Launchpad - How do we get there?

 In our last post we shared the inspiration behind our newest program - Launchpad.  Now we'd like to tell you a little bit more about what our goals are and how we plan to achieve them.

As we shared in our last post, our goal is to perfect a model that will be successful in helping motivated young adults make the transition from passive recipients of institutional care to productive, capable members of society.  While that sounds simple enough, figuring out how to get from point A to point B is an intimidating challenge!  Starting out, we had so many questions... how long would this process take?  What knowledge and skills would these young adults need to acquire?  What kind of jobs are available to disabled people who may have had zero formal education?

The model we feel will work best is a model that has been tried and tested all over the world - a group home model headed by a dedicated set of house parents whose role is to guide these young adults along the path to independence. These house parents and young adults in our Launchpad program are supported in many ways by the rest of our team, and together we are focused on developing skills and competence in these 5 key areas:

***Education - most disabled/institutionalized children do not attend regular public schools.  They may have limited opportunities to attend orphanage run "schools" or receive some kind of special needs education.  This is better than nothing, but they end up lacking the comprehensive education and actual diploma that children attending a regular school receive.  We start with an evaluation of their reading, writing and math skills and work to help them attain a high school level of knowledge in these basic areas.   We encourage them to take standardized tests in subject areas that will increase their employability in the future.

***Daily life skills - growing up in an orphanage means that you don't have to learn to do the things that most kids in families grow up learning.  This includes things like shopping for groceries, learning to cook meals, how to scrub a bathroom, do your own laundry.  Always having these things done for you and then having to take the responsibility for them yourself is a big change!  Our Launchpad program helps them face the challenges of doing so, which for some of our young adults is complicated by a significant physical disability, such as being in a wheelchair.

*** Financial literacy and money management - most kids grow up learning these skills from their parents.  Older teens in an orphanage have no experience gradually learning to cover their own expenses and no one to model for them how to make wise financial decisions.  Our Launchpad program provides a stipend to each young adult, and expects them to contribute a portion of this to their own monthly expenses. We offer them guidance on how to plan for the future by budgeting and maintaining a savings account.

***Interpersonal skills - children who grow up in orphanages certainly do not grow up in isolation, but they experience a very limited range of interactions with others.  It's not uncommon for them to have experienced bullying or harassment, which can also affect their perception of others.  We work with them to help them understand their feelings, how to deal with conflict, and how to develop and maintain meaningful relationships with others, including family members, co-workers and those in authority - such as a boss or supervisor.

***Vocational skills - of course, the ultimate goal of Launchpad is to help each young adult discern what type of career is suitable for them, and then help them receive the personalized education and vocational training to acquire a job in that field.

If you think that sounds like a lot, you're right!   Making the decision to undertake great personal challenges while also taking responsibility for your own future is scary!  It's perfectly normal to have doubts and feel uncertain, and everyone has days when they wonder if they've made the wrong decision.  That's why our Launchpad program has one additional vitally important component - counselling!  Learning to manage stress, understanding turbulent feelings, coping with difficult emotions, identifying unhealthy behaviors, developing self esteem - all of these are reasons why we believe that counselling is necessary to the success of the Launchpad program.

Stay tuned for our next post, where we'll share a glimpse into our first Launchpad home!