San Mateo County supervisor honored for advocacy

On Monday, she was honored during a ceremony in Burlingame where the Carole Groom Learning Center was unveiled.

“It took my breath away when I saw it,” Groom said.

The programs offered at the center build on an individual’s interests and abilities to assist them to increase independence through classroom instruction, hands-on learning and community outings, according to AbilityPath.

“It’s remarkable when you teach people how to do certain jobs and they are able to do them and they become like, ‘hey I am one of the community here,’” Groom said.

AbilityPath clients are assisted through the program and are working full time all over the place. They work at movie theaters, grocery stores, restaurants and are independently living, Groom said.

Ability Path CEO Bryan Neider said what he recalls most about Groom is her work with SamTrans accessibility issues.

“She was talking about SamTrans and knew what they can and can’t do, she knows what the county could do, she knew where the funding is, she knows what we need and she found a solution,” Neider said.

Another impactful moment for Groom was she was able to help keep the SamTrans rates for people on Social Security down they were raised, he added.

AbilityPath is looking to expand on community inclusion, employment opportunities and the Carole Groom Learning Center is going to focus on job readiness, Neider said.

“I know the economy is a little bit of a challenge, but, believe it or not, employers have been incredibly receptive one of our teams at the start of COVID had 25 adults in an employment program, as of last month they had over 120. So to see that kind of growth, we think there’s a lot more opportunity,” Neider said.

The structure to get the participants ready is about getting the right placement for the right job skills.

“A huge part of that is like a college counseling center,” Neider said, adding that it’s about finding the individual’s interests and working with that.

The ultimate goal is that it works for the participant and it benefits the employer.

“Once you have worked in an inclusive setting like that, you understand how much everybody brings to the community and to exclude a part of the community from being in a work setting is a loss for everybody,” Neider said. “It’s not fair, it’s not right, but, more than anything, everybody brings value and contributes in their own way.”

Some of the challenges for Neider are adjusting from COVID hybrid learning back to in-person learning and how the state is willing to fund the nonprofit going forward. A large part of the nonprofits funding comes from the California Department of Developmental Services and there is a proposal to modify the way the nonprofit is reimbursed at the beginning of 2023, which Neider believes eliminates a lot of choices for the participants it serves.

AbilityPath offers more than 180 hybrid classes and Neider said the state’s proposal will make it almost impossible to provide that choice.

“I think it starts with choice, what are the folks we serve telling us? They want options and they want choice, they didn’t have choice before COVID,” Neider said. “Now that we have choice why would we take it away?”

Visit abilitypath.org to learn more.