MATTHEWS, N.C. — A nonprofit organization prepares young adults with special needs for the workforce. 

What You Need To Know

  • ZABS Place trains young adults with special needs to enter the workforce

  • During Disability Pride Month, the nonprofit organization highlights the importance of ability awareness

  • Disability Pride Month honors the history, achievements and struggles of the disability community

ZABS Place, which has a thrift boutique and furniture store, offers training and job placement in their field of interest. 

Director Rochel Groner said around 75 trainees go through this program every year. 

“We see so much talent, so much opportunity that is really not being tapped into. We want to help these young adults tap into their own abilities and really harness their potential and realize it to make it come true,” Groner said.“We see so much talent, so much opportunity that is really not being tapped into. We want to help these young adults tap into their own abilities and really harness their potential and realize it to make it come true,” Groner said.

Groner and her husband opened Friendship Circle first, a nonprofit organization pairing young people with special needs and teens to participate in activities together. 

She said parents at Friendship Circle often worried about their children’s future after high school. These conversations led to opening ZABS Place in 2014.

“They could do janitorial work, they could bag groceries, they could water plants and some nurseries, all which are wonderful things, if you are passionate about that, but if you don’t like those things, to have to choose between those three areas doesn’t seem fair,” Groner said. 

July is Disability Pride Month, which honors the history, achievements and struggles of the disability community. At ZABS Place, they are doing their part to create a more inclusive community. 

“Ability awareness is tremendous to us, and part of what we we love about what do and we are right on the corner in downtown Matthews. We want these young adults to be front and center in front of people of all walks of life,” Groner said. 

Cole Levy is a graduate from the training program, which prepared him for his part-time job at the thrift boutique at ZABS Place. 

“It helps me be independent and get a paycheck,” Levy said. 

He usually works independently organizing toys, games and crafts during this shift. 

“It helps keep this area clean,” Levy said. 

If he’s performing new tasks, head job coach Kristen Armstrong provides guidance. 

“They might seem a little different, but they are capable, and they are passionate and really great pieces of what I think is missing in the job market today,” Armstrong said. 

Levy is glad to have this opportunity. 

“If I didn’t have this job, I wouldn’t know what my next step would be,” Levy said. 

During Disability Pride Month we also observe the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a landmark legislation protecting people with disabilities from discrimination, including employment, transportation and public accommodations. 

ZABS place, for example, initially sends coaches with program graduates to their new job to help them with the transition.