A Hand Up

A Hand Up 

by Cherie Boeneman

Life is unlimited.

Your world expands with the generosity, compassion,

inventiveness, and service that you contribute.

Money that is spent or given away returns multiplied.

The more love that is given, the more love returns.

The more a helping hand is given, the more hands

are strengthened and empowered to help.

We can help each other to all be winners.

We can all have food, and jobs, and love, and happiness.

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

I had been unemployed for three years with no hope in sight of ever finding a job. Then I saw a notice for a 12 week fellowship with Organizing For America, the organizing arm of the Obama campaign. I filled out an application and several days later received a call from the county field director. I accepted the unpaid position on the spot. I received excellent training and started organizing right away. I met with people one-on-one and recruited them to be volunteers on the campaign. Then we set up a neighborhood team. That team would go on to branch off a new team, and so forth. I made hundreds, if not thousands, of phone calls, registered voters and led a canvass. Suddenly, my self-confidence was back; it made all the difference in  the world. I wish I could say that I found work because of my experience but that isn’t the case. However, I can say that I learned a great deal about myself and how to relate (or not relate) to other people. What I learned mostly was that I have difficulty figuring people out. I cannot read people well. That causes problems for me but at least I know it now. So what about others like me?  Can there not be a program where internships are established for those who have challenges?

I know that most internships are about giving bright young people hands-on experience (and providing cheap labor) but what if there was a model for internships set up and designed for people (of all ages) who have been overlooked for various reasons even though they are ALSO bright and talented? Yes, it would take more work but people with Asperger's could be writers or IT in an office or do research. Many people with Asperger's Syndrome  or otherwise on are chronically underemployed or unemployed. It would be well worth the extra effort to design an internship for an individual with AS or on the Autism Spectrum as the hand up it gives could do wonders for the person and help the person's prospects for employment, thus reducing the overall cost to society.

While setting up internships for those who are capable, on the higher end of the Autism Spectrum could be a way to reduce that burden to them and to society the same might be true with other forms of disability. It might also be useful for those workers who have been unemployed for a long time through no fault of their own. Many people simply need a hand up, not a hand-out.

Is there ANYONE out there with an interest in a project like this?