It was standing room only when a group of Jewel-Osco employees and students from the iCan Dream Center gathered Thursday morning in the chapel at the center, which is based in Tinley Park.
The atmosphere was fairly quiet until Christine Nunez, manager of Jewel Osco’s store at 159th Street and 94th Avenue in Orland Park, began asking the students questions. That’s when they got excited and shouted out the answers.
Given the big red “monster” in the room, one of the first questions was how the store’s mascot, JoJo, got its name. “From Jewel-Osco!” a student exclaimed, earning a prize.
After students had answered several questions correctly, staff and Jewel representatives handed out goodie bags, followed by some sweet treats.
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The visit celebrated the partnership of the center, which serves students with intellectual disabilities, autism and various learning difficulties, and Jewel-Osco, which currently employs seven iCan Dream Center students at stores in the area.
“We couldn’t do it without a team of people helping us out,” Evisha Ford, the center’s founding executive director, said during a smaller gathering of the Jewel-Osco employees, a few staff members and some of the students who work at Jewel.
The center’s staff took the opportunity to thank Nunez by giving her a bouquet of flowers. “I was very surprised by the flowers, but I think what impressed me most was seeing the employees that the school has and seeing their smiles and how welcoming they were when I got there,” she shared.
She said she loves seeing the center’s students and staff at her store. “I love when you come say ‘Hi’ to my team. Love all of you, and you’re outstanding. This is a partnership for life.”
Nunez has become the contact for any of the center’s students who want to work at Jewel, trying to connect them to a store that’s close to their home and public transportation and a job they’ll enjoy.
“They have been getting placed in the bakery department, some in grocery, some as a bagger. We’re trying to look into where they can be in the best use of their abilities,” she said. “Usually when they come to interviews, I ask what they like to do outside of work. I had a girl who told me she loved baking with her mom, so I placed her in the bakery, and she’s doing well. I feel like if it’s something they’re comfortable doing, it doesn’t feel like work.”
She said the idea to visit the iCan Dream Center came up when she and Jose Munoz, manager of Jewel in Downers Grove, were talking about doing a back-to-school event with the Hispanic group for the company that they lead, Jolla — a name is inspired by the Spanish word for “jewel.”
The company’s core values of “creating respect and treating each other equally” helps see the potential in people, including those with disabilities, Nunez said. “We try to see them with what they can do because at the end of the day, they have a purpose in life,” she added.
“I see the passion that the iCan Dream Center has, the entire staff from Dr. Ford to the rest of them, and I think this is a real opportunity for the iCan Dream Center and Jewel-Osco to work together and get students to work to the next level,” Nunez said, adding that membership in Jolla is voluntary.
“My associates were telling me, ‘Next time we go to an event, can we take our families to help out?’ … I have one of them who was in tears with how good she felt to see the kids and spend time with them and see their faces and how grateful they were to spend time with them,” she shared.
Students in the center’s transition program are 18 to 23 years old and still have special education services. “We serve the local school districts, so these are students who graduated from lots of different area high schools and we partner with the school districts to serve them post-secondary, and then we’ll get them ready for community college or career training or the workforce,” said Katie Gira, director of development and strategic partnerships for the center. “The goal for every one of the transition students is to leave the iCan Dream Center with a job, community college or career training. … We don’t want them to leave without one of those three things in hand when they leave.”
The high school credit recovery program aids students “who for whatever reason were school avoidant, truant, completely disconnected from high school.” The center helps them regain credit so they can graduate from their high school or complete it through the center, which is free to everyone, Gira added.
Jewel-Osco has been partnering with the iCan Dream Center since sometime last year, and so far it’s been working well, especially thanks to Nunez and her efforts, said Zipporah Leach, vocational specialist at the center, which is why they wanted to celebrate the company and Nunez.
“She has taken our excitement and she has partnered with us for those reasons on behalf of our students and their futures. … When I shared the mission with Christine, it’s like she understood what the mission was for, and because she gives back to their community,” Leach explained. “That’s why I called her a servant-leader. She has the heart to give back to her own community. She saw the need and she answered the call.”
The students will give back to the company by creating collages to be displayed at Albersons’ leadership conference in September in Itasca. “It’s a token of adoration and to let them know that we’re grateful,” Leach said. “And for the students, it’s a thank you for opening the door for them to come into their establishment and live out some of their dreams and to be union protected.”
She added that having those protections is important. “I can only imagine some of the parents who may have fears about ‘What are my kids going to do after graduation? Will they be able to sustain themselves?” With that kind of backing, it helps them know that they do have a future.”
Leach said Nunez’ personal connection to the students is one of the reasons for the partnership’s success. “Her hands-on approach is what I love. Although she’s the hiring manager, she doesn’t just disappear,” she said. “She’s walking with them, helping to teach them employability skills that we’re teaching in the classroom so it translates into the work environment.
“Some of our students have disabilities and have trust issues, and they need to see familiar faces,” she continued. “She takes them through the store and introduces them to the staff so they become familiar with their environment. Their success rate is higher – students have to see things – and everything has to be familiar. She is there every step of the way.”
The admiration is obviously mutual.
“They come to my store to do shopping, and I can tell you the love of the staff and the administrator, when they come to the store with the kids, the way they treat them with love and kindness, it would be like their own kids,” Nunez said. “We’ve lost compassion and caring, and that’s the reason the iCan Dream Center succeeds. … That’s why everyone wants to partner with them – they’re leading with heart.”
She said she’s impressed with the center’s work. “I think there are no words to describe the amount of encouragement and commitment they have to the community and the kids. Getting the potential out of them and getting them into the workforce – it’s a prize. It’s just outstanding. I feel like if we as a company and anyone can help (students) out with their gifts, I think there will be a reward in heaven.”
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Melinda Moore is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.