Did you know that Life’sWork debuted a brand-new, one-of-a-kind Vocational Skills Development Lab this year? Collaborating closely with our partners and career industries to make it as realistic as possible, our Vocational Skills Development Lab is already resulting in positive benefits for our clients as they are not only learning new, valuable employment skills but also growing in their confidence, self-determination, and self-advocacy skills.
How does the new lab work and how are we using it to improve the lives of those with barriers to employment? With the opening of the new lab, every client who comes to Life’sWork looking to improve their employment opportunities goes through a four-week, one-on-one, extensive assessment with our Vocational Skills Development Lab Director Rebekah Funk. Rebekah takes each client through this detailed assessment to ensure that we are being proactive in placing clients into employment opportunities that are good fits for them and that we are meeting each client’s individual needs in a way that helps them not only to learn but also to grow and thrive.
The Skills Lab currently has six different bays, each dedicated to a different type of employment. The bays focus on the following industry skills:
- Production
- Manufacturing
- Food services
- Hospitality services
- Retail
- Inventory management
Set up to reflect employment opportunities in these areas realistically, the bays are a big hit with our clients. (Check out our YouTube overview to learn which bay seems to be the biggest hit right now.) The Skills Lab trains both physical and cognitive skills and allows us to make modifications based on each individual client’s learning needs. More importantly, it promotes pride and self-confidence in our clients, empowering them to grow in tangible and intangible skills and setting them up to thrive in real-world employment opportunities when they graduate from our programming.
As you can imagine, having a state-of-the-art facility like our Vocational Skills Development Lab is making a crucial difference in improving the employment opportunities of those who traditionally have barriers to successful employment. With a distinguished history of service to our community, Life’sWork remains focused on improving the quality of life for individuals with disabilities by providing opportunities for meaningful employment. And our new Skills Lab is doing just that.
We would love to be able to expand our services and provide these unique opportunities to learn, grow, and thrive to even more individuals who call Western Pennsylvania home. But we can only do so with support from the wonderful people who make up our vibrant community and those who believe strongly that everyone should have access to services that allow them to succeed. Consider joining us on Giving Tuesday—December 3, 2024—when we hope to raise $15,000 toward supporting our Vocational Skills Development Lab and ensuring that it can continue to improve the lives of our clients. Find us on social media that day or go to our website and make a donation at any time. You can note in the Gift Notes section that you are contributing to our Giving Tuesday campaign to ensure that your donation goes to support our Skills Lab.
For more information, please reach out to Life’sWork Chief Development Officer Babs Sefiane at bsefiane@lifesworkwpa.org or (412) 471-2600 ext. 261. Babs loves to hear from you and to talk about the real difference our Vocational Skills Development Lab is making in the lives of our clients.
