Webster Resident see potential despite challenges

As printed in the Webster Post, 4/8/09

   Geno Fisher sits at his work space at the CDS Life Transitions Center in Webster, diligently cutting extra string from pieces that will be used to assemble walkie-talkies for the U.S. military.
   As part of the vocational training and employment program, Unistel, Geno brings the piece to a heat source, where the string is burned to the appropriate length.  He then tosses it into a box on the bench he works at and repeats the process.
   Geno, 22, a resident of Webster, dreamed of finishing high school, working and earning a paycheck.  He came ten months ago to the Transitions Center, a program that targets developmentally disabled high school students.  The program works to support the individual's pursuits and goals.
   CDS has residential services throughout Monroe and Wayne Counties, as well as programs in Penfield and Pittsford that cater to day training and family and social support groups.
   "We started the Transitions program with 15 individuals, and our focus was to bring in students in their last year of high school and expose them to different environments to see where they fit best," CEO Sankar Sewnauth said.
   Sewnauth, who has been the leader of CDS since 1998, pondered an important question.  We asked a fundamental question--what's needed that is not being addressed?" he said.  "The transition services are for kids leaving high school.  We also think Webster is a benchmark for the community; we relocated here because our location in Perinton was really out of the area.  In the last 10 years, we've really become a community organization, not just an east-side organization.  We wanted to locate somewhere central and more accessible, so that individuals and employees could cut down on travel time."
   Geno trained in Unistel for several jobs, including a stint at Johnson & Johnson.  He now works on a job for Harris RF Communications after completing a two-week assessment that decided if he was ready to "transition" to the work program.
   "I'm not the kind of guy who looks into what I do as a career," Geno said as he worked.  "I look more at the short-term, like what movie I am going to watch next."
   Though he said he looks more at the short-term, Geno has expressed interest in several career paths; biology, paleontology and archeology.  "Working here has given me perspective on what I can do," he said.
   "Getting up early really isn't my thing," he said.  "I do enjoy coming here and working.  It's not even about the paycheck--it's about what I can get done before I leave.  Kind of like a contest."
   Geno explained that he has broken his record for the amount of parts he can get done since he began a few weeks ago.  "On the second day I finished 989 pieces.  Last week, I finished 1,366," he said.
   Sewnauth said Geno's progress is due to being able to work with him and see his strengths before he began the program.  "I am fairly assured he will be successful, because we got to work with him for a year," he said.  "Geno had some weaknesses we tapped into, trained him and he is ready to go."
   He also said that a study of the program has shown a higher quality of life and behavioral challenges have dropped.
   "At the end of the day, that's what means the most--that people's lives are being improved by this, and their true dreams are coming true," he said.

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