Emerging Adults at Onward Transitions continue to demonstrate initiative, executive functioning skills, and civic responsibility as they contribute to the city of Portland, ME. Clients, referred to as members of the program, are actively working as front-line workers, participating in the upcoming elections through absentee voting, and helping to ease the strain on health care by receiving early flu shots.
Staff at Onward Transitions have been working with members to link these fundamental aspects of citizenship with executive functioning skills. On September 16th, the full staff participated in a “Building Skills for Independence” virtual training with executive functioning coach Merri Minnich of Beyond Book Smart. This training underscored the approach the staff had been implementing with the key skills of planning, time management, flexible thinking, self-knowledge, self-management, and self-advocacy. Members worked both in groups and individually with staff to develop plans to continue their success in work and school, to obtain voting ballots from their home states, and to schedule their flu shots.
Onward Transitions’ Program and Community Resource Leader Kristen Chandler reported that members actively participated in “understanding, planning and carrying out the steps to get set up as absentee voters in their home states so they could be sure to participate in the election.” Chandler went on to say that members have scheduled their flu shots either through their health care providers in Portland, or through a local pharmacy near to Onward Transitions’ downtown location.
About Onward Transitions
Onward Transitions (OT) in Portland, ME is a small, independent, owner-operated program for bright, motivated, emerging adults in the final stages of learning to live on their own. OT supports actual sustainable independent living and autonomy from two city locations. Participants (members) ages 18-29 never live with us; they live in their own apartments, scattered throughout the city. Members' challenges include anxiety, depression and executive functioning.