Jonathan Goldwasser, a YAI residential supervisor, smiled as he watched from a distance as people gathered for a YAI Job Fair in Elmsford recently.

"You're here for the job fair?” Erica, a member of YAI's Westchester Self-Advocacy group asked. "Please sign in."

As Erica stapled two pages of a job application, the applicant asked, "I don't have a resume with me. Is that OK?"

"That's fine," she said with a reassuring smile.

Helen, another YAI Self-Advocate, guided the applicant to a room where he could fill out the paper work.

Erica and Helen were doing a great job and Jonathan couldn't have been more proud.

YAI's Westchester Self-Advocates wanted to volunteer in a meaningful way to help the organization. The YAI Job Fair had captured members' attention.

"One self-advocate said, 'it would be nice to be part of the process,'" Goldwasser, who works with the self-advocates, recalled.

The individuals in YAI's programs are frequently involved at late stage of the hiring process, when a preferred candidate makes a floor visit to a group residence or day program.

"I wanted to teach Human Resources and our residential supervisors that our guys can do what they want to do; we just have to help find them opportunities," Jonathan said.

This marked the first time the Human Resources Dept. involved self-advocates in a job fair.

"Our concerns were minimal, but we wondered how comfortable Erica and Helen would be in their roles," said Rachel Kaiser-Levitz, Assistant HR Manager. "They really embraced their responsibilities. We will definitely use them again. They needed very little training and really did a great job helping our HR support staff."

“They were wonderful,” said Joan Gannon an HR Assistant, who has worked part-time for YAI for 25 years. “They were a big help.”

There was no need to talk about “Seeing Beyond Disability,” part of YAI's new branding. Erica and Helen were bringing it to life.

"A lot of people coming in today may not get a job," Jonathan said, before the fair began. "But we can change their perception about people with disabilities."