Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

In April 2014, Recognizing Abilities and Inclusion of Special Employees, better known as RAISE, was launched as a work and social skills training program for adults with special needs. Since then, the program of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando has continued to grow and expand, impacting employees, their families, volunteer job coaches, staff and our community. The program provides paid employment at local Jewish agencies along with one-on-one job coaching and transition to employment. The RAISE Mission is to build confidence and support adults with special needs and their families in alliance with the Vocational Rehabilitation job placement process.

In early 2021, RAISE earned recognition on the GreatNonprofits Top-Rated Nonprofits List. According to a study by Software Advice, the GreatNonprofits seal is the second most trusted rating seal, after the Better Business Bureau. It is the only "people's choice award" for nonprofits nationwide. (See what people have said about RAISE at greatnonprofits.org.)

Along with everyone else, RAISE in-person employees were "furloughed" during the COVID-19 lockdown. This did not hinder Loren London, RAISE Director, and Rachel Slavkin, Director of Employment and Education, who along with the support of the RAISE Leadership team transitioned the curriculum and one-on-one job coaching into a virtual format. This online adaptation called RAISE Your Skills, allowed participants to develop social and work skills they need to be independent and productive members of the community. An added bonus to RAISE Your Skills sessions was that the participants were able to practice valuable online communication skills that they will certainly use for future job interviews held on Zoom. Three semesters of RAISE Your Skills were completed recently and many of the participants will become in-person RAISE employees this fall.

Throughout the past year, London and Slavkin have been developing and putting the finishing touches on the next step in the program's growth. RAISE has been so successful here in Central Florida that the team wanted to be able to share RAISE with other communities. Soon, RAISE on the ROAD will be ready to hit the highway.

The recently copyrighted curriculum and program manuals are now completed in a ready-to-teach format and will introduce all of the components that a new community will need to know in order to replicate RAISE.

In the months ahead, London and Slavkin, along with the Federation's support, will begin searching for two RAISE program pilot-sites. To turn this expansion vision into reality will require significant funding support. Currently, RAISE relies on local donations. However, the costs of RAISE on the Road's expansion to other communities will need to come from interested donors and grant awards. Thanks to an anonymous donor, a generous gift was made to RAISE, earmarked for grant writing, and thus, has allowed this extensive process to begin.

Everything London and Slavkin learned over the years fine tuning RAISE will be taught by them to the selected pilot-sites, in hopes of seamless expansion to other Jewish communities in the future. If you are interested in supporting RAISE in this endeavor, please visit the website: jfgo.org/RAISE or contact Marisa at the Federation offices - 407-645-6432 ext 236.  

RAISE is also accepting online applications for both fall positions and opportunities to volunteer as a job coach. If you or someone you know may benefit from RAISE or is interested in becoming a volunteer job coach, please apply online at jfgo.org/RAISE or contact Marisa at the Federation offices - 407-645-6432 ext 236.