Metro Community Health Employee to Ring Opening Bell at New York Stock Exchange
Photo Credit: NYSE/Valerie Caviness
PRINCETON, NJ ( January 21, 2016) -- Today it was announced that Robert Stack, President of Community Options, selected Roy King to ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange, Friday January 22.
Roy King, only twenty-six years old, has not had it easy. Growing up with a disability, Roy was in and out of placements throughout his life with no sense of stability.
In 2012, Roy aged out of the Edenwald Center, a residential school, and began receiving services from Community Options, Inc. Community Options, Inc. is one of New Jersey’s largest non-profit corporations whose focus is to help provide community housing, job training, employment, and life-skills experience to those living with disabilities.
Roy, living with three other individuals in a Community Options condominium in Harlem, quickly learned alternative ways to express his frustrations through counseling and with the help of consistent staff and service providers.
With his new skills, Roy identified a prospective employer; a clinic he was attending. Taking initiative, Roy asked if they were hiring. The administrators of the clinic, admiring his persistence and personality, located a program that would provide job coaching and training to Roy.
Now, Roy travels independently to and from his job at Metro Community Health, where he works two days a week as a patient transporter and takes great pride in his key card that allows him to access certain doors in the facility. In addition to his job, Roy participates in a day program run by Community Options where he can learn and develop new skills. Having been the first person to receive services in the program, Roy is the unofficial spokesman.
Roy is always looking out for the best interest of the other individuals and the staff, even assisting in preparing the meals. Roy is known for his delicious salads! He takes great pride in his home and work and says, “I am proud of my good character and the man I have become.”
Community Options currently has five homes in Harlem, servicing fourteen individuals with disabilities in the community. Another home is expected to open in February of this year. The “Day Hab Without Walls” program that Roy attends serves seven individuals and assists them with community inclusion, developing social and communication skills, and vocational skill development.
Community Options strives to make their program and services as effective as possible, while always ensuring the individuals feel dignity and empowerment. To help carry out their mission, Community Options hosts Cupid’s Chase 5K, an annual fundraiser held in 30 cities, including New York City, in 9 states across the country. Cupid’s Chase allows Community Options to raise both funds and awareness for their cause. All runners, walkers and rollers (baby strollers and wheelchairs) are invited to participate on Saturday, February 13, 2016. For more information or to register, visit cupidschase.org.
About Community Options, Inc.:
For over 25 years, Community Options has developed housing and employment programs for people with disabilities – serving thousands of people through 38 offices across 10 states. Community Options provides advocacy assistance to empower people with disabilities because all people – regardless of ability level – should live and work in the community with dignity, choice and self-determination.
For more information please visit our website: comop.org and to follow along with the ComOpCares campaign, search #ComOpCares on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.