Steve is a job coach at Deseret Industries. His role is to help associates learn valuable skills that will enable them to overcome personal employment barriers and prepare them for future job opportunities. Steve’s position is essential in promoting self-reliance and creating better lives for associates.

 

About a year into his time as a job coach, one of Steve’s former associates—who took a position elsewhere after completing job training at DI—dropped by the store where Steve worked. Steve recalls the impact of that visit.

 

“He came to me crying and said, ‘For the first time in my life, I can take care of my wife and children. I don’t have to rely on anyone. Thank you for the opportunity to let me be a provider for my family.’ And I remember the thought going through my mind, ‘That’s what this is all about. If nothing else comes from my time here, being able to have one person who has that impression from his or her experience working for [Deseret Industries], that’s enough.’”

 

Steve’s day-to-day interactions also remind him of the value of his work. His associates typically hit their team and personal goals, but Steve emphasizes the importance of individual development in the process of progression.

 

“It’s not as much about hitting the goals as it is that we’re using goals as the means to help associates learn these work behaviors of what’s expected outside of the DI environment,” Steve says. “So if they can grow, learn, and improve, then we’ve met the higher goal.”

 

Show your support for Steve and our other amazing job coaches by donating, shopping, or visiting with an associate at your local DI today.