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Jan. 17—Flourish of Cullman might not have been able to help Isaac Jackson see his dream of driving the Grave Digger monster truck come true, but to the 20-year-old living with Aspergers, helping his coworkers and the customers at Cullman Florist might be the next best thing.
Those who visit the flower shop on a Monday or Thursday morning will likely see Jackson enthusiastically going about his tasks, or if the rest of the staff is busy they may be greeted by his infectious smile and asked how he can help them. This might not have been possible if Flourish had not first visited the store presenting the opportunity of hiring a person with what it describes as "differing abilities."
When working as a therapist with Encore Rehabilitation, Flourish founder and Executive Director Melissa Dew said that she would often receive recommendations from both Cullman City and Cullman County Schools. Over time she began to notice that many of the students she would work with were graduating high school, but were unable to locate employment after. She then made it her mission to create an organization that helps bridge the gap between these individuals and local businesses.
"We wanted to start something and we saw all the trending studies about individuals with differing abilities being underserved as far as being able to get jobs. People didn't see the vision and we wanted to change that. We wanted to show individuals and business owners in our community that these are very viable individuals that can help their organization grow and develop," Dew said.
Flourish not only identifies prospective employers, but helps its clients with many pre-employment tasks that they may have difficulty with. Flourish staff will set up mock interviews to help a job seeker prepare for questions that an employer might ask and coach them on how to respond to those questions, assistance is given in filling out applications, developing a work schedule and even offering advice on how one should present themselves when attending an interview or going to work.
The challenges for Flourish's clients don't always end at the hiring table. For this reason, Dew said that the staff will often take on the temporary role of job coach to mediate between employer and employee and teach both parties how to work together. Sometimes this means creating task sheets or showing an employer how to effectively communicate tasks. Dew gives the example of a young man who was hired at Captain D's who was taking his supervisor's requests a bit too literally.
"She said 'We're going to teach you how to drop fish.' To him, dropping fish meant dropping fish onto the floor. So I explained it to her that you have to tell him, 'We're going to teach you how fry fish.' We help those employers to understand what is meaningful to those participants in our program," Dew said.
Jackson's supervisor Steph Cook said that similar situation occurred with Jackson when he was asked to "fill some buckets with water" to place freshly cut flowers in. To Jackson that request meant to completely fill each bucket to its rim. After marking a scrap piece of PVC pipe with a fill line though, he has had no issues.
"He can put it in there and he knows to fill it up to the line. We've tried to adapt things so that Isaac knows what to do because once he sees something, he knows it," Cook said.
Jackson's duties aren't limited to filling buckets. He is often tasked with trimming flower stems, sweeping floors and preparing lists. Some of his favorite tasks are making deliveries and interacting with customers — just as long as it is in person and not over the phone.
Jackson's mother, Kristy, said that one of her main goals when approaching Flourish was to have her son be more involved with people. She knew that he had an outgoing personality, but didn't have any opportunity to showcase that. Since becoming employed, she has begun to see that side of him much more often.
"I think more of that has come out of him since he's been involved with Flourish. He has always had that about that him, being a people person. But I think he has overcome a lot of stuff since working with them," Kristy said.
Cook said that the biggest contribution Jackson has made though is the way he lifts up his coworkers and makes coming to work each day just a little more enjoyable.
"I feel like Issac was meant to be here, he has a very positive attitude. Sometimes the pace that we work at can be very intense even though it's a happy place with flowers," Cook said. "When we get frustrated or we get in a hurry he is very quick to tell us 'It's OK, it's going to be alright.' He jumps in and helps us when we need him no matter what we're doing."
Kristy said that she could not be more pleased with her son's job placement and the opportunity that he has been given through Flourish.
"I think that they have found the most perfect job for him. I think they understand him more," Kristy said. "I have no worries at all about him when he is there. He's in the perfect place."
