Our Participants

Our Participants

Meet Mark

Meet Mark

When Mark came to SOAR365 in June 2018, he didn’t speak or respond, he couldn’t identify himself or his mother, Yadira, he had little (if any) attention span and he couldn’t communicate what he wanted. Today, he’s a totally different little boy. “He knows his name, he knows my name, he can tell you his address and phone number. He can say his prayers,” says...

Meet Leroy

Meet Leroy

As a Team Lead in Assembly & Logistics, Leroy Stanford manages a lot of moving pieces. He gets everything set up for the crew, demonstrates the tasks, answers questions and monitors everything to ensure accuracy. Witnessing the teamwork that results from this process is pretty impressive, and Leroy says that best part is seeing the excitement in...

Meet Dre

Meet Dre

DANCING WITH EVERYONE AT STAPLES MILLWhen you walk into the Adult Day Support program at SOAR@Staples Mill, you’ll likely find 25-year-old Shakur Spells, known as Dre, dancing. And not just moving a little bit, but dancing really well. Laura Yackel, a SOAR365 case manager Mill confirms, “He knows how to dance! Dre is always cheering everyone up, either...

Finding Friendship at Soar365

Finding Friendship at Soar365

PARTICIPANTS LEARN SOCIAL SKILLS AND SO MUCH MORE THROUGH SOAR365’S CHILDREN & YOUTH PROGRAMSam and Gavin’s faces glow with smiles when they see each other onscreen. Though they attend SOAR365’s Children & Youth program at separate locations, video conferencing often brings them face to face. It’s delightful to watch their interactions! Both...

Meet Caleb

Meet Caleb

When you first meet Caleb, you hardly get a chance to see the first grader … he’s a racing blur of speed. But once you catch up to him, it’s easy to see this little boy has a heart of gold. Caleb comes flying into SOAR365 (or PARK365) twice a week for speech and occupational therapy visits. Caleb’s mother, Valary, initially sought out SOAR365 because of its...

Meet Ronnie

Meet Ronnie

When he was nearing two years old, it became apparent Ronnie wasn’t meeting certain typical milestones (like crawling, walking, talking, and pointing). His mother, Kimberly, and her medical practitioners began to investigate. “It’s heart-wrenching to be told that you need to get your child tested,” said Kimberly. “It’s a hard place to be, but you can’t stay...

Meet Dori

Meet Dori

Chris Martin, Director of Employment Services, established SOAR365’s partnership with Underground Kitchen and its non-profit arm, UGK Community First. To date, UGK Community First has delivered over 175,000 healthy, nutritious meals to food insecure communities in the Richmond metropolitan area while prioritizing disability employment. SOAR365 is happy to...

Meet Belay 

Meet Belay 

The trip from Ethiopia to America is a very long journey. When he and his family settled in Richmond, Va., in 2005, Belay Meherte immediately started looking for employment. Unfortunately, in addition to the challenges of bridging language and cultural divides, Belay faced the struggle of working with a disability. Then he found SOAR365. At SOAR365, Belay...

Meet Jeff

Meet Jeff

A few years ago, Jeff was working at a local grocery store, and while it was a good environment, Jeff was not thriving. In fact, the job seemed to be perpetuating some of the behaviors associated with his autism. When the 29-year-old was referred to SOAR365’s Employment Services to help acquire career skills and find the right job in the community, he met...

Meet Dylan

Meet Dylan

No matter where he is, Dylan’s smile lights up the room. And so, when he’s a work, his smile lights up an entire warehouse! That’s because Dylan works at Brandito, a local supplier of corporate apparel and promotional marketing materials, where he is an e-commerce warehouse associate and helps to prepare orders to ship to clients. Dylan started working at...

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