Beacons, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public benefit nonprofit
empowering adults with diverse intellectual abilities!
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
9/22 Beacons Coffee Cart 11 - 1 pm
9/28 - Beacons moves to 2245 Camino Vida Roble #100
10/14 (6 - 9 pm) Club returns! Eventbright sign up coming!
11/4 "Let's Glow Crazy!" Annual Fundraiser
Cool Zones Information for high temperatures
PATHFINDER SPRING
Orientation & Tour: 1/20/23
Workshops: 1/23 - 5/19/23
SPRING 2023
Workshops are held Monday - Thursday, with Friday support to finish projects, develop soft skills and more! Beacons will offer the following workshops this spring.
Monday - Thursday
Creative Design Skills 2 (FULL)
Customer Service Skills 2 (FULL)
10 - 2 pm: Team building, soft skills, speakers and individual skills enhancement
Important dates for Spring 2023:
Jan. 20 - Orientation for trainees and families.
Feb. 20 - President's Day Holiday
March 31 - César Chávez State Holiday
May 19 - Last day of spring workshops
July 3 - Summer workshops begin
SDRC vendor number: PY1700, Code: 102, Subcode: SPR (Total hours: 240 - Approx. 16 - 17 weeks)
Please note that attendance is part of the entrance criteria and individuals absent for more than 5 days may be exited from the workshop.
News! 100% of the trainees from our Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 workshop who wanted employment found competitive integrated employment (CIE) within one month of the workshop ending. Great teamwork!
PathFinder Details
Persons who have classroom skills, an interest in employment, and who can
participate without disrupting the learning of others are encouraged to apply.
(SDRC vendor number: PY1700, Code: 102, Subcode: SPR)
1. FORMS REQUIRED:
-
Application Form (lists eligibility criteria)
2. STEPS NEEDED:
a. SDRC paperwork must be submitted
Please request that your "IPP" (Individual Program Plan) and "CDER" (Client Development Evaluation Report) be sent to: Pathfinder@BeaconsNorthCounty.com. Request the addition of the vocational workshop to the applicant's IPP, and that a "POS" (Purchase of Service) request be completed and submitted to fund the workshop.
Click here for a sample letter that you can view and copy. For individuals in the Self-Determination program, please discuss inclusion of this workshop with your independent facilitator and SDRC service coordinator.
b. Screening/Intake Meeting:
After the applicant's IPP and CDER have been received, our Pathfinder team will contact the applicant and/or her/his conservators to set up an intake meeting to make sure the workshop supports the applicant's IPP goals, the applicant meets the entrance criteria set forth in the application, and the applicant is interested in the employment goal of the workshop.
3. GENERAL INFORMATION
Workshop overview: All workshops are specifically designed with tools, best practices and pacing designed for individuals with developmental disabilities to optimize independent learning without the need for parental or instructional aid support at home or during our onsite workshops. Each workshop includes internet safety training, pre-and post assessments for each unit to measure progress, extra hours for additional instruction if needed or wanted to meet a level of proficiency, materials and/or licenses needed for the workshop, soft skills training, creation of person-centered plans for post-workshop transitioning, employment placement support, and more!
Ratios & Enrollment: Workshops require a minimum of 5 trainees to proceed. In the event the minimum enrollment for a workshop is not met, Beacons reserves the right to cancel or reschedule a workshop, or offer a different workshop altogether.
Devices: If onsite, Trainees will be provided with a 15.6" yoga touchscreen Chromebook with a mouse accessory, but are welcome to bring their own device if they prefer. If a workshop is provided via zoom, Beacons has loaner devices for trainees who do not have devices available to use at home.
Materials: Each trainee will be provided with his/her own materials and sanitation kit for safe learning onsite.
Creative Design Studio
Creative Design 1: Trainees will learn how to use graphic design programs and tools to make marketing materials, books, puzzles, websites, social media graphics and more as they work with others to develop their technical and soft skills. Trainees will learn digital drawing, basic animation and more!
Creative Design 2: CD 2 is more individualized to help trainees use creative design for self-employment and specific projects or product lines. Sample projects may include development of curriculum to teach, product development, and more! Applicants must have a business idea or plan they would like to develop. Successful completion of CD 1 is preferred, but not required.
Trainees in each workshop will also:
• develop person-centered plans to help shape their futures,
• work with templates to help them work with clients post-workshop, and
• create websites for employment profiles to showcase earned digital badges and skill-specific certificates, and portfolios.
Pre & post assessments and progress monitoring for each unit are all included.
Post-Workshop Goal Pathway(s):
Post-workshop pathways will be driven by each participant's person-centered plan and may include further education, paid internships, job coaching, competitive integrated employment, and/or employment related volunteer opportunities. Ideally, the trainee will develop sufficient skills to make the trainee eligible for employment with the workshop client post-workshop.
Cost: For eligible SDRC consumers, the SDRC will fund one workshop per session. Trainees with achievement levels of 3 for the majority of the units are not eligible to repeat.
Customer Service Skills
Customer Service 1: Trainees interested in community employment will learn:
• workplace and soft skills such as cashier skills, soft skills and other tasks used in settings that require a high level of customer interaction (such as retail stores, grocery stores, restaurants, hospitality, animal care and more!);
• develop person-centered plans to help shape their futures,
• create interview & workplace accommodation plans,
• train for (and take) the San Diego County food handling test, and
• create websites for employment profiles to showcase earned digital badges and skill-specific certificates.
Customer Service 2: Trainees with basic employment skills will further refine their skills through onsite and community workplace training arranged through Beacons workforce partnerships. Goal is to develop strong skills foundations and employer relationships so that trainees transition to competitive integrated employment (CIE), PIPs or volunteer worksite jobs upon conclusion of the workshop. (Note: 100% of our trainees from fall 2021 and spring 2022 sessions who wanted a job transitioned to competitive integrated employment).
Job searches and completion of applications, interview practice, direct engagement with local employers, unit pre & post assessments and progress monitoring are all included.
Post-Workshop Goal Pathway(s):
Post-workshop pathways will be driven by each participant's person-centered plan and may include further education, paid internships, job coaching, competitive integrated employment and/or employment related volunteer opportunities.
Cost: For eligible SDRC consumers, the SDRC will fund one workshop per session. Trainees with achievement levels of 3 for the majority of the units are not eligible to repeat.
Instructor Information
Questions? Email:
Pathfinder
Tyler has spent the last decade using his personal and career experiences to support and empower individuals with various disabilities. Tyler served as an assistant coach for the Independent division of the San Diego Miracle League and volunteer for Shooting Stars basketball, founded Project Puzzle (an Autism awareness club) and was awarded the North Coastal Consortium for Special Education "Excellence in Supporting Students with Disabilities."
While pursuing his Psychology degree at San Diego State University, Tyler was an advocate for students with varying disabilities and planned school wide inclusive events as the Program Coordinator for Student Disability Services. While at SDSU, he also founded the Delta Alpha Phi international honor society.
After graduating from SDSU, Tyler relocated to Hawaii to continue his work with neurodiverse individuals in the school setting. After working in the district setting for 2 years, Tyler returned to San Diego to follow his passion and to work as an instructor with Beacons, Inc.
Tyler has been a valued member of the Beacons Pathfinder team since summer of 2020 when he started as an associate instructor for the Beacons summer vocational exploration workshops. He now serves as the Director of PathFinder and as an instructor for our vocational training workshops with a proven record of successfully working with those Beacon serves to find employment.
Tyler's experience, high energy, positive attitude and patience helps optimize each individual's growth during the Beacons vocational workshops.
Beginning in high school, Courtney sought out opportunities to meet and serve individuals with various disabilities, volunteering for A Night to Remember Prom and adopting a role as a Peer Mentor in Cathedral Catholic High School's Options Program. Courtney was so inspired by the individuals she had built relationships with in this field that she decided to continue her studies in Applied Psychology and Human Development at Boston College.
While at Boston College, Courtney was a Teacher's Assistant at the Campus School, which serves students aged 3 - 21 with low incidence diagnoses and provides a wide range of personalized educational and therapeutic services. Courtney was placed in a middle school classroom, supporting six students educationally, medically and emotionally. Outside of the classroom, Courtney found ways to volunteer for various organizations such as the Women's Center and the Center for Student Formation.
Most recently, Courtney was working as a Behavioral Support Professional at an Enhanced Behavioral Support Home implementing interventions and skill building activities for women with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Courtney has served as an Associate Instructor and Program Developer, and currently serves as a lead instructor for the PathFinder program teaching creative design and customer service skills. This past summer she managed the Beacons summer program, which offered 19 workshops over a 6-week period. She is now helping to bring "Speakin' @ Beacons" to life!
ABBI BRINGOLF
Lead Instructor
Abbi joined Beacons from Dream Catchers EDH, an organization similarly devoted to empowerment of individuals with disabilities, where she served as its social media director and as an assistant instructor. While at Dream Catchers, Abbi helped teach cooking, life skills, fitness training, skills for its theater program and other activities as well as plan for monthly activities.
Prior to Dream Catchers EDH, Abbi served a Kitchen Manager and Barista for Makework Market, and as a homeschool teacher for individuals with learning disabilities for several years.
Abbi supports the Beacons instructional team with her talents in photography, social media, cooking, money management and numerous other areas to help our trainees explore and learn skills to bridge gaps to employment and increase their independence. Abbi brings her love of her older brother, who has a developmental disability, to all those she works with and in everything she does.
Lead Instructor
Robbie grew up in North County and graduated from UC San Diego with a Bachelor's Degree in World Literature and a Masters Degree in Education. He has 5 years of high school teaching experience and returns to San Diego after spending the last year teaching mathematics in the Mojave Desert.
Robbie has spent the last two years teaching for COSMOS, a summer robotics program at UC San Diego, developing self-driving vehicles with high school students interested in careers in science and technology. He has an interest in accessible technology and is active in communities online dedicated to improving “hands free” technology for operating computers by voice.
Robbie serves as a lead vocational instructor for Creative Design 1 and Customer Service 1 workshops. He is committed to establishing lasting contacts in the community to find vocational opportunities for his trainees and i to supporting them in any way he can.
Chassidy supports Beacons as an Associate Instructor in the Pathfinder Division. Prior to Beacons, she worked as a Companion Caregiver with an at home care agency for several years. There she worked with senior clients afflicted with Alzheimer's disease and dementia. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology in Education and Human Development from Northwestern State University. She enjoys spending time with her two adult children and husband of 20 years. In her free time she enjoys hiking, riding bikes and going to the beach.
Associate Instructor