Community Leaders

by Rob Brazell

I’d like to thank Steve Zimmermann and Howard Foster, my pilot and Mission Assistant on a recent Angel Flight West mission to serve R2W clients.  They made a material sacrifice that enabled me to realize R2W’s mission and I am deeply grateful.

I’ve taken many Angel Flights over the years.  10 years ago, I remember taking three small planes from my hometown airport in Boulder, Colorado to a military base in Montana where I gave a motivational speech to injured soldiers and their families.  Talk about a group of caring people who just give and give and give!  Each leg was a compelling story about the American spirit and I felt tremendously privileged to be part of something so good.

Steve, Howard, and I had perfect weather as we flew over the Rocky Mountains.  It was exhilarating.  I felt renewed as I always do on Angel Flights.  There’s just something about flying 10,000 to 20,000 feet above the earth.  So Angel Flights are a double benefit for me.

Steve Zimmerman says, “Volunteering my aircraft and piloting experience for Angel Flight missions is a joy: everyone gets something out of the deal. My passengers get to where they need to go for their medical treatments, and I get to share my love of flying. If the beauty of flight can take a patient’s mind off their illness for an hour or two, so much the better.”

The following pictures are from Steve.

Thank you again and again, Steve and Howard.  You are good people doing good things.

 

More stories:

 

www.return2work.org

 

http://www.return2work.org/2017/r2ws-20th-annual-gala-january-13-2018

http://www.return2work.org/2017/testimonials

 

http://www.return2work.org/contact-us

 

 

R2W celebrated last year’s award recipients at Summit Church in Denver, Colorado on April 20th, 2016.  It was an inspiring event.  See photos and read more about it on our Facebook page.

2015 – Blastoff!

  R2W launches its Mentor program under Admiral Young’s guidance

R2W participates in Military & Veterans Employment Expos (MVEE), hosts classes at community colleges & universities, and engages the community at our annual Day Of Caring event

 

R2W significantly increases Employment Services & Supported Employment in Florida

 

 

R2W’s Founder awarded President Obama’s Gold Medal.

2015 Board Member of the Year

Andy Sesser, Treasurer. Andy mentored Rob Brazell in relearning the financial management skills necessary to run a business. Andy owns Sesser Business Solutions: providing quality accounting software solutions since 1992.

2015 Webmaster of the Year

Nena Gardner. Nena is a Bachelor of Science graduate of Business Management and Information Systems emphasis from the University of Colorado Denver Business School. She has over ten years of community service experience, both as a member, volunteer and in leadership roles. She currently works at Colorado National Guard Family Program’s Office as a Family Readiness Support Assistant contractor. Rob Brazell is her mentor through Colorado National Guard ESGR program and she has been with R2W since November 2015 as a Job Developer/ Webmaster/ & Social Media Coordinator.

 

2015 Instructor of the Year

Jennifer Cohen. Jennifer is an instructional designer and adult educator with over twenty years of experience working with a diverse population of learners. Jennifer’s background in technology training includes applications for the office, presentations, and the web.  She holds a master’s degree in learning technology and uses her passion for creative problem solving to help others understand complex concepts.

 

 

2015 Employee of the Year

Nikki D’Agostino, Employment Specialist. Nikki is particularly drawn to aiding the developmentally disabled, physically and mentally disabled, the underprivileged, and the underemployed. At an early age she began volunteering at Wrentham Developmental Center. She graduated from Suffolk University with highest distinction for a Bachelor’s degree of Science in clinical psychology and worked at Arbour-Fuller Psychiatric Hospital where she served dual diagnoses patients (mental illness and co-occurring drug addiction).  She worked as a Career Specialist for two years at a non-profit organization in Massachusetts. She says, “Working as an Employment Specialist at Project: Return to Work Inc has given me the opportunity to work with employers to strive for equality and diversity in the workplace, ….  I am always pushing myself to learn new skills and knowledge so that I can be a better leader, organizer and advocate for those less fortunate than myself.”

2015 STEM Interns of the Year

Edward Fenwick. Ed Fenwick recently graduated from the Kalamazoo Area Math and Science Center. He moved from the United Kingdom in 2009 and has lived in Kalamazoo since then. Ed participated in the Assistant Job Development Internship as well as the Assistant Technical Support Internship. He is a member of the Gull Lake Area Robotics team and does research at Western Michigan University.

Rhett Sandal. Rhett Sandal is a student at Silver Creek High School in Longmont, Colorado.  He set the standard for Job Developers and Tech Support Specialists.   He is active in the Robotics and Music field, and likes to help people with their technology problems.

 

2015 Volunteer of the Year

James Spencer, Employment Specialist. After a successful career in business Jim became disabled and found how difficult it is for a person with a disability to find a job. This personal experience convinced him he had a responsibility to apply what he had learned in business to improving this situation. For additional preparation he returned to school, completed a Master’s degree in Administration and a Masters in Rehabilitation Job Services. This combination of experience and education in the profession has created opportunities for him to work with clients with disabilities from the assembly line to the board room. In 2008 he published “Job Search 101.” Since then he has helped develop job service programs in several nonprofit organizations and been guest lecturer to degree candidates in Rehabilitation Services. Career search is his passion. His motto is “Everyone deserves an opportunity to acquire and hold a good job. Disability should not be a factor.

2015 Model Citizen

Greg Lind, Farmer Insurance Agent. R2W’s Founder says, “Greg Lind saved me a bundle of money on my car and homeowners insurance. He also donates monthly and mentors key people. Greg is a model citizen and I am deeply grateful for his community leadership.”

 

 

 

Lifetime Achievement

Frankie R Nixon Brazell, Missions Operations Manager (MOM) & Founder. Fran has worked tirelessly for nearly two decades to create a self-sustaining operation in Florida. She is a model leader and has placed many disabled Americans in meaningful careers. Fran worked in Administration at the First Church of Christ Scientist and as a Team Lead at the US Bureau of Land Management. Fran also owns and operates NAC Business Consulting.

 

R2W Programs Tier 1 & 2: Direct Recruiting Tier 1 clients are not injured and Tier 2 clients have completed their vocational rehabilitation.     They are “job ready” and can radically speed up the employment process by utilizing automated features and online classes. Tier 3 & 4: Service Learning Tier 3 clients are severely injured and need vocational rehabilitation. Tier 4 clients are so severely injured that gainful employment is not realistic but supported employment adds quality of life. Service Learning internships utilize donated technologies to quickly zero in on specific work tasks that excite clients, bring out their resiliency, and achieve stabilization more quickly. Tier 3 & 4: Employment Services & Supported Employment R2W provides an array of traditional vocational rehabilitation services for Tier 3 & 4 clients. These clients frequently require months or years of intensive service.

Our Services Evaluation Clients evaluate themselves in a fraction of the time. Our psychometric profiler asks questions in a creative way to assess client aptitudes and preferences. R2W counselors performs a follow up evaluation to complete a plan. The plan identifies the client’s career goals, personality traits and interests — along with traditional factors such as work experience — in order to match them with potential employers. Training Clients enroll in vocational programs, higher education, and/or R2W’s Service Learning program. Additional career counseling includes resume critiques, successful interview / presentation strategies, business and career etiquette, and more. Placement R2W counselors utilize donated technologies and innovative methods to match applicants with employers for unprecedented positive outcomes – lasting placements.

 

August 14, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Help Needed at United Way’s 2015 Day of Caring to Connect Veterans with Jobs

 

BOULDER—Project: Return to Work, Inc. (R2W) helps returning veterans, including wounded warriors, and disabled citizens to find meaningful careers with living wages.

 

The non-profit organization is seeking 25 volunteers to man its call bank during Foothills United Way’s 2015 Day of Caring on September 11^th, which will be held at facilities donated by Office Evolution. R2W will train volunteers to alert job seekers that they’ve been matched with potential employers, and also connect them with professional counselors to prepare them for their interviews. This year Safeway—which has a strong track record helping veterans—is recruiting for a number of positions.

Volunteers can register via www.return2work.org (click on GET INVOLVED) or Foothills United Ways Volunteer Connections (click here).

 

“So many of us want to thank our service people,” notes Rob Brazell, R2W president. “The annual Day of Caring event lets volunteers use state-of-the-art technology—all of which has been donated by sponsors like ReadyTalk, StaffCV and Microsoft—to connect active duty service members, veterans and military spouses to meaningful jobs.” After the half-day event, interested volunteers can continue their service by working independently to match over 8,500 R2W participants to the best positions.

 

R2W also seeks to recruit new employers and sponsors for the Day of Caring event as well as for long-term involvement. (R2W suggests an optional contribution of $175 per posting to cover core costs.) More sizable private industry sponsorships to support career counselors and STEM interns are also needed. Contact Jason Kamp at http://www.return2work.org/contact-us or (720) 359-1541.

 

 

Day of Caring: 8:00 AM – Noon, 4845 Pearl East Circle, Suite 101, Boulder, CO 80301

There will be a picnic afterwards at United Way location. Bring your laptop!

 

SPONSORS

Thank you!

                                   

 

 

 

 

 

 

      

By Stefanie Fleisig O’Connor

Project: Return to Work Inc. (R2W) is probably best known for helping U.S. veterans to transition back into civilian society via meaningful employment.  Founded in 1998, the Colorado-based non-profit organization has a solid track record of training and placing service people—including wounded warriors with significant disabilities—to perform jobs that best suit their needs and capabilities.

R2W’s mission transcends the veteran segment, however, to include non-military Americans with varying degrees of disability.  Carol Sarganis, a Naples, FL-based Employment Specialist and job coach who was hired by R2W in 2006, is uniquely qualified to fulfill her role with empathy as well as expertise.

“I have the Limb Girdle form of Muscular Dystrophy, which affects the lower extremities,” Sarganis explains.  “I had trouble walking throughout childhood and I have used a wheelchair since high school.”  Despite her lifelong challenges Sarganis feels that she also has had many opportunities, including being able to serve as a remedial reading specialist at the elementary school level for 28 years.  “I’ve always had an innate desire to help people with disabilities,” she says, “and my teaching experience has helped me be effective for R2W’s clients.”

On R2W’s behalf Sarganis became a certified provider of the Federally-funded Division of Vocational Training (DVR).  In this role she helps disabled job seekers in the Naples area with everything from appropriate dress and hygiene advice to transportation to job interviews.  Her clients fall into three tiers: those with multiple disabilities who require significant job support, people who can perform their jobs with some support, and job seekers who can be independent after the initial training period.

Sarganis has learned to adapt her teaching style, including coaching prospective employees on resume preparation and interview skills, to both the capabilities and limitations of each client.  At times this means gently adjusting expectations.  “I have a client named John who wanted to be an animal trainer, but his disabilities precluded this,” she recalls.   In addition to having a borderline IQ, which makes many tasks too difficult, this client suffers from extremely low self- esteem—a trait that contributed to John’s history of quitting jobs after a short time.

Sarganis realized that John needed an unusually high level of affirmation from an employer, and worked to find the right fit for him.

A job bagging groceries at Publix, a large supermarket chain, was the answer for John.  “Publix has a track record of hiring people with special needs, and his supervisors did a great job training him,” Sarganis says.  “This employer is especially good about validating his work and feelings.”  After nearly three years in a full-time position at Publix, Sarganis considers John a success story.

R2W client Pete’s limitations are similar to John’s, but he couldn’t be more different in temperament and attitude.  “He’s outgoing and very self-confident, which is wonderful,” explains Sarganis, “but his extreme chattiness was hurting his employment chances.”  She worked with Pete to build a resume—something she does with every client—and also taught him to curb his loquaciousness, a decidedly more unusual task.  “We’re still working on it,” she says with a laugh.  Having served as a grocery bagger at Winn Dixie since 2010, Pete is now training to become a stock boy.  Sarganis has gotten to know Pete’s family and she notes that his parents, like the vast majority of clients’ parents, strive to help their child become as independent as possible.

Sarganis also has had success placing people who require far less support.  In the case of Michael, who suffered a stroke in his 40s that left him paralyzed on one side, the bulk of her job was providing logistics.  R2W got the ball rolling by helping to prepare a resume and line up interviews and transportation, and Michael ran with it, impressing his prospective employer so much that he was hired on the spot as a security guard in a gated community. “He was extremely proactive and had a great attitude,” Sarganis says.  Michael has served in this job for around three years.

Whether a job seeker needs heavy support during and after the employment process or, like Michael, is able to move forward without much contact after placement, R2W is equipped to deliver the appropriate level of help for people who want to be gainfully employed despite their limitations.