Melwood Community Services celebrated the graduation of 17 participants from its signature abilIT program in February, which connects adults with disabilities and injured veterans to careers in the tech industry.
In partnership with Cybrary, creator of the most extensive online course in the cybersecurity arena, abilIT is a unique 14-week program that helps participants sit for industry-recognized certifications, while gaining skills needed to be successful in the workplace. Graduates of the program have gone on to pursue careers at Fortune 500 companies like Nickelodeon, KPGM, and Wells Fargo.
This graduating class was abilIT’s 17th cohort.
New career field
For graduate Linda, completing the class marks the start of a new chapter in life. She learned about abilIT after being laid off last year and jumped at the opportunity to enter a new, exciting career field.
“It was a challenging class. I don’t come from an IT background, but the instructors were great and willing to sit and explain if anyone needed help,” she said.
That help paid off when she passed her certification exams on her first try. “I’m really excited to use these skills. I feel a lot more comfortable with my abilities now,” she said.
From class to internship
Patrick is a graduate of the program who spoke about his work in an inspiring speech to the graduates. He talked about how abilIT led to a data labelling bootcamp, which led to an internship with Enabled Intelligence.
Patrick is now employed full time at that company, where he uses skills first learned in abilIT to support the national security interests of the U.S. government and American citizens.
“Beyond tech and training, you also make lasting friendships and connections in abilIT,” he said. “Now is the time to seize on this opportunity.”
Real opportunities for jobs in IT
Graduate Adam aims to use skills he developed in the class to pursue a career as a network installer or cable installer. His dad, Pat, works in the IT field and was also impressed with the program and how well it has prepared Adam to take on such work.
With approximately 350,000 unfilled positions in the computer science industry, the demand for entry-level technology employees has reached an all-time high. The abilIT program seeks to ad dress these workforce shortages by leveraging the untapped potential and talent of people with disabilities, who are often underemployed or unemployed.
In addition to building technical and soft skills, abilIT also empowers graduates to become more independent while building self-esteem. That’s exactly the kind of change Barry and Patti say they saw in their son, Jeremy, after he completed the program.
“Jeremy wasn’t sure the program was for him at first, but it won him over after two classes,” Patti said.
The Melwood Community Services abilIT program is free to all participants. Ideal candidates are veterans or individuals with a disability with either a high school diploma or equivalent. Candidates should have some intermediate experience in IT, or in using Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
The next cohort is scheduled to begin March 24, and registration is now open. “Graduation is only the beginning,” said Emily Homer, Executive Director of Melwood Community Services, which operates 26 programs to support people with disabilities, including abilIT. “Like so many of the programs Melwood Community Services offers, abilIT opens the door to new opportunities—and in some cases opportunities people never imagined for themselves. The soft skills and technical training abilIT graduates learn over weeks can take them anywhere.”
