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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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Gavin is nonverbal, but he has a lot to say. One morning, he was making his signature chin gesture for “I want…” His mom, Amy, began running through the list. Did he want his sister, his grandma, food, water, TV? No, none of those. Finally, Amy asked, “Do you want to go to SOAR365?” Gavin broke into a huge grin and began nodding excitedly. “That just made...
Leonardo Castro brings his friendly, positive outlook and love of hip hop to everything he does at SOAR365. As his career has moved him from Miami to Austin to Richmond, he’s displayed a continuous passion for empowering people from marginalized communities. Whether mentoring his students within the school system or working with nonprofits to teach digital...
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