Tag Archive

Youth Employment Services (YES)

Uncategorized

YES Summer Academy Mentor

Leave a commenton YES Summer Academy Mentor

POSITION:                                     Summer Academy Mentor

REPORTS TO:                              Transition Program Specialist

STATUS:                                        Non-Exempt (Seasonal)

COMPENSATION:                         Hourly Rate

APPLICATION DEADLINE:           Open Until Filled

Founded in San Francisco in 1902, the LightHouse’s purpose is to promote the independence, equality and self-reliance of people who are blind or visually impaired. The LightHouse is currently in a period of growth, increasing our capacity to serve more low-vision and blind clients.

Role Overview:

The Summer Academy Mentor is a seasonal position with primary duties of assisting the Youth Transition Services Team to develop, facilitate and implement educational and enriching programs for youth that are blind or have low vision during the 2022 Youth Employment Services (YES) Summer Academy.

The YES 2022 Summer Academy is designed as a 4-week long immersive experience for blind and low vision transition-age youth between the ages of 16-26 to gain first-hand knowledge to build their confidence, identify their strengths and develop a sense of direction through interactive work-based learning experience and career exploration activities.

The Summer Academy Mentor must be youth-focused, flexible, and in possession of strong interpersonal, leadership and communication skills to relate to a diverse array of participants and collaborators. As a member of the LightHouse Youth Services Team, the Summer Academy Mentor will play a critical role in supporting the implementation of activities which meet the five (5) of the Pr-employment transition services including:

  1. Job exploration counseling
  2. Work-based learning experiences
  3. Counseling on opportunities for exploration and enrollment in comprehensive transition or post-secondary educational programs
  4. Workplace readiness training to develop soft and independent living skills
  5. Critical instruction in self-advocacy refinement

Qualifications:

  • Some college experience preferred, high school diploma or GED required
  • At least one year of experience working with youth of all ages
  • Competent computer skills with Microsoft Suite and working knowledge of accessible technologies and software
  • Is youth-focused, flexible, and in possession of strong interpersonal, leadership and communication skills to relate to a diverse array of participants, their families, and collaborators
  • Possess strong personal initiative. Curiosity about people, a sense of humor and a team-oriented style to support LightHouse services and the transformative effect we have on the lives of individuals who are blind or have low vision

Physical Demands:

The Summer Academy Mentor is expected to reside and work on program premises, at our LightHouse San Francisco headquarters, throughout The YES Summer Academy program and training dates (July 5 – 31, 2022) with 2-3 additional dates to be announced for staff training. Work schedules will typically range from 6-8 hours per day, 5-6 days per week. Please be aware that job duties or responsibilities may be modified if we are unable to host the Summer Academy face-to-face and the program shifts to a virtual model based on the most up-to-date epidemiological guidance.

Job Responsibilities:

  • The Summer Academy Mentor will work in a team to support the development, implementation, and evaluation of transition programs, services and activities for Youth that are blind or have low vision
  • The individual will assist in the facilitation of group discussions, provide individual guidance on student projects/work experiences, as well as support the evaluation of students’ assignments throughout the YES Summer Academy and training dates (July 5 – 31, 2022) to meet the intended program outcomes
  • The Summer Academy Mentor will be expected to apply basic youth and blindness development principles in working with students through communication, soft skills development, respect for diversity and empowerment of youth
  • The Summer Academy Mentor will participate enthusiastically in the development and implementation of program activities for students within the mission and learning outcomes of the program
  • The individual is responsible for leading and assisting with the teaching of activities including but not limited to three (3) primary areas (travel and mobility, independent living skills and home management, and professionalism and assistive technology) as part of employment readiness
  • The Summer Academy Mentor will serve as positive role model to students and others regarding general program procedures and practices including professionalism, safety, scheduling, attitudes, behaviors, and teamwork
  • This person will provide support with program logistics including but not limited to scheduling appointments, maintaining student records, service reporting, technical support with instructional platforms, etc.
  • The Summer Academy Mentor is responsible for contributing to verbal and written student evaluations and communication as requested
  • The individual will participate as a member of the staff team to draft, deliver, and host social recreational activities and functions as assigned including evening and weekend shifts
  • The Academy Mentor is to assure students are properly always supervised during both on-site and off-site programming activities
  • This person is to attend and participate in weekly staff meetings to be prepared during programming sessions
  • The Summer Academy Mentor will be sensitive and alert to students and staff needs and assist them with personal and/or health concerns, and discuss with supervisor when appropriate
  • Other Duties: Please note that this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Compensation:

  • Hourly rate

Working Conditions:

LightHouse is an equal opportunity employer. LightHouse policy and the law prohibit discrimination and harassment based on an individual’s race, ancestry, religion or religious creed (including religious dress and grooming practices), color, age (40 and over), sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, national origin (including language use restrictions), marital status, medical condition (including cancer and genetic characteristics), physical or mental disability (including HIV and AIDS), military or veteran status, pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and related medical conditions, denial of Family and Medical Care leave, height and weight, or any other classification protected by federal, state, or local laws, regulations, or ordinances. Our policy and the law prohibit co-workers, third parties, supervisors, and managers from engaging in such conduct.

LightHouse personnel are employed on an at-will basis. Employment at-will means that the employment relationship may be terminated, with or without cause and with or without advance notice at any time by the employee or the Agency. We strive to maintain a scent-free environment and a drug-free workplace.

Submitting an Application:

For ease of accessibility, kindly submit your cover letter and résumé as Word attachments (no .PDFs please) and employment application (downloads in a Word document) to hr@lighthouse-sf.org, using the job title as your subject line. To fill out the application, please enable editing in the document. We will not consider videos or hyperlinks to online profiles in lieu of the requested format. Due to time constraints, we apologize for being unable to acknowledge all interest that may be shown in each position. No third-party solicitations, please. We sincerely appreciate your thoughtful consideration during this process.

This Year Marked the Return of the YES Academy to EHC
LightHouse News

This Year Marked the Return of the YES Academy to EHC

This summer, LightHouse was thrilled to bring back the Youth Employment Services (YES) Summer Academy. Due to COVID-19 restrictions and health and safety protocols, last year we ran the program virtually. This year we were back in person with a slightly re-designed program to accommodate the safety of our students and staff while still keeping the fun, interactive elements and activities we’ve always valued in the academy. Our participants spent this four-week program at Enchanted Hills Camp (EHC) where the spacious and lush grounds allowed for safe, socially distanced outdoor instruction.

YES is a program designed to educate and prepare youth who are blind or have low vision ages 16 to 24 for a successful future, focusing primarily on employment and independent living skills. During the Summer Academy, our participants are given the opportunity to fill their summer with engaging and valuable pre-employment learning experiences, independent living training, employment readiness seminars, mentoring conversations, discussions about self-advocacy in equality and inclusion in the workplace, not to mention all the memorable social activities and building connections with friends and mentors.

The four weeks were broken down into goal-based themes. The first week was “Your Skills, Your Goals Bootcamp.” Week two focused on expanding employment knowledge and networking in the community. YES ended its program with workshops in learning to grow one’s resume and work experience in weeks three and four.

The students documented their experiences throughout these four weeks by writing blogs. First time participant, a young woman with low vision named Tatiana, reflected on her time at the YES Summer Academy.

“I’ve always said and knew I didn’t want to have to rely on my family, friends, and others to help me go on in life and do whatever it is I may need to do, but deep down there was always that worry of what seemed at the time to be an inevitable fact that I’d have no choice and I would need to come to terms with always needing some kind of reliance. However, after going through this program and learning and practicing what I have for the first time in my life, that thought and doubt is no longer there. I have confidence in knowing I will be able to go on in life confidently by myself.

“Not only has the program taught me new skills but it has given me a newly found hope and excitement. I’m not fully blind but I still struggle in places where visual problems are not noticed often. After staying at the camp where everyone is visually impaired it’s made me feel more accepted. I have never realized that the stereotypes used to describe the blind community are the farthest thing from true. I’ve been inspired and cannot wait to return to Enchanted Hills Camp and the YES Academy where I have learned that my vision does not define me.”

Another YES participant, Heaven, had the opportunity to gain work experience by working as Recreation Assistant at the Enchanted Hills Teen Camp session that was going on simultaneously with YES in the last weeks of the program.

“The first few days of my work experience as the Recreation Assistant, I observed how the Area Leader taught the campers what to do, and after that I led some of the activities. I learned more about Archery, and a new sport known as Disc Golf. I’ve learned many things through working this job, mainly how to talk to a large crowd of people. I met a lot of the campers and staff and learned about them as well. It is a very interactive job, which I like because it helps me be better at talking with other people. This job gave me skills I will be able to use in the future. It tested my communication skills, and ability to problem solve. It also tested my memorization skills, because I had to memorize people’s names and what order they were in for certain recreational activities. The experience was a good one, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to work this job. I love sports and now I have a way to teach them to other blind people, and a way to explain them if I ever need to. It was a valuable experience.”

YES offers different programs and workshops year-round. If you are or if you know any blind and low vision youth ages 16 to 24 who are interested in preparing for their future, you can contact Youth Programs Assistant, Daisy Soto, at DSoto@lighthouse-sf.org, or by calling 415-694-7328. LightHouse youth activities are not just summer only, but every month, all year long. Visit our Youth Programs department page on our website or check out our online calendar for upcoming events and programs.

LightHouse’s Ann Wai-Yee Kwong Believes in the Importance of Addressing Culture for Success in Blindness
LightHouse News

LightHouse’s Ann Wai-Yee Kwong Believes in the Importance of Addressing Culture for Success in Blindness

The transition from childhood to young adulthood can be a difficult time in any young person’s life—but for those with limited resources, or a lack of information about what resources are available, the transition can become overwhelmingly difficult. For many students who are blind or have low vision, especially those facing cultural adversity, the information and resources regarding next steps towards a productive and successful future after high school simply are not provided. Most of the support given to students who are blind or have low vision and their families is offered through the public-school system. However, because there is a limited number of TVIs (teachers of the visually impaired) and other qualified VI educators in public schools, resources can be limited and are often stretched between school districts, making the actual time a blind or low vision student spends with these VI educators and mentors very minimal. Of these students, many are first generation American, introducing the additional difficulties of struggling with language barriers. These students are constantly having to balance learning to adapt to American culture in their schools where they are receiving an education, maintaining homelife culture within their families, and navigating this new world of blind culture and building their adaptive education and independence skillsets.

LightHouse Transition Program Specialist Ann Wai-Yee Kwong runs programs made up of trainings and informational workshops—some of which are offered in Spanish to support the blind and low vision Spanish speaking community—for young adults and their families to prepare for their futures and the transition from childhood into adulthood. Ann’s education and professional experience coupled with her own personal experiences as a blind woman who emigrated from Hong Kong as a child make her highly qualified in this area. Her unique brand of passion and empathy stemmed from her own transition experience makes her the ideal mentor to help pave a successful path towards furthering education and employment for our youth.

Growing up as a blind, first generation Chinese American in Los Angeles, Ann had little knowledge of what resources were available to her outside of what public school is legally obligated to provide.

“I had never heard of the landmark legislation, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), nor learned about disability history,” Ann shares.

Historically, in many cultures across the globe, disabilities of any sort have been portrayed in limiting and negative terms. Blindness is often equated through language as a lack of knowledge. Phrases like “the blind leading the blind” create harmful societal expectations and stereotypes, many times leading to a lack of self-worth or self-confidence within the blindness community.

“It was not until I went to college that I discovered many of my peers with disabilities also shared, for the first time, the experience of feeling empowered as we cultivated disability community and found pride in our identities.  Subsequently, although the ADA has provided many educational rights and opportunities for persons with disabilities, there remains a great deal of work around shifting the negative societal perceptions of disabilities as well as in employment, where the employment rate of persons with disabilities, 19.3%, continues to lag far behind that of non-disabled persons, 66.3% in 2019, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.”

This motivated Ann to build a career educating youth who are blind or have low vision about what blindness resources are available and how to make the most of these opportunities. She knows that understanding your options and developing healthy, positive social and personal ideologies about what it means to be blind are essential in working towards a successful future.

Over the years Ann has partnered with various blindness advocacy groups, government agencies like the Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) as well as many VI educators. These partnerships have catalyzed her passion and informed her work with youth who are blind or have low vision, which then molded and inspired the programs she has started at LightHouse.

“The Youth Employment Services (YES) program and curriculum is based on research, best practices, and the nationally recognized Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). I strive to provide meaningful work-based experiences for youth to fill the gap for employers, creating a talented pool of future professionals.”

While creating equal opportunities and building a dynamic skillset and experience for blind and low vision youth is the mission of the work Ann does, for her, it is the social and emotional growth that is the most rewarding accomplishment.

“The best part of my job is building trust with my students and watching them build that confidence, because that is transferable. Once you instill that confidence in someone, that can’t be taken away,” Ann believes.

“My most rewarding experience while working at LightHouse is the genuine sense of community and family, we are able to build, especially during the YES Summer Academy when staff and students spend four full weeks working, learning, and living under one roof. This heartfelt sentiment is also expressed by our students, and I had not previously felt this in other blindness programs in my prior work, making this unique to LightHouse.”

The work Ann and the Youth Programs department is doing is starting to change the misconceptions of the lives people who are blind or have low vision can live, for both the blind community and those who are sighted. Ideas for new groundbreaking programs and plans to grow and expand the reach of Youth Programs is constantly underway.

Ann is continuing to further educate herself in the field of education, leadership, and advocacy. She is currently working towards her PhD in Education at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her growing knowledge and passion are packed into every LightHouse program she runs and is reflected in the future of every student she mentors. Because of incredible mentors like Ann Wai-Yee Kwong, the future of kids everywhere who are blind or have low vision is bolder than it’s ever been.

To learn more about our transition programs for youth, contact Ann at AKwong@lighthouse-sf.org or by phone or text at 415-484-8377.