Our participants and staff volunteer in groups and contribute more than 500 hours/week of service at more than 20 community partner nonprofit organizations, which host our participants and utilize their contributions and skills to better their agency. Our participants are social activists helping their community in the areas of interest they choose. New areas are added to our repertoire as the interests of our participants grow and change. Our partnerships and community memberships allow us to offer excellent programming to our participants.
Creating these partnerships with community organizations gives our participants a chance to shine and to showcase their skills, talents, and abilities as they give back to their community and change the world. It provides a wonderful variety of experiences that help our participants learn about themselves, connect with possible job leads, and better their resumes/chances of finding paid employment. Community partners count on CHAI Works to meet their mission to serve the community. These sites also allow for staff to assess participants’ learning styles, focus, job skills, soft skills, and interests on an ongoing basis, which is vital in getting to really know the participants and establishing good job matches.
We support our participants in independent paid positions through job development, initial job coaching, and by building/maintaining employer relationships.
We offer health and wellness activities through our corporate membership at the Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center of Newton (JCC), which gives our program access to the facilities on a daily basis. Clients have access to trainings and groups in a variety of areas such as fitness, health, and safety. We also run a comprehensive Sexuality Training Series twice a year led by a professional educator.
We offer morning and afternoon classes and groups in a variety of areas that focus on client interests including Jewish life, self advocacy, job skills, and interpersonal skills.
Clients eligible for the CHAI Works Day Program are generally funded by Department of Developmental Services (DDS, formerly DMR), although private pay options are also available. To keep all participants safe within the funding and staffing levels we are allotted by the Commonwealth, participants must be able to be successfully supported in a 1:6 staff/client ratio in the community, our vehicles, and our program settings.
Families are able to private pay for extra 1:1 support if a participant is an appropriate match for our programming settings but needs more support than the state funding level will provide. JF&CS will hire, train, and oversee the 1:1 staff member, and will bill the family monthly, if the family chooses this option.