Goodwill/Able Trust Youth Program Expands to Collier County

NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. - Sept. 16, 2013 - PRLog -- High School High Tech (HSHT), a mentoring and job-shadowing program for high school students with disabilities and other special needs, is expanding to Collier County for the 2013-14 school year. The program, which is administered locally by Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida, will be offered at Golden Gate, Gulf Coast, and Naples High Schools.

“Collier was the only county in our service area where we didn’t offer this program,” explains High School High Tech Program Manager Tim Goodman.  “Expanding to Collier County has been in our strategic plan for two years, so we were excited to learn that The Able Trust was in a position to help us with the expansion this year.”

HSHT is an initiative of the US Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy, and is designed to provide high school students with all types of disabilities the opportunity to explore jobs or secondary education leading to technology-related careers.  In Florida, HSHT is a program of The Able Trust, also known as the Florida Governor’s Alliance for the Florida Endowment Foundation for Vocational Rehabilitation.

Claudia Lozano has joined Goodwill as the Collier County HSHT program coordinator. Lozano previously served as the Enrollment Coordinator at the Hodges University-Immokalee Learning Site, where she was honored with the Excellence in Diversity Award in 2010. She is also a member of the Florida Diversity Council.

“Claudia has a real passion for working with students,” says Goodman.  “She’s a 20-year Naples resident, so she’s been involved in the community for a long time, and because she’s bilingual, she’ll be a definite asset to the program.”

Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization serving Collier, Lee, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades Counties. The organization is committed to serving people with disabilities and disadvantages by offering life-changing opportunities to achieve independence.  Other programs offered in Collier County include Job-Link employment service centers and the Goodwill SWFL MicroEnterprise Institute.

For more information about Goodwill, please visit www.goodwillswfl.org.