Triumph Services helps disabled people find jobs, live independently

Over the next five years, 500,000 people with autism are projected to graduate high school and enter the workforce, an advocate for people with disabilities told the Homewood Chamber of Commerce today.

And 75% of college graduates with autism find themselves either unemployed or underemployed, said Melanie Bald, director of services for the Birmingham-based Triumph Services nonprofit, which helps people with disabilities learn to live independently.

Autism is the fastest growing developmental disability, but these are people who will need jobs, Bald told the crowd, which gathered at The Club.

People’s skill levels vary, but people with autism make good employees, Bald said. They usually just need some job coaching and clear instructions, she said.

One person that Triumph Services helped place in a job at a smoothie cafe was hired to measure ingredients. At first, the employee was being so precise with measurements that he was taking too long and customers were complaining, Bald said. The café manager had someone assist the person with the disability, and productivity improved. Soon thereafter, the manager realized the person with the disability was saving the café a lot of money because measurements were so precise that food waste was drastically reduced, she said.

Another young person with a disability was unemployed and spent his time going to thrift stores, acquiring pieces of computer equipment, disassembling them, building his own computer and designing computer software. He had a high school diploma but no software development certification.

Triumph Services helped connect the young man with the Homewood-based Daxco technology company, which determined the man had capabilities, gave him a one-year internship and then hired him as a software designer, Bald said. The young man now owns his own home in West Homewood and no longer needs the support of Triumph Services, she said.

That’s the goal of Triumph Services — to help clients get jobs, learn to live independently, interact socially and manage their emotions, Bald said.

The nonprofit was created in Birmingham in 2007 after a clinic that served people with developmental disabilities closed, leaving 16 people with the need for immediate help. The organization has grown and now typically serves about 350 people at a time at locations in Birmingham and Montgomery, Bald said.

Triumph Services was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic because its clients frequently were the first ones laid off or fired when businesses struggled to stay open, Bald said. Also, counseling and coaching services were switched to Zoom, which was not a good tool for helping people with autism, she said.

The organization shrunk but now is back to providing face-to-face service, she said.

In addition to Daxco, other Homewood companies that partner with Triumph Services to employ people with disabilities include Aloft, Gianmarco’s Restaurant, Piggy Wiggly, Publix, De Vinci’s Pizza, Planet Smoothie and Greenwise, Bald said.

Frequently, the jobs involve routine, entry-level tasks and are part-time, but they help make life more normal for people with disabilities, she said.

“They want the same things we want,” Bald said. “It’s really nice to be able to have friends. It’s nice to be able to own your own home, and it’s nice to have a job, to have structure to your day, to be able to interact socially and be able to manage their emotions.”

Bald encouraged business people to think about tasks in their company that might could be performed by someone with a disability and to partner with Triumph Services.

People interested in doing so can go to triumphservices.org to sign up to become a partner, learn more, donate or volunteer to help in other ways.