Community Connections and Employment
Nissa's Story
Dennis' Story
Ebony's Story
Dale's and David's Story
Chad's Story
Uptown Dreams' Story
It’s All About You!
The Community Connections and Employment (CCE) department at Clark DD provides flexible, personalized services to support people with disabilities on their journey toward independence. We help you try new things in order to discover your interests. We help you live your best life by making friends and being a productive member of our community. And we are there with you all the way!
Why Should You Be Interested in CCE?
Because you have a lot to offer! Every person has abilities, skills, and talents that enrich the community and the people around us. We encourage you to discover things about yourself that maybe you’ve never considered. We help you try new things and get involved through community inclusion and employment opportunities.
We will help you complete some assessment tools meant to reflect your interests, academic abilities, aptitudes, transferable skills, work values, personality type, barriers to employment, work attitudes, and functional limitations, and then discuss with you the options available for you. You are in the driver’s seat!
How Actively Participating in Your Community Benefits You
- provides a diverse stimulating environment in which to grow and learn
- evolves feelings of being a member of a diverse community
- enables the development of new friendships
- provides opportunities to develop neighborhood friends
- enhances self-respect
- provides affirmations of individuality
- provides peer models
- provides opportunities to socialize with similar-age peers
Inclusion in Your Community
Our community inclusion program is designed to teach responsibility and daily living skills while engaging you in activities and learning experiences. You’ll learn and practice skills including self-advocacy and communication through social interactions in small groups, volunteering, and interest-based activities. By getting involved in your community you can:
- learn skills to be able to earn your own money
- volunteer to help others
- try new things and develop new hobbies
- live an active life by going to the library, restaurants, concerts, and other public venues
Employment
Working in the community means greater economic self-sufficiency, an opportunity to use and develop your skills, and more active participation in community life. CCE provides you with individualized training and experiences to help you succeed. We teach not only critical job skills in a wide range of industries, but also skills in teamwork, respect, and patience. Visit our Employment page for more information.
Help with Benefits
For the Job Seeker: CCE will help to guide you through the impact of paid employment on a range of public assistance programs, including but not limited to supplemental security income, social security disability insurance, Medicaid buy-in for workers with disabilities, Medicare continuation benefits, veterans benefits, supplemental nutrition assistance program, and housing assistance.
For the Employer: Employers will see an increase in quality candidates who are eager to seek employment and who will be dedicated to the role they are applying for.
Free Online Interest-Based Assessments
You can take one of these free interest-based assessments to help you figure out activities or jobs you might like to try.
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