For an Emerge customer, the opportunity to work for pay is a point of personal pride and a big boost to the customer’s sense of self-worth and independence.

A number of employers in the Maryland communities we serve—members of the Emerge family in their own right—employ Emerge customers in full-time jobs. They include Giant Food, Kiddie Kollege, and Dollar Tree . They consistently report that their Emerge workers are reliable, thorough and friendly; in a number of cases, an individual Emerge customer has worked continuously for a community employer for five, ten and even 20 years.

Most of our Emerge customers who work full-time in their local communities are fully independent, responsible for reporting on time on their assigned days and working full shifts under the same degree of employer supervision as other employees. Most of them use public transportation to get to and from work.

Download information about Becoming an Employer in the Community.

An Emerge customer new to his or her job has to earn this independence. During their first several weeks on the job they are accompanied for full shifts by an Emerge community job coach, an Emerge professional staff member who has guided them through the application and interview process. After this initial period, the coach visits regularly to ensure that the customer is adjusting properly