Photo courtesy of Alpha Group Delaware Inc.
Active senior citizens are more than community members eager to get involved; their wisdom and life skills can be vital in aiding others. The Alpha Group, a central Ohio organization, is always looking for wise and passionate employees to assist its heart-filled mission.
Formed in 1970, Alpha Group is a non-profit agency that provides services to people with disabilities – assisting them in finding a job, teaching life and professional skills, and helping individuals blossom into independent citizens. Based in Delaware, the organization is growing, and it opened a Westerville branch in 2016.
“We have a good handle on what we want to provide to the Westerville community,” says Liz Owens, the CEO of Alpha. “I think the biggest things we are struggling with as an organization is employment; recruiting new employees to continue to expand our growth and provide quality services to our individuals.”
Sheila Thomas, the marketing and communications director of Alpha, says active seniors always make wonderful employees because they’re usually reliable, passionate about helping others and have experience in a variety of skill sets.
“I think, seniors in general, they already have it built in to give back,” Thomas says. “Given the awareness and education of our mission, I think (seniors) would be able to support it. And the active senior citizens I know who are volunteering or giving back in their communities, it keeps them young. It keeps us all younger the more we give back.”
The Westerville branch doesn’t employ seniors yet, but changing that could help.
At the Delaware branch, soon-to-be 70-year-old Pat Gosser is working full-time as a passionate Alpha employee.
Photo courtesy of Alpha Group Delaware Inc.
After moving from Indiana five years ago, Gosser wanted to help her son, Chad Myford, get acclimated because he has disabilities. Through the process of working with entities like Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities and the local Development Disability Board, Gosser learned that Alpha Group helped Myford land his job at a Delaware Kroger.
Watching her son succeed, Gosser realized her passion for working with disabled people. Coming out of retirement, Gosser is now a job coach for Alpha. Her main tasks involve helping individuals prepare for a professional career and getting them acclimated to a new job. Her favorite aspect is Project SEARCH, an international organization that partners with Alpha to help people with disabilities professionally succeed through a series of educational courses.
“My heart is with people with disabilities,” Gosser says. “As a job coach, I see the progress they make, and then they become independent and successful in their employment – it’s just so rewarding. It really is.”
Gosser proves that age does not dictate workability. And she agrees that older citizens would make excellent Alpha employees because the work and hours aren’t very demanding.
“Since it’s just so rewarding, (the job) is especially great for people who don’t have a lot to do, or they’re retired,” says Gosser. “It requires some training – we have to be certified in certain things – but it’s not physically demanding, and with seniors, that’s usually very important. And it’s a fun job.”
Apart from looking for vibrant employees, the Westerville branch is setting additional goals to work with other local entities like the Westerville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Westerville City Schools to help integrate its mission and services into the community.
“We want to become a part of the Westerville community,” says Owens. “And we would love to grow the number of individuals that we are serving in (the Westerville) community with intellectual and developmental disabilities.”
Lydia Freudenberg is a contributing editor. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com
