Mission Statement
To equip individuals with the skills necessary to integrate into the community as independent citizens.

In March 2009 the Transition Program began with ten Civitan adult clients working toward fulfilling their dreams of living and working independently. The Transition class work is in the newly renovated Bay 2 of the Civitan Plaza in Bryant, next door to The Civitan Shoppe.

Faced with record enrollment and limited space at the Civitan Center (both physically and in the current six class daily rotation) the adult program staff began exploring new ideas and options for accommodating the current enrollment and considering future needs and how to best meet the needs of the clients. The Transition track is for clients is just what it sounds like, the process of transitioning out of the classes at Civitan with its support system and into the community as an active and independent citizen.

“We have many clients coming to us straight out of high school who have been told that having a job and living on their own can be a reality. We needed to find a way to support our supportive employment program and tailor our instruction toward making these dreams a reality,” said Mariessa Bearden, Associate Director.

“The ultimate goal of the track is to graduate clients from Civitan and slowly withdraw the supports so they can stand on their own,” said Mariessa. “We realize that not everyone will move at the same pace, but they can stay in the Transition class as long as they show forward progress. As soon as someone graduates, we will move another candidate into the program. On the other hand, we might have to remove someone from the program for a time if their work ethic changes or they lose the motivation.”

The ten inaugural clients were recommended for the class by the adult instructors based on the amount of interest they have shown toward getting a job and their work ethic in the jobs they have done around the Civitan Center. Recommended clients had to fill out an application listing their goals and what types of jobs they were interested in having. Mariessa then had a conference with each client and family support was obtained to make sure everyone was on the same page and ready to commit to the work ahead.

Heather Bloom is the Transition Coordinator class instructor and she has hit the ground running with a more tailored curriculum and some motivated clients. Soon the group will begin writing formal business letters to local businesses asking for the opportunity to job shadow one of their employees. Heather sat down with each client and worked on making a list of the types of jobs they are interested in having and then a list of the skills they might need for those jobs.

"We are beginning to look at 'graduation dates' for these clients to be ready for jobs out in our community," said Heather. "Some of these guys are already taking college classes and others hope to enroll soon." The clients can improve some skills by working next door to their classroom in The Civitan Shoppe. For others, we are looking for partner businesses willing to offer internships or skill lessons.

The group works as a team to accomplish all their goals. The transition classroom has its own kitchen where they cook meals together. There is a bank of computers where they work on resumes and letters together. The walls are even covered with goal boards and creative collages meant to represent such positive concepts as laughter, happiness and smiles.

Besides a kitchen, the new classroom has computers, a projector and a new flatscreen TV for class instruction, tables for interviews and work space and an area of more comfortable chairs for class discussions. They will also be able to get online with the computers to do job searches and applications. All instruction will be geared toward the workplace. For instance, the usual human relations class will talk about how to act on your break at work, how to read your coworker’s body language or how to ask for help.

In the beginning the clients will mainly spend their time in the classroom or next door in The Civitan Shoppe, but as they meet certain goals they will be able to leave and do activities like volunteer work in the community, job shadowing, field trips to job sites and eventually to work.

The proximity to The Civitan Shoppe as well as the Civitan Donation Center is a great advantage for these ten job seekers. “All the clients you see working in The Shoppe and at the Donation Center will also be in the Transition class. The Shoppe provides valuable on-the-job training for a variety of employable skills,” said Darrell Peters, Community Services and Supportive Employment Director. “It will be nice to tell an employer that I have a candidate who has been working in The Shoppe for months and has mastered several skills like working a cash register and customer service.”

“The group will be a team supporting and motivating each other to reach their goals,” said Mariessa. “Motivation and rewards will play a big part in helping the clients stay motivated and going forward even though it might seem difficult at times. They will have smaller, short-term goals on their way to independence that we will celebrate too.”

The Transition program has all the clients, staff and board members excited, but it doesn’t come without some major costs. Not only is there the renovation costs of creating the new classroom from the old Laser Beam store, but this is a different type of class from what we normally provide.

“Not all of the services we will be providing will be reimbursed by Medicaid,” said Leah Henderson, Executive Director. “The time they spend in the classroom or working at either The Civitan Shoppe or the Donation Center will be covered, but any volunteer opportunities, job shadowing trips, off-site interviews, field trips, etc will not be covered, nor will be the transportation costs associated with it.”

“Once a client is employed, supportive employment plans begin and we will get funding for all of that,” said Darrell “but there is a big gap in between that we will have to fund on our own.”

And that gap is the most important in the lives of the clients and one Civitan Services has made the commitment to help them bridge with the new Transition track. “These clients are stepping up and accepting a challenge and we will be there for the exciting journey,” said Mariessa. “Hopefully the excitement will spread and more clients will start wanting and believing that an independent life is possible.”

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