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High School Transition Thurston County

Bethany Hoffman

Bethany Hoffman photo

Bethany Hoffman entered her final year of our High School Transition Program in September 2009. She was very eager to find work in the community. With the help of Morningside's Transition staff, she volunteered at numerous sites in Yelm to gain work skills and experience and attended a weekly Job Club to practice crucial skills such as interviewing and self-advocacy.

Bethany’s skills and interests were identified through observations and conversations with those who knew her. With these key components in hand, staff began job development. Just a few months later, Bethany started working at the Prairie Hotel in November. Her excitement to work combined with her warm personality came through during the job interview and Bethany was hired as a Housekeeping Assistant. Her job tasks include numerous items housekeepers often are too busy to complete. Bethany’s efforts help the hotel maintain superior standards in cleanliness for their customers.

The job match has proved to be fantastic. Prairie Hotel Housekeeping Supervisor Kathy Crandall said, “Bethany’s enthusiasm for working at the Prairie Hotel is contagious! She is a very hard worker who takes on any and all tasks that we assign to her. It is TRULY a pleasure to be her co-worker.” Leslie Koch, the Hotel Manager said, “Bethany is a joy to be around. The staff and guests love her. I myself think that her overall personality is wonderful, she seems to enjoy her job very much and we are very lucky that she is with us.”

Also expressing their sentiment with actions, Prairie Hotel management made minor and inexpensive accommodations Bethany needed to be successful, such as placing a picture of her in uniform on her locker so she can easily locate it. Bethany is now a working adult, earning income and spending it in her local community.

Bethany’s hiring was aided by her employer’s attendance at a recent CEO Breakfast. At this informational event, President/CEO Jim Larson showcases Morningside’s employment services and features testimonials from guest speakers that are current employers of Morningside clients in the Thurston County community. These businesses share their real life experiences working with Morningside in the hiring process and how their business was impacted. Potential employers in the audience are able to ask questions in an informal environment and are able to hear real-life hiring stories about how these local businesses have increased productivity, profits, and staff morale and decreased turnover. They come away from the event with a better understanding of how hiring a Morningside client can benefit their business and their employees and how to initiate the hiring process. Several clients have obtained jobs with businesses that attended one of these previous CEO Breakfasts. The businesses attended the breakfast, came away inspired to hire, and worked with our job developers to find the right client with the right skills to meet their needs. Won’t you join us at one of our upcoming CEO Breakfasts? Other wonderful employees like Bethany are waiting for the opportunity to work for you and help your business prosper. Please visit our website for the date of the next CEO Breakfast and for more details on how to get started with the hiring process.

Read the rest of the Spring Newsletter here.

ISSUE 20 • SPRING 2010

Previous Issues of Morningside's Newsletter:

Winter 2010 Newsletter

Fall 2009 Newsletter