Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World

Angela Calzone's Vision:Integrating disabilities into the workforce

• Tony Mantor

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Angela Calzone shares how Inroads to Opportunities supports individuals with disabilities through comprehensive programs designed to facilitate meaningful employment. 

The organization's business-oriented approach focuses on integration, skills development, and changing employer perceptions about hiring people with both visible and invisible disabilities.

• Inroads to Opportunities serves approximately 400 individuals annually with various disabilities
• School-to-work transition programs allow students to remain until age 21, learning practical skills
• Contract packaging operation provides real-world work experience in assembly and shipping
• Certificate programs include Serv Safe food handling and OSHA forklift training
• On-site job coaches support both employees and employers during the transition
• New Jersey employers can receive tax credits for hiring individuals with disabilities
• Vocational assessments help identify skills, interests, and suitable career paths
• Success rates for program graduates are approximately 95%
• Community integration is central to the organization's philosophy and approach


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intro/outro music bed written by T. Wild
Why Not Me the World music published by Mantor Music (BMI)

Speaker 1:

Welcome to why Not Me, the World podcast, hosted by Tony Mantor, broadcasting from Music City, usa, nashville, tennessee. Join us as our guests tell us their stories. Some will make you laugh, some will make you cry. Their stories Some will make you laugh, some will make you cry. Real life people who will inspire and show that you are not alone in this world. Hopefully, you gain more awareness, acceptance and a better understanding for autism around the world. Hi, I'm Tony Mantor. Welcome to why Not Me, the World. Joining us today is Angela Calzone, president and CEO of Inroads to Opportunities, an organization dedicated in supporting individuals with disabilities, both visible and invisible. They provide training and assistance to facilitate a seamless transition into the workforce. Angela brings a wealth of knowledge and we are delighted to have her with us today. Thanks for coming on. We're delighted to do this If you would tell us a little bit about what you do.

Speaker 2:

We are Inroads to Opportunities and we are a 501c3 nonprofit organization, Been around about 66 years and we support individuals with disabilities, whether they're visible disabilities or invisible disabilities. So what does that mean? Disabilities or invisible disabilities? So what does that mean? That means physical, mental health, behavioral health, intellectual, developmental disabilities, and we take folks as young as 16 in our various programs and they can stay with us through retirement and beyond.

Speaker 1:

What prompted you to get into this line of work?

Speaker 2:

So I had a management consulting practice for many years, served clients in both New Jersey and New York City, and this agency was one of my clients. We used to do strategic planning, we used to do a lot of training for their staff, help them with the marketing, and we had other nonprofits throughout New Jersey and New York that we worked with. But something about this place really appealed to me the staff, you can tell, genuinely cared for and supported the individuals that they served. The longevity of people working here was really impressive. You had young people working here from their graduation from college right through to getting ready to retire. So it was really impressive how much blood, sweat and tears the staff really put into caring for and supporting the individuals that they serve.

Speaker 2:

I also was intrigued by how happy the people who participated in these programs were when I visited. They were friendly, they were engaging, they were engaging with each other. They had such an extraordinary camaraderie. It was just an overall very impressive place and I just you know how when you walk in the door someplace, you're like, yeah, you know what, I'm not leaving, it's just something. There's going to be this connection here, and for a while I served on the board for about a hot minute and then my daughter took ill so I had to. I couldn't really make a commitment, a volunteer commitment like that, but always stayed in touch, always served them as a client, and then when I got word that the current president and CEO was going to retire, that's when we started the conversations about how I might fit in to the future of this place. So it has been an incredible, great adventure and I love the mission, the vision. The people Couldn't ask for a better place to be.

Speaker 1:

That's nice. Now, how long have you been there?

Speaker 2:

I'm here five years. I joined two months before the pandemic.

Speaker 1:

What are some of the changes that you've seen from when you started to what it is today?

Speaker 2:

I'm not a social worker. I don't come from the mental health or social services space. I'm a business person, a serial entrepreneur. I've also worked for large and mid-sized companies, national multinational companies. So what I've brought to the table is the business acumen that I think may have been lacking in, not just here, but in a lot of nonprofits throughout the country, through no fault of their own. I think they're very focused on delivering quality programs and services, which, of course, is the priority, but maybe not as much attention is paid to what's our growth strategy, what's our back office look like, what does our bottom line look like? So we can keep the lights on.

Speaker 2:

Having brought a lot of that business acumen and sort of corporateness to the agency, I've seen a big shift in how we market, how we develop business and sponsors and just really it's a very different way that we're engaging with the community. Now we are out in the community and that's the whole purpose of this place is to fully integrate our folks, because they are your brothers and sisters and your sons and daughters, and your neighbors and your friends. They're not isolated. People with disabilities are part of the community, and so we are out there in full force, engaging with local politicians, we volunteer for things, we're at the movies, we go on trips, we're at the supermarket, we're learning life skills and vocational skills and we're getting jobs in the community. We're just citizens of the world, just like everybody else.

Speaker 1:

So how have you grown? How many people work within your organization?

Speaker 2:

We serve approximately 400 individuals each year with a variety of services. We've got school-to-work transition programs. We've got pre-vocational programs. We've got job development and job coaching, where we're on the job with our folks, supporting them and making sure that they understand the work that they're supposed to do for their employer. We've got full complement of mental health services. We even have a contract packaging operation here that we run. Also a full service kitchen. We have training programs where you can earn a certificate. So we've got quite a robust series of programs and services here. That said, with us serving 400 individuals each year, we're a suburb of New York City, in Union County, new Jersey. I see us in the next five to seven years, doubling that number because there's such a great need in our area, in our community, and we've got amazing people and amazing services. So there really isn't any reason why we couldn't be doubling that number in the next five years.

Speaker 1:

What's the criteria to get into your service, what's the process they have to go through and how do you handle it so that you know that it's a good fit for both them and your company?

Speaker 2:

That really depends on how they're referred and their funding source. 16 to 21 year old crowd. They are coming right from their high school. We are considered an out-of-district placement for individuals who have intellectual or developmental disabilities. If a school system or school district doesn't have a robust enough special ed program or services that can support an individual who's got some more complicated challenges or disabilities, then they can outsource them or place them out of district with us. We don't provide the academic education. We provide the life skills development, getting them ready potentially for employment, exposing them to different jobs and careers out in the community. We're really giving them that practical, real world how to negotiate the day-to-day and then what it looks like to start looking for a job and to be employment ready.

Speaker 2:

I think personally this should be a curriculum in every school district in every part of the country, and not just for individuals with disabilities but for all kids. Because how difficult is it when our kids are getting ready to graduate? They don't know the first thing coming out of high school about how to put a resume together or what to wear on an interview. What are the right things to say? How do you respond when the interviewer is asking you questions. What job do you really think you want? What do you like and not like? What have you been exposed to Coming out of high school? You have no clue most of the time. I think this is an advantage for not only individuals with disabilities but all kids. But we focus on the IDD population and we've had great success with these kids.

Speaker 1:

So is your situation like a vocational school where someone will come in and learn their craft. How long do they have to learn it? What's that process look like?

Speaker 2:

They can stay with us In New Jersey. You can remain in high school if you are diagnosed with intellectual or developmental disabilities. You can stay in high school until you're 21 years old so that you have ample time to prepare for your transition into the workforce or if you're going to transition into a college or other scenarios. So they can stay with us from ages 16 to 21 in that particular program. At 21, their school district graduates them and then they can move to a couple of different programs that we have here. If they are ready for employment, we put them in our employment department and we work with them on again getting ready to interview.

Speaker 2:

Let's get a resume and a cover letter together. You've had some exposure to different types of jobs and careers. What do you think you might want to do? Let's get you your first job Now. If they're graduating and they're not quite ready for employment, we have another program called Transition Plus, where it's really an extension of the school to work transition program, where they can spend two additional years really learning life skills, getting some pre-vocational skills and again more of the same being exposed to different jobs, practicing different jobs, having speakers come in and and work with them and talk with them about different career types and what kind of qualifications that you need to be able to take a job in these areas. So it's just an extension of almost like a community college. You get those extra two years of exposure and then hopefully at that point they're ready to move into employment and if they're not, we have other social programs that they can be a part of.

Speaker 1:

I should say so do you have people or organizations that you work with? So when the client goes through your classes, when they're finished, they have maybe a job to go to finished, they have maybe a job to go to.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, we do. We work with local employers throughout the county. Again, it's got to be a right fit. They've got to have a need for an employee and then we've got a roster of folks that may qualify for that job. We bring them together. It's almost in a way like we function as an employment agency but we're not getting any kind of payment from the employer. We're funded by the state of New Jersey. So, yeah, we'll work to do an employer-employee match and we navigate them through the whole process. There's some tax credits available for New Jersey employers to take advantage of if they hire an individual with a disability. It's a win for everybody really. They're getting a great, qualified, trained, loyal employee. They have the opportunity to benefit from tax credit and our folks are getting a job that they will do well at, have support from us on a continuum and have a job that they love, and they can make money and start to build their lives like any of us would want to do.

Speaker 1:

With any company that does things like you do, there's always bumps in the road, challenges to overcome. What were some of the challenges that you faced initially, getting this started, and further, what are some of the challenges that you face day to day now that you've been up and running for a while?

Speaker 2:

We've been doing this for, like I said, about 66 years in various forms. Of course, the agency is at its largest right now. So I think there's a lot of different challenges, perception being the greatest one from an employer's perspective and having been an employer, I think as a business owner or a business manager, you're always concerned. Okay, if I take a person on who has a disability, what's that going to cost me? How much do I have to make in terms of accommodation? Is it going to disrupt the workflow of my other employees? Are they going to have to compensate or overcompensate for this individual? What are my customers going to do if this individual maybe can't interact or communicate in a typical way?

Speaker 2:

There's a lot of concern and worry on the part of employers and also in New Jersey our minimum wage is like $15.49. These days we're finding employers are looking for a person who could not only do one or two tasks but they want them to do the whole roster of responsibilities and sometimes our folks may struggle with that. Those are a big part of the challenges, that perception, but we work very closely with our folks where they're on the job with them, oftentimes, where they're supporting them. So we do a lot of on-the-job training that the employer doesn't have to do.

Speaker 1:

We're always there when there's a need you mentioned. You have a contract for packaging. How does that work?

Speaker 2:

So, like any other company, we do hand assembly and shrink wrapping.

Speaker 2:

We have shipping and receiving, so we can do a number of things and we've had some really great customers and we continue to enjoy that benefit. And so we have a marketing director and a marketing program goes out and gets new business and we also have recurring business for many years and our folks work in this packaging and assembly company that we have and they'll do anything from a slight assembly, typically not something, not anything too heavy. For example, we've got a customer who is an importer of Italian foods and one of the things that we do here is we remove the label of tomato sauce cans, large tomato sauce cans that you see at Costco and BJ's. So those cans will come in directly from Italy and we'll get them in our shipping and receiving department. We have to put them on our assembly line, de-label the Italian label and re-wrap them in the label of the company that is our customer and then we get them ready to ship off to whatever big box store they're going to be in Costco, BJ's, Sam's Club, etc.

Speaker 1:

Your facility seems to cover a multitude of things, which is really good. You've got the packaging. I noticed that you had something about cooking. What does that entail and how does that work for them?

Speaker 2:

We do so. We have a training program here that if an individual signs up for it and goes through the training it's about an eight or nine week course they are able to sit for a test and get their Surf Save food handlers certificate, which is a wonderful thing to have when you are looking for a job in the food industry. That's often a requirement either to get the job or you have to take that test once you're on the job within a certain period of time. So our folks are then able to work in restaurants, cafeterias, within hospitals, nursing homes and school districts, industrial and commercial kitchens. It's a great program and it was recognized by the National Restaurant Association too, because it's Serve Save Certified.

Speaker 1:

I noticed you have evaluations. What does that encompass? Are you evaluating what they can do, what they can learn to do? What's that process look like?

Speaker 2:

to do. What's that process look like? Yes, all of the things that we do here, we want as part of our mission, is to lead to work, to lead to meaningful, sustainable employment, because that is what allows us to live our lives. We have a good job, we can pay our bills, we can have a nice place to live. Our folks want the exact same thing, so the evaluation process can take place at any point in time in getting ready for employment, or maybe it's a re-evaluation. They want to make a career change or a job change.

Speaker 2:

So the evaluation process is very vocationally based. For example, if we've got a high school student who's getting ready to graduate, it's time for them to have a vocational assessment, and what we do is we look at their skills, abilities, competency, areas. We also evaluate what it is that they like, what they feel connected to in terms of a vocation. It's a very comprehensive process, but what the result is almost like. I wish I could have had an evaluation coming out of college, because it really helps inform and provide you with a roadmap, in a way, on how you can be successful, things that you're good at, things you need to work on, areas of interest that you have, but it's very engaging. It's a great tool.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that sounds really good. I noticed you have janitorial. You have several other things, including forklift training. What's that training look like?

Speaker 2:

So we have the OSHA. Forklift training is a certificate training program, like the Surf, save food handlers, our janitorial maintenance program same thing. That's one of the training programs where you can secure a certificate, the other types of vocational learning that we do. We also have some of our folks practicing in our workshop, which is the assembly and packaging, and those folks will go on to work in manufacturing or in warehouse distribution. We also go out into the community and have them do job sampling so that they can learn while they're doing in retail or in a hospital setting as a porter or an orderly Really depends on what the individual's interest is, and so we'll create a plan around them to accommodate that vocational interest.

Speaker 1:

So basically that's just another form of getting out there and shadow working. How wide a net does the shadow working encompass?

Speaker 2:

Again, it's driven by the individual. If we have someone who comes in and who is passionately interested in gosh I don't know working in a bakery, we will dip into our network in the community and say, okay, where can we find a bakery who will accommodate us so that we can do some initial job sampling? Where can we find a bakery who will accommodate us so that we can do some initial job sampling? Where can we find a bakery who's got an open position for this person? Maybe we have a bakery contact where we can evaluate. Just because we like to do something doesn't mean we're necessarily going to be really good at it, and so we would find a bakery where we can work with that person for maybe 25 day period or something like that on site and evaluate whether or not that's really an appropriate pick of a profession for them.

Speaker 1:

So do you work with autistic people as well as those that might have mental health issues?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely so. With autism, that falls under this classification of intellectual or developmentally disabled. But we do have folks that have challenges with mental health. We have folks that are blind and visually impaired, Any combination of those wheelchair-bound, the folks that use a walker, folks that have CP. So it really runs the gamut.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's great, pretty inclusive. So how is your percentage of those that come in, learn and then those that graduate graduate? Do you have a high success rate of graduation as well as a high success rate of getting people valid work?

Speaker 2:

Right, it really depends on the program. With our contract packaging, for example, they can be here two years. They can be here 35 years. It really it's up to them, because employment for everyone is a choice, so you choose where you want to go and what you want to do. In terms of our school to work transition programs, our retention rate is incredible and every year we're graduating students. Now, sometimes the class may be only five people, sometimes the class might be 15, 20 people and again when they're 21,. If they've hit all their milestones, they're going to graduate and I would say 95% of our folks that go through our School to Work transition program graduate our program and either go on to another program to hone their skills or go out and secure meaningful employment.

Speaker 1:

That's great. Everyone wants to work. What's the best way for people to find you and contact you?

Speaker 2:

We have a website, we have a social media presence. Our website is inroads2toorg and on there is a list of all of our services, all of the wonderful activities that we do, all of the news releases because we're constantly in the local media which we really enjoy, the attention and affection that we get from the local community and, of course, there's ways to donate.

Speaker 1:

That's great. What would you like to tell our listeners that you think is very important for them to know about what you're doing and the accomplishments that you've had over the years?

Speaker 2:

Probably the most important thing is our mission, and that is everyone who wants it deserves the right to employment, an equal shot at getting a job and keeping a job, irrespective of disability. If they're qualified and capable and they have the supports, they're going to be an amazing employee, and that's really. I think there's a lot of misconception around that. That's what's most important to us that everybody's got a shot, if they want it, at a great, meaningful job.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's great. I really appreciate you taking the time to come on. Thank you for having me. Oh, it's been my pleasure. Thanks again. Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to listen to our show today. We hope that you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you. If you know anyone that would like to tell us their story, send them to TonyMantorcom Contact then they can give us their information so one day they may be a guest on our show. One more thing we ask tell everyone everywhere about why Not Me, the world, the conversations we're having and the inspiration our guests give to everyone everywhere that you are not alone in this world.