This month’s blogger is Mary Cariola President and CEO, Karen Zandi.
Mary Cariola Center will be playing a vital role in workforce development and economic recovery in our region based on a grant procured by Monroe County from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
I’m pleased to announce that Mary Cariola Center has been awarded a two million dollar grant over the next four years to develop and sustain a diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce to support individuals with complex disabilities in Monroe County.
The funding will allow us to expand a program built on strong community partnerships aimed at removing barriers to employment and education, providing professional growth opportunities and designing a replicable organizational model to support the diverse, equitable, and inclusive growth of a skilled workforce in Monroe County to support individuals with complex disabilities.
Our plan has three components; (1) remove barriers to employment and education within the field of disabilities, (2) connect new and existing employees to a community navigator to assist in removing the challenges to growth including support with daycare, transportation, housing, food access and more. And (3) exploring pathways to multiple careers within the field of disabilities. The component of exploring pathways is very exciting to our agency.
Monroe County residents and Mary Cariola staff will be able to discover careers within the field of disabilities including teacher aides and assistants, direct support professions, special education teachers, nurses, behavior analysts, speech therapists, occupational therapists and physical therapists.
This funding will enhance the organizational capacity of Cariola to support the diverse, equitable and inclusive growth of all staff. The impact of this project will be long-lasting. Mary Cariola Center will be expanding the workforce through individual skill and educational credentialing. The agency’s work will have a positive effect on people with disabilities in the greater Rochester community.
Mary Cariola Center will implement the grant funding plan beginning March 1, 2023.
