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Disability Mentoring Day (DMD) was celebrated by Highland and Marlboro school districts with a three-day event schedule geared toward helping disabled individuals find niches within modern work environments.
Sponsored by the American Association for People with Disabilities (AAPD), DMD is celebrated annually on the third Wednesday in October. This year, Darden Restaurants and Dutchess County Outreach collectively sponsored mentoring events on Oct. 19, 20 and 22.
Students from Highland and Marlboro school districts attended job-shadowing events, etiquette presentations and lunch at Darden Restaurants’ Red Lobster and Olive Garden in Poughkeepsie on Oct. 19 and 20.
Students Nick Hoskins and Ann Marie Cusack observed the daily routines of chefs as well as participated in hands-on activities. According to Michael Milliman, Transition Coordinator for Highland and Marlboro school districts, students were excited about finding a possible career as well as simply being at a restaurant.
“Some of them had never gone out to dinner at a restaurant before,” said Milliman. “For them it was something that they had been looking forward to for weeks.”
Mentoring is the gateway to independence for people with disabilities in terms of forgoing reliance on public benefits and finding work, said David Hale, Program Manager for the AAPD.
DMD also helps people with disabilities become more comfortable in their own communities with respect to social interactions and becoming comfortable in work environments.
Many of the Highland and Marlboro students have social anxieties, said Milliman. This program is “making them more well-rounded people just in their daily living.”
The Oct. 22 visit to Dutchess County Outreach was based entirely on community. Disabled students spent the day at the Lunch Box food bank in Poughkeepsie serving meals to the homeless in hopes of bringing a sense of community awareness to students as well as aiding the local homeless.
Similar to its impact on students, DMD can have advantageous implications for employers who may not know much about the disabled community.
“Job seekers are learning skills and the mentors themselves are learning about disabilities which helps change the culture in a workplace to be more accepting and understanding of workers with disabilities,” said Hale.
In Milliman’s opinion, this year’s participants had a great time and the events were successful. Hoskins and Cusack both “came away with a heightened interest in being a chef,” Milliman said.
DMD is an introductory program designed for job seekers to gain preliminary experience and build their resumes. As Hale explained, anybody is welcome to participate.
“That’s the magical thing about mentoring,” he said. “No matter how old or professionally developed you are, people still need mentors in their lives to sort of make the most of their own career.”
According to AAPD’s website, DMD connects nearly 20,000 job seekers with thousands of employers in every U.S. state and territory and in more than 24 countries worldwide each year.
“If you want to work and you self-identify as a person with a disability – welcome to our program,” said Hale.
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