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SPECIAL GIRL HAS BECOME A SPECIAL EMPLOYEE
By Keith Hagarty
 | | Jennifer Trimble, 18, has gained endless praise from her colleagues at the K*B Toys Outlet store in the Jackson Outlet Mall on Monmouth Road. With the help of Allies, Inc., the vibrant 18 year old special needs Jackson Memorial High School student has been a model employee since joining the toy store six months ago, as well as ShopRite on North County Line Road for over a year. |
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Jennifer Trimble is like most 18 years old girls. She likes to have the latest hit music to bop to while working, appreciates a good laugh with friends and has her cell phone near her side at all times. Perhaps the only difference between her and most of her high school peers is that Jennifer has Downs syndrome.
Working two jobs can be a handful for any person, but when you're an individual with special needs, those challenges can prove even more daunting. Jennifer has met those challenges head on while working at ShopRite on North County Line Road for a year, and for six months at the K*B Toys Outlet in the Jackson Outlet Mall.
Any employer should feel blessed to have such a diligent hard worker like Jennifer, said the former manager of the K*B Toys Outlet, Debbie Carbin.
"She's a wonderful girl," said Carbin. "I used to tell all my employees that if I could hire her full-time, then I'd take her and fire them. That girl can price."
"She prices faster than they do, and she's not yap-yapyap the whole time," Carbin said laughing. "She gets her work done, and I got to give the girl credit, I really do."
Any lingering doubts Jennifer's colleagues may have had about working with someone with special needs quickly disappeared.
"They all love Jennifer," said Carbin. "They all love the idea when Jennifer comes out on the floor and helps out. She puts merchandise out with them, and nobody had any problem with Jennifer working with them. None at all."
Although she recently left the store, former employee Nicole Pizzolongo, 18, stopped by last week to express her adoration for Jennifer having worked with her over the last six months.
"It was really sad," Pizzolongo said of saying goodbye to Jennifer. "I was going to cry before, but I didn't want to do it in front of everybody, I wanted to be strong. But I know I'll cry."
Having Jennifer often by her side while pricing and stocking merchandise will be something that Pizzolongo will miss.
"I told her that I'll come in and visit her on Fridays, if she wants me to," said Pizzolongo.
Organization Helped Make It Happen
Jennifer's positive entry into the workforce has been made possible with the help of Mike Cestero, a transition counselor and job coach for Allies, Inc. The Hamilton-based group seeks to provide assistance to individuals with disabilities to live and work as independently as possible. Their goal is to maximize the opportunities for a person to contribute to their community in a meaningful way, while advocating for the inclusion of individuals with disabilities
in all aspects of the community.
"Jennifer is a little worker bee," he said. "You can just put her anywhere, and she's going to start working. Where other kids might need to be told to work, Jennifer will just start doing stuff."
Through a cooperative initiative, Jackson Memorial High School outsources their job development and counseling programs to Allies, Inc. Cestero praised the efforts of Jackson Memorial High School for their ongoing support of children with special needs.
"They have a superb special education department, and they really help their kids," said Cestero. "Not that other places hurt their kids, they just don't help as much."
The high school and Allies, Inc. have been fantastic in her child's development, said Jennifer's mother, Cindy Trimble.
"The Jackson school system has been wonderful with my daughter for the whole time
she's been in the schools. This is a wonderful
program that they have," said Trimble. "And Mike (Cestero)-oh my God-he is so good with her. He is such a sweetheart. He bends over backwards to help her. He is an amazing person."
Under the tutelage of Cestero, Trimble has seen an enormous transformation in her
daughter's self esteem and maturity.
"She's very responsible now," said Tremble. "She goes there, she works, she intermingles with everybody and talks to the customers and has been a totally different girl."
Working with an individual like Jennifer makes his job easy, according to Cestero.
"She's a sweetheart," said Cestero. "Jennifer and I just really hit it off."
Getting Jennifer up to a level of independence is the primary purpose of Allies, Inc.
"I teach job stamina, social skills-not only how to interact with customers, but with employees as well," he said. "We teach them about money, how many hours they have to work and clock management, which is very important to all of us. I teach them just the little things that a father or older brother would teach their younger sibling or daughter or son the ways of the world."
After taking the usual weekend trips to such mega hardware and home stores, Cestero said he can already see a vast difference in the work ethic and job appreciation demonstrated by his special needs clients as compared to the vast majority of retail store employees he's encountered.
"It's funny because my kids who are out in the workforce will actually run to a customer to help them, and then you go to other places and you see 'able people' practically running away from (customers)," he said.
Uplifting Spirits
Cestero is extremely thankful for corporations like K*B Toys and ShopRite, who take that extra step when it comes to hiring individuals with special needs.
"A lot of the million and multibillion dollar corporations will have these slick marketing brochures and they have all the latest DVD's on inclusive hiring processes and equal opportunity employment stickers stuck in the windows of their establishments, yet in reality very few of the practice what they preach," he said.
After nearly 100 rejections from companies, Cestero said he's very thankful for the welcoming spirit shown by Jennifer's employers.
"It makes me feel elated," he said. "It just restores my faith in humanity even more."
Working with special needs kids can make you step back and think about all the things we take for granted in our daily lives, said Cestero.
"I've always been the kind of person who always appreciated what I've had in life, no matter how little I had, but it makes me appreciate the things I have that much more now," he said.
Watching his clients slowly need him near them less and less as they do their jobs can bring a mixed bag of emotions for Cestero.
"As much as it hurts, like you know, 'oh, they don't need me anymore,' it make me feel wonderful because they're doing their job independently, and that's the whole purpose of what I do," he said.
There's no better feeling for Trimble and her husband, Joe, than seeing Jennifer in her work apron just being one of the employees.
"It gives me such a warm feeling inside that she's being such a part of the community," said Trimble. "She can do something and that really gives me such a great feeling, it really does."
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