New Program Offers Free Job Prep For Hearing Loss Community

LITTLE ROCK - 60 percent of individuals with hearing loss are unemployed, according to figures from the National Deaf Center. The national average is 4 percent. That’s bad news to the nearly 150,000 Arkansans with a marked degree of hearing loss. The state’s Goodwill Industries affiliate is launching a new program designed to help improve those figures.

The Deaf Readiness to Employment and Achieving Maximum Success (DREAMS) program is conducted in American Sign Language. Participants learn skills in more than 12 career-related subjects. These include résumé construction, interview preparation, job training and on-the-job support, time management skills, understanding work culture and more. DREAMS also teaches personal development skills such as character building, social interaction and conflict resolution.

“It was created because there’s a great need within the deaf community. Our participants need to find employment and they’re wanting to find employment,” said Brittany Fuhrmann, an interpreter and job coach with the DREAMS program. “They’re capable of doing this.”

In addition to the financial stability attained through working, Goodwill Industries of Arkansas found that most people who are deaf or hard of hearing have a strong desire to work and achieve self-sufficiency. Individuals enrolled in the DREAMS program show a lot of determination and a strong work ethic. Within a few short months, several program participants have already found employment across the hospitality and retail industries.

The DREAMS program is free. Interested individuals go through Arkansas Rehabilitation Services to obtain a referral to the program.

Based in Little Rock, Goodwill Industries of Arkansas operates 35 retail stores, 24 career centers and 8 separate donation locations across the state. In the last fiscal year the organization welcomed more than 2.5 million customers. 96 percent of all of Goodwill’s funding comes from the sale of donated goods.

For more information on the DREAMS program or on any of Goodwill Industries of Arkansas’ programs please visit their website at: https://goodwillar.org/