By Adam Smith

The North Jefferson News



A Gardendale-based group wants to put young people with special needs to work.

Building Job Skills for Americans with Disabilities (BJS) is a non-profit organization based in Gardendale that trains high school students and young adults with disabilities to enter the working world.

Bryant Hill, owner of Hill’s Janitorial Service in Gardendale, founded the group after years of seeing unemployed teenagers loitering in parking lots and getting into trouble.

He was also moved by a higher calling.

“God just put this burden on me to do this,” he said. “He brought me to this point in my life where I now have the tools and skills that enable me to affect many lives.”

BJS’s mission is to provide several different skill sets to students. Hill’s background in custodial services allows those who participate to learn how to strip and wax floors, vacuum, clean restrooms and offices, clean carpets and learn how to use equipment like buffers and carpet extractors.

Instructors from the Jefferson County Board of Education also teach students how to fill out resumes and job applications, how to dress and act on job interviews and how to market themselves to potential employers. Instructors also conduct assessments to find out what each participant is interested in.

“We want to identify what they’re good at and cater to that,” Hill said. “We also want to bring in people who have a heart for the kids that will give their time to make sure they’ll be successful.”

Students who participate work toward their Alabama Occupational Diploma (AOD) or a certificate of completion. Under state law, students must complete 270 paid working hours before receiving an AOD.

BJS began working with its first 15 students this summer and completed at least two important projects. Students cleaned lockers and desks at Bragg Middle School and later helped prepare food for a luncheon at Jefferson State Community College.

BJS’s chairman of the board Janus Braue said those real work experiences, in addition to social training, are the keys to preparing the students for long-term employment.

“We’re able to provide them with social or soft skills that can sometimes cause people to lose their jobs,” she said. “We get to role play with them and fine tune them so they’ll be good employees.”

Braue has worked in special education for 32 years and supervises teachers and coaches who prepare students for a job. She referred to BJS as a “Godsend” in terms of helping special needs individuals find employment.

“With the economy being the way it is, there are more adults taking jobs that these kids would have taken in the past,” she said. “This program has allowed them to get their diploma and get on with their lives.”

One such success story is 18-year-old Billy McCaskill, who earned enough hours through the program this summer to get his AOD from Minor High School.

Billy’s mother, Shirley McCaskill, praised BJS for helping her son get his diploma and earn a paycheck in the process.

“It [BJS] helped him to be a hard worker and get to work on time and he was diligent about that; he did what he was asked to do,” she said. “In the end, he’ll be great at whatever he does.”

Billy McCaskill will start school at Lawson State Community College in Birmingham this fall.

BJS is now working with the Jefferson County Board of Education and United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Birmingham to open the program up to even more students and young adults in need of vocational skills.

However, Hill said the organization needs additional funding to continue its mission. Last month, Hill and BJS’s board of directors asked the Gardendale City Council to consider designating funds to the program. The group is also exploring what state and federal grants may be available.

BJS will host its first fund-raising event on Oct. 5 at United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Birmingham. The catered dinner will cost $25 per person and will also feature a silent auction.

Hill said he’s excited to work with the next group of students, but just as excited about the future of the program.

“The road that God has prepared for us is a bright road,” he said. “I’ve found a new meaning to living again. I’m pumped up just thinking about it.”

For more information, contact BJS at 631-4102 or visit the Web site at www.bjsinc.org.