LANSING, MI – Recently, Jackson National Life Insurance Company (Jackson®) awarded Peckham with a $10,000 grant in support of Peckham’s Supported Work Experience (SWE) Community Internship program.
Currently, the SWE program provides skill building services to adults with developmental disabilities and traumatic brain injuries referred for services by Community Mental Health of Clinton, Ingham, and Eaton counties. The goal of SWE is to provide participants the opportunity to practice and build needed employment skills to achieve integrated community employment either at Peckham or with another community employer.
The Supported Work Experience Community Internship Program will help provide a better continuum of services and serve as a bridging experience between skill building and job placement. These internship experiences will allow individuals the opportunity to increase independence, improve identification of natural supports, remove barriers, and prepare for long term employment.
“After completing skill building at Peckham individuals are typically referred for job placement services. We often observe that individuals who want to transition from skill building to employment struggle with maintaining their jobs and require more supports than those without disabilities to achieve independence, “says Jessica Diener, SWE program manager.
“We believe a higher number of individuals would be successful in the workplace if they had a better continuum of services that provided more learning opportunities to prepare for lifelong employment and self- sufficiency. This grant will help us begin to achieve that,” she said.
Peckham is a nonprofit vocational rehabilitation organization that provides paid job training opportunities for people with disabilities and other barriers to employment. For more than 42 years, Peckham has provided jobs and job skills training to thousands of individuals with barriers through five different business lines throughout Michigan, and also has operations in Phoenix, Arizona and London, Kentucky.
Peckham, Inc., is a national award-winning organization, recognized for its achievement in providing exceptional vocational rehabilitation, creating inclusive cultures and building quality workplaces for employees.
About Jackson
Jackson is a leading provider of retirement products for industry professionals and their clients. The company and its affiliates offer variable, fixed and fixed index annuities designed for tax-efficient growth and distribution of retirement income for retail customers, as well as products for institutional investors. Jackson is a proud founding member and co-chair of the Alliance for Lifetime Income, a nonprofit 501(c)(6) organization formed and supported by 24 of the nation’s financial services organizations to create awareness and educate Americans about the importance of protected lifetime income. The company prides itself on sound corporate risk management practices and strategic technology initiatives. Focused on thought leadership and education, Jackson provides industry insights and financial representative training on retirement planning and alternative investment strategies. The company is also dedicated to corporate philanthropy and supports nonprofits focused on strengthening families and creating economic opportunities in the communities where its employees live and work. For more information, visit www.jackson.com.