Employer Spotlights: The Birth Place
Winter Garden, FL
Comment provided by Kaevon McCray, BS, Operations Manager
Disability Mentoring Day 2007 was the first year The Birth Place was involved as an employer mentor to a student with a disability. The Birth Place first heard about Disability Mentoring Day (DMD) from the Community Liaison at the Center for Educational Leadership at Orange County Public Schools, Trenna Lackey. Once the Birth Place learned more about DMD, the staff was excited to participate and as a result, the experience was extremely positive for everyone involved.
"It was very simple for The Birth Place to participate in this event. All of the logistical details were handled through our DMD community liaison. Our Operations Manager simply provided her with a point of contact, the schedule and the location where the mentoring activities would take place. Our staff worked with the DMD community liaison ahead of time to ensure our student mentee had everything she needed for a good learning experience."
Because this was The Birth Place's first time participating in DMD, they felt it would be best to host only one student. This allowed them to learn more about the mentoring process and provide their mentee with the highest quality one-on-one match that they possibly could.
"Our community liaison connected us with a student who had an interest in the career of midwifery, one of the specialties included in the services at The Birth Place. Working with the community liaison ahead of time allowed us to identify a midwife to serve as the volunteer mentor for the student. In addition, because of the advance planning, we were able to obtain prior approval from the mentee's parents for her to witness a live birth if it occurred within the course of her mentoring day.
"Our mentee, Amanda, did not require any workplace modifications or accommodations to assist her with 'getting the job done'. However, The Birth Place's specialty is to make everyone as comfortable as possible no matter what their needs may be. Our building is ADA accessible, with handrails and ramps. Because The Birth Place is in the business of providing services to the public, we are committed to treating all people in the best possible way in regards to modifications, accommodations or special needs. If we are limited in funding, we will work with the person we are accommodating to come up with a creative solution to meet their needs."
One of the reasons The Birth Place became involved in Disability Mentoring Day is because of the belief that it is very important for young people to experience what a job is really like before making any long term, and often expensive, post-secondary commitments. Young professionals often experience the unfortunate situation of a career path not meeting their expectations simply because they didn't have the opportunity to have an on-the-job experience prior to obtaining the required training. This type of experience is one of the things that can lead to unmotivated employees and complex financial situations for young people.
An employee of The Birth Place reported, "Disability Mentoring Day solves these problems in creative ways. Because our student mentee was interested in the field of obstetrics/ pediatrics, The Birth Place was a natural fit. However, both our administrative staff and our healthcare staff are available to be matched on mentoring day, depending on the student's interest. As it turned out, our mentee Amanda was able to witness the live birth of a baby girl during her mentoring experience! After the birth, and with the infant's parents' permission, Amanda was able to assist with taking measurements and reflexive tests performed on the baby. This was an ideal situation for all who were involved."
Since last year, The Birth Place has developed an ongoing relationship with Orange County Public Schools in order to keep track of their student mentee. They have been able to correspond with Amanda throughout the year and provide her with additional guidance regarding her goal to become a midwife. Her teacher reports that Amanda was thrilled with her opportunity to spend a day at the clinic, and is even more positive than before that she wants to pursue a career in midwifery!
A staff member of The Birth Place summed up the experience by saying, "Now that The Birth Place has experienced the wonderful opportunity to have worked with both a great student and a dedicated Community Liaison, we are excited about participating in Disability Mentoring Day 2008 to provide career mentoring opportunities to other individuals. We are looking forward to another successful year. Much like we excitedly anticipate the arrival of our newborns, we are enthusiastic about greeting our next DMD mentee!"