REDONDO BEACH, CA — A new vocational program offering paid internships, job training and career support for neurodiverse adults has launched in Redondo Beach, with organizers aiming to help participants build skills that can lead to long-term employment.
The Vocational Pathways Program, created by the Friendship Foundation in partnership with Els for Autism, provides individualized training based on participants' career interests and connects them with businesses, nonprofits and community organizations for work experience and employment opportunities.
The program is part of the foundation's Bhatia College for Professional Development and launched this month following a pilot program last year and a year of development.
"Vocational Pathways is the linchpin of our Friendship Campus," Friendship Foundation Executive Director and co-founder Yossi Mintz said. "Our Friendship Campus will greatly improve job-skills training, but Vocational Pathways wouldn't be successful without business partners who are invested in its success and passionate about the unique talents neurodiverse individuals bring to the workforce."
The program was adapted from the Els for Autism Work Experience Program, which provides hands-on learning and skills development for adults with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities.
Participants receive career services, work-based training and paid internships, along with support that includes job coaches and peer mentorship. The Friendship Foundation works with participants to identify their vocational interests and develop personalized training before connecting them with potential employers and community organizations.
A pilot program conducted last year with the Verdugo Workforce Development Board placed interns with APM Terminals, where they worked on shipping logistics, and with the city of Redondo Beach at Wilderness Park, where participants worked on native plant restoration.
The foundation has since expanded its network of participating organizations to include Skechers, Kinecta Federal Credit Union, Gensler, Lakeshore Learning, Goodwill, Rock & Brews, the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy, South Bay Workforce Investment Board and South Bay Parkland Conservancy.
The program will ultimately be housed at the Friendship Campus: The Greenberg Family/Skechers Center, a 62,000-square-foot facility at 850 S. Inglewood Ave. that the foundation expects to open this winter.
The approximately $70 million campus has been funded entirely through private donations and grants and will include a Culinary Arts Center, Creative Arts Studio, Friendship Café and classrooms dedicated to work-based learning.
The Friendship Foundation, which has served neurodiverse people for 19 years, currently operates 88 Friendship Clubs across 23 school districts and offers more than 50 monthly social and recreational programs for youths and adults.
City News Service contributed to this report.
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