Vocational Rehabilitation Launches Satellite Office At North Campus

Miami Dade College aims to provide students with the financial, academic and emotional support they need to attain an education.

For students with disabilities, ACCESS: A Comprehensive Center for Exceptional Student Services provides resources like testing accommodations, note-takers and interpreters, to facilitate their pursuit of higher education. 

Now MDC students will have a new resource.

On April 29, the Florida Department of Education’s Vocational Rehabilitation program, a federal-state initiative that assists people with disabilities find employment, launched a satellite office at North Campus in Room 6126.

The program aims to expand to other MDC campuses in the future.

“We want to be the first place that individuals with disabilities go when they need assistance…we want to enhance their independence,” said Kirenia Pintado, who serves as the interim area director for Vocational Rehab’s Miami-Dade County and Monroe County offices. 

Vocational Rehab also offers financial aid, tutoring, career counseling, internships, technology, like armrests and wheelchairs, medical services, such as diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders, and transportation assistance, including vehicle modifications and gas money.

“Since COVID, people are coming in needing more resources, whether it’s with mental health, academics, finding employment,” said Elizabeth Potenza, director of ACCESS Disability Services at North Campus. “[Vocational Rehab] is just another tool in our toolbox [that] can give students the assistance they need to be successful.”

To qualify for assistance, applicants need to have a documented disability and meet with a vocational rehabilitation counselor. 

Candidates are then referred to a certified vocational evaluator to assess their academic, emotional and medical conditions, as well as their interests, strengths and weaknesses. 

Results are used to create an individualized plan for employment, which outlines the jobs that are best fit for the person and the resources they need to succeed.

“The key thing is helping our community and citizens, enabling them to move forward—to study what they want to study, to contribute what they have a skill [in] or what they want to develop a skill for,” said Carlos A. Ponce, a consultant for Vocational Rehab, serving as a liaison between North Campus’ satellite office and the ACCESS department. 

Benjamin Vera, a psychology student at Kendall Campus who wrestles with obsessive compulsive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder, understands the value of Vocational Rehab. 

After resigning from his part-time job as a foot-wear sales associate at Bass Pro Shops, the 19-year-old struggled to afford his classes.

This summer, Vocational Rehab is paying for his courses.

“Keeping up financially was very difficult because I kept failing classes. I kept missing work because I was stuck in these cycles of anxiety. It was very hard for me to see a future in the educational side of my life,” Vera said. “But, you know, Vocational Rehab, they really gave me an opportunity to not have to worry about the financial part, get better and focus at my own pace.”

Liliana Ramirez, founder of ACCESS: Sharks, a program that helps students with disabilities acquire work experience at North Campus, sees the long-term benefits of having a Vocational Rehab office at the College.

“A collaboration between a VR agency and MDC will help students with disabilities become work ready and remain in employment,” Ramirez said. “Employment will increase our student’s self-esteem and will bring material advantages to them and their families.”

For more information about Vocational Rehab, visit their website at https://www.rehabworks.org/.

Click here to subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter, The Hammerhead. For news tips, contact us at mdc.thereporter@gmail.com.