. The Lord provided the first installment of this last Christmas season at the Outlet Shoppes of the Bluegrass when we got to wrap presents for customers for a donation.
Since then, we have helped to families move, manned a book sale and worked at the farmer’s market! The Lord provided the funds to pay our students from a foundation out of Milwaukee WI! We received an unsolicited donation of $5000 that we can use to pay our students to work before they get an official job!
Isn’t God good? (This is where you say, “all the time.”)
We are excited to see how God continues to provide finances and opportunities for us to best educate and prepare our students to be productive workers in the workplace.
If you or someone you know would like a job done by our students, please reach out! 502-257-2719 or nextsteptrianingprogramky@gmail.com