Yes She Can Honors Three Advocates for Adults with Autism

Westchester County Executive George Latimer and Yes She Can, Inc. recognized three advocates for people with autism: Pat Rowan, LMSW, who helped launch the agency’s job coaching program; Joy Soodik, senior managing director and chief compliance officer at Clarfeld Financial Advisors, which hires individuals with autism to perform mission-critical work at the firm, and Paul Morris, a young man with autism who has a career, lives independently and is a model advocate for himself and others with autism. Westchester County Commissioner of Community Mental Health Michael Orth also congratulated the honorees at a breakfast on Friday, March 29, 2019, at the Doral Arrowwood in Rye Brook.

“I’m thrilled to recognize our honorees who support Yes She Can and the young women who benefit from our services,” says Marjorie Madfis, president and executive director, “and who also demonstrate that people with autism can fulfill their potential, participate in the workforce and be included in our community.”

Since its creation as a volunteer organization in 2013, Yes She Can (YSC) has become a recognized leader in job skills development for young adults with autism and related disabilities. It strives to make the Westchester community, businesses and employees more accommodating, accepting, inclusive and respectful of people with autism in the workforce.

Yes She Can provides practical training for young women at its Girl AGain boutique, which sells gently used American Girl merchandise. The women sort, clean and prepare the merchandise, price it and display it in the retail shop and learn about researching, merchandising, inventory acquisition, marketing, sales and customer service in addition to appropriate workplace behavior, collaboration and decision-making.

During the past five years, the trainees have interacted with 2683 customers, more than 740 merchandise donors and more than 500 young girls who participate in craft activities at the store on weekends. In addition, a dozen Girl Scout troops have been hosted to share the message of inclusion of differently abled people. Yes She Can has trained 38 young women, many of whom are now employed in a variety of businesses in Westchester County, Fairfield County and New York City.

Clinical social workers are critical partners in the training and Yes She Can is hoping the next generation of these professionals will focus their services on adults with autism. Last fall in partnership with YAI, a provider of services for people with disabilities, two social work graduate students coached trainees at Girl AGain and helped launch Women’s Success Team, a new social support group for women ages 18-28, which addresses another key issue facing adults with autism – social isolation.

Yes She Can Inc. is a 501c3 nonprofit organization based in Westchester County, NY, dedicated to helping teens and young women with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and related disabilities develop transferable job skills and life skills that will enable them to enter the workforce and retain employment. Yes She Can operates Girl AGain, a resale boutique for refurbished American Girl dolls and accessories in White Plains, NY, as an authentic business and training program site. Yes She Can advocates for inclusion of people with ASD in the workforce and advises others on how to create job skills development programs in their communities. To learn more about Yes She Can, visit YesSheCanInc.org.