Schools, nonprofit partner in job placement for intellectually disabled

In a southwest Las Vegas Valley grocery store, a young woman with a blond ponytail bags potato chips and apple juice with a smile.

And with good reason: After three years of training, Austen Martinet, 21, has landed her first paid job as a Vons courtesy clerk.

The Sierra Vista High School graduate is part of the Job Discovery Program, a partnership for intellectually disabled students between Southern Nevada nonprofit Opportunity Village and the Clark County School District. The training program is considered schooling, and the district allows special education students to continue their schooling until age 22.

Martinet, who has been working at Vons for just more than a month, is one of about 80 currently enrolled students who have benefited from the tuition-free program. They complete the training at different speeds, depending on their abilities.

The program helps fill a need for a demographic that faces challenges in obtaining employment.

Just 21 percent of people with intellectual disabilities nationwide were employed from 2011 to 2012, according to a February study commissioned by the Special Olympics. That’s more than double the unemployment rate for the nation as a whole during that same time period, which sat around 9 percent.

Martinet has difficulty reading, which made it hard to progress past a second- to third-grade reading level, her mother said.

But this young adult is like any other woman her age: She wants a job, an apartment and a boyfriend, her mother Glenda Martinet said.

The Job Discovery program, begun 12 years ago, works to transition high school seniors into the working world. Students receive nine weeks of training in six career options: custodial, food service, child care, warehouse, retail and medical support.

They also learn about workplace ethics, customer service and job interviewing.

Aside from finding jobs for students at places such as Trader Joe’s and Vons, Opportunity Village runs various services out of its Las Vegas locations that employ people with intellectual disabilities. These services include document scanning and making boxed lunches and gourmet popcorn.

The end goal for Opportunity Village is to employ all of its clients in regular jobs, but there are currently about 100 participants waiting for employment, according to the organization. The program has placed nearly 200 students in jobs since it started.

Before joining the Vons team, Austen Martinet volunteered at the St. Rose Dominican Hospital-San Martin campus sterilizing surgical equipment. The experience was valuable, Martinet said, but she took the opportunity at Vons because she can earn a paycheck.

Glenda Martinet said she was nervous on her daughter’s first day at Vons, but Austen Martinet wasn’t fazed.

“I learned how to take care of myself,” Austen Martinet said.

Vons has been flexible about giving her weekends off and about working around her schedule because she doesn’t drive, her mother said.

Nikki Barelli, customer service manager at Vons, said Austen is a hard worker and that “all of the supervisors love her.”

As Martinet bags groceries, Katie Lashlee, job developer for Opportunity Village, watches proudly.

Lashlee has served as a job coach for Martinet over the past six months and has watched her go through about four job interviews.

Opportunity Village doesn’t need to supervise Martinet any longer, but Lashlee said she still likes to come and visit her.

Martinet had a lot of motivation during the job interviewing process, Lashlee said.

“She never gave up that sense of determination,” Lashlee said.

Contact Alex Corey at acorey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0270. Find him on Twitter: @acoreynews.