Career Resource Center
140 Main St Milford, MA 01757
Tel: (508) 473-2661 Fax: (508) 473-4040

Alternatives’ Career Resource Center is a SEE (Services for Education and Employment) Program that provides employment and education services for individuals living in the Central Massachusetts area. The Center utilizes a person-centered approach, which emphasizes the importance of involving each individual in the process of selecting, obtaining and maintaining their preferred choice of employment and/or education.

Employment Services

  • Comprehensive job skill and interest screening that enable individuals to make informed decisions about desired employment.
  • Extensive job research and matching through employer interviews, job fairs and via the Internet.
  • Development of job training, apprenticeship or volunteer positions at businesses in the community.
  • Assistance to employers in the interpretation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and in obtaining Work Opportunity Tax Credit Certificates.
  • Job coaching and other follow up services to ensure that individuals are successful in their new employment positions.

Education/Training Services

  • Classroom instruction in Interview Skills, Resume Development, Interpersonal Skills and other specific job skill areas.
  • Individualized or group computer training in a fully equipped Computer Resource Room.
  • Assistance with registration, financial aid, accommodations and follow up support for individuals interested in attending college.
  • Weekly Telecourse series at the Center which feature college level material.
  • Individualized tutoring services in the community for individuals preparing for GED exams.

Collaboration

  • Networking with local WorkForce Central office, Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC) and other service providers in coordinating employer informational events.
  • Participation in local Chamber of Commerce activities and special events.
  • Partnering with local schools to educate and inform local students about the Human Services field and volunteer opportunities at Alternatives Unlimited, Inc.
  • Members of Downtown Business Partnership with focus on developing valued roles for individuals served in civic activities.

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Alternatives Unlimited, Inc.
54 Douglas Road Whitinsville, MA 01588
Tel: (508) 234-6232 Fax: (508) 234-6179

Purpose
Alternatives Unlimited, Inc. is a human service agency that provides individuals who have developmental or psychiatric disabilities with the skills and supports necessary to be successful and satisfied in the living, learning or working environment of their choice in the community.

Background
In 1976, Alternatives Unlimited, Inc. was formed as a non-profit organization to serve the needs of people with disabilities in the Blackstone Valley. The agency contracted at that time with the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health to operate 3 residential programs in the towns of Milford, Uxbridge and Millbury and a vocational program in Whitinsville. Over the years the state continued initiatives to offer community based services, as opposed to institutionalized care, for the disabled. As these community based programs further gained acceptance, the type of programs Alternatives offered continued to expand. The success that the agency was able to demonstrate in helping people to lead more fulfilling lives led to additional sources of funding from other state agencies and more programs for people. Several variations of service models have since been created by Alternatives to meet the wide range of support needs of those it services in the areas of living in a home or working at a job. The focus of every program operated by Alternatives is captured best by the agency motto:

Skills + Support = Success

Agency Specifics

  • Serves approximately 650 people with disabilities on a daily basis
  • Operates nearly 40 programs in the Central Massachusetts area
  • Employs approximately 400 staff members
  • Office locations in Whitinsville, Milford, Worcester and Leominster

Redefining Community At the turn of the millennium, Alternatives created a new initiative and slogan, which it refers to as Redefining Community. While the agency recognized that people with disabilities were more physically present in the community as a result of its services, it was equally aware of the need to help these same people assume more valued roles as true members of their communities. Thus, the Redefining Community initiative was developed. All agency programs are challenged to actively facilitate social connections between individuals served and members of the community during the various stages of services they provide. Alternatives further enlists the support of the community in this initiative by providing innovative grant money and scholarship opportunities to individuals or groups dedicated to bringing about change in the local area.

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