The Delta Gamma sorority house will host a group of blind and visually impaired young adults learning to gain independence in the Utah Work Introduction Network program this summer.
The purpose of UWIN is to provide summer work experience for young adults who don’t always have the same employment opportunities as their sighted peers.
“We’re fortunate to partner with Delta Gamma,” said Jan Carter, program director of UWIN.
The sorority is using the project as part of its philanthropy topic: addressing blind issues.
UWIN has worked with Delta Gamma since the program started five years ago.
This year there are eight males and three females aged 16 to 21 participating in the seven-week program, which began June 5.
Jason Shaffer, who works at the Utah School for the Deaf and Blind, has participated with UWIN since it started. Though he has noticed small changes over the years, Shaffer says that the main principle of teaching independent skills has remained the same.
Each student is employed with a company in an entry-level position.
During the first week, classroom-learning sessions are provided with help from the Division of Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
Over the next six weeks, the students’ employers and the UWIN staff evaluate them. This helps the staff recognize which areas each student needs to work on.
Aside from holding down a job, students practice basic skills, such as cleaning and doing laundry. They also learn computer skills with Braille-accessible equipment.
The students split into two teams and trade off each night cooking dinner.
In addition, the program brings in guest speakers and holds regular meetings in the living room.
Bobbi Lee Blood, a freshman music major at the U, who is an alumna of the program, said she was terrified the first few weeks. “I was scared. I had no clue.”
Like many other students in the program, Blood wasn’t used to being away from home. She even had trouble sleeping for the first several nights of the program.
However, she gained confidence through the job in which she was placed: doing secretarial work for the Association of Retarded Citizens of Utah.
When she returned to the program in 2005, she noticed others who were uneasy because they were away from home for the first time, including her roommate.
However, by the end of the program, Blood’s roommate seemed like a different person because of the confidence she gained, Blood said.
Most students return to the program for a second year.
Shaffer said one student made a career choice as a result of the job in which he was placed. Others have gone on to become students at the U and Westminster College.
Shaffer says that he loves his job, and while it’s a challenge for some students to begin with, they get a lot out of it.