The Choice Group

Chantile has been working at Elite Laundry since December 2016.  Before coming to Elite Laundry, she was a student in the Career Development Program at Norview High School.  After high school, Chantile participated as an intern in the Project SEARCH program, a national program that helps young adults with disabilities transition from school to work.  The program is a collaboration between Norfolk Public Schools, Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, The Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services and The Choice Group, an employment service organization. Chantile comes in every Tuesday morning and goes through the hangers that have been returned by our customers. Each week there are hundreds of hangers that are sent out with tablecloths.  Many of our customers return these hangers to be reused.  This helps provide a job for Chantile and also keeps them out of the landfill.  These hangers need all of their tags removed as well as the tubes that are dirt...

Nolan Speichinger has been working with Brian Rogers since December of last year. After determining that applying for an AbilityOne job would be the best strategy for Brian at the recommendation of his DARS counselor, they applied for jobs through a government contracting agency located in Northern Virginia. The  AbilityOne  program "is among the largest sources of employment, on Federal contracts, for individuals who are blind or have significant disabilities in the United States.” Soon, they found a great position for Brian at a government facility in Washington D.C.! There were many new challenges that Brian had to face with his new job, one of them being transportation. His daily commute in and out of the city usually averages one and a half to two hours and involves getting on the bus to the Franconia/Springfield station, getting off at the metro station, and walking to his nightly shift on time. When he returns from work, the bus is no longer in service and has ...

I began working with Brittany Heath in October 2017, just after she had been offered a position with Walmart on Southpoint Parkway in Fredericksburg, VA in the Maintenance Department. She had worked with another job coach previously and I began working with her once she got the job! Brittany likes to keep things neat and tidy and this position was a great fit for her. Brittany had a wonderful trainer who helped her learn her job duties and answered all of her questions. Brittany picked up her job duties quickly and was moved to follow along services a mere two months after starting her job.  The management staff at Walmart are all very pleased with Brittany’s performance and praise her every time I visit the site. She recently began assisting with the training of new maintenance staff coming on board and says often how much she really likes her job. She is currently working part-time hours, up to 24 hours per week, usually three 8-hour days. Tricia Ann Hall Vocational Couns...

Keaton and his grandmother, Faye | Source  New River CC During the Fall of 2014, Keaton Hanks was a volunteer with a new and emerging consulting group in the Pulaski area of southwestern Virginia. Around that time, Keaton began working with his job coach at The Choice Group through Community Support Services. His objective was to gain employment as the consulting group's part-time administrative assistant by working on his customer service and administrative assistance skills with his coach, Caitlin Igor. Together they worked on phone etiquette, data entry, and in-person customer interaction skills while he was volunteering at the consulting agency. After several months of progress, Keaton was hired as the part-time administrative assistant at the consulting agency where he was volunteering! He and his job coach continued to work on reading and interpreting detailed instructions to complete data entry projects as well as advancing his already improved customer service skills. ...

The Choice Group is happy to participate in two great events this month that both happen to be taking place on Saturday, March 17th! We want to get awareness out there so anyone who wants to attend has ample time to plan ahead. We hope to see you out and about at one of these great events!  Life After High School Transition & Resource Fair Join us in Charlottesville for this FREE event available to students, parents, and Educators! March in March upcoming The Culpeper County Disability Services Advisory Committee is hosting its 2nd Annual March in March from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Culpeper Baptist Church, 318 S. West St. The rain-or-shine event will promote disability awareness while providing resources and information about available services. The event will involve a 30-45 minute walk or ride up to Main Street through the downtown area. There will be balloons, vendors, and food by the Lions Club. No sign-up is necessary. For information or to sponsor a booth,...