- I've gotta really go out there and do something and that's why I'm here.

(light music) - So WWAARC stands for Warren Washington Albany ARC and Community Pre-voc is, it's actually called the Community-Based Pre-vocational Program.

It's for people who have the desire to seek employment in the community, but still have some skills that they need to work on before they're ready to make that jump.

There's probably a list of like 20 different places or more that we do volunteer.

(light music) - They could be with me for a year, six months, a year before they might start moving on.

So it's always a work in progress.

It's actually, that's the fun part for me, is making sure that they feel like they're making a difference and that they're making progress.

- There's no judging here.

We're all here to do our best.

Work, enhance my work skills and communication skills, and be able to do my very best when I do get a job, hopefully, in the near future.

Since high school, I've been wanting to do something with culinary.

- Team building is one good skill I've learned.

It made me have more friends.

It made me have a broader way of seeing the world.

I've been going to new places, helping people out, and caring for the ones I love most.

- For them, getting a job is a big thing.

Being accepted for who you are and part of the community is a big part of it too.

- So, once they've gone through community pre-voc, they have their employment, we then support them to be able to be successful in the next step for them.

So, they have their job.

The job coach goes out, works with 'em.

One of the things that employers find is that usually people with a disability tend to be the most loyal employees because they've worked so hard to get to where they are, to get to that employment.

We really emphasize with the employers as well to you know, you should be proud that you're hiring and you should hire more people with disabilities.

- [Announcer] With support from WDI, strengthening New York's workforce.

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