Alicia Robinson, Navigating with Lighthouse – My personal journey

 

Hello—my name is Alicia Robinson. I have been part of Lighthouse since graduating from high school in 2015.  My story shares how God has faithfully led, guided, and directed my steps throughout these seven years…and counting.

My employment journey began when I was involved in the Work-Based Learning Program at Garden Spot High School.  Through that, I was employed part time in two housekeeping positions, first at Kitchen Kettle Village, then at Comfort Inn.

While working in these positions, I connected to Lighthouse and was provided job coaches who supported me.  I worked at Kitchen Kettle for three years, and continued with Comfort Inn for five years and was able to work there independently.

However, these were not jobs I wanted to work at long-term and I decided to get additional job training through Lighthouse’s services.  My in-house jobs there included assembly line work and then I transitioned to small group employment where I worked out in the community. This included shelving at Grocery Outlet and cleaning the Elanco library and various churches. During this time as a participant, I also helped clean the Lighthouse building two days a week.

One of my favorite businesses that our team cleaned every week was the fitness gym called CrossFit Uncompromised – I am now a member there.

In 2019, I obtained employment on my own at Yoder’s Restaurant. I worked in housekeeping, cleaning and doing laundry, for about eight months. Lighthouse again provided two job coaches for me – first Pam Wise and then Eileen Campbell. They helped me learn my job and showed me how to cope with the stresses of work. My job coach, Eileen, helped me with my anxiety on the job. She made cards with positive things I could do when I was stressed; she helped me a lot.

As we all know what happened in 2020, I lost my job at Yoder’s in March of that year when the restaurant closed temporarily. It was a hard year without a job.

But God is faithful, and in 2021, Calvary Church had an opening on their facilities team cleaning for their pre-school; I was hired.  My mother works there, and this is also where my family and I go to church. This job was challenging, and I learned a lot. There were many rooms to clean and a lot of new tasks to learn. I had to learn how to manage my time well and be flexible. Two job coaches from Lighthouse – Ingrid Mora-Smith and Ebony Jones – supported me along the way. I worked there for over a year.

In August of this year, I was so surprised when a Lighthouse staff member contacted me and asked if I wanted to interview for a position on their housekeeping staff. I decided to go on the interview and was offered the position. Although it was a difficult decision to leave Calvary Church, I really feel at home at Lighthouse and accepted their offer. Since September, I am now employed here – part-time four days a week.

Along my journey, I was given a few special opportunities which I truly enjoyed:

• I spoke with Kirt at the annual October banquet in 2016.

• I also spoke about the positive impact Lighthouse had in my life on the 2019 WDAC radio commercial.

• In September, I spoke at our in-house after-hours event which included members from the Northern Lancaster County Chamber of Commerce and the New Holland Business Association.

Alicia was asked a few questions about her journey so far:

 

• What have you learned about yourself and others along the way?
  • My supervisors have all had different management styles and I had to adjust to each of them.

• How have you grown in your work?
  • I have become more confident in my job skills. I can work faster and more efficiently. I have become more independent, and I can solve problems by myself.

• What skills are you developing now—here at Lighthouse?
• I need to be flexible and to advocate for myself. I am learning how to be supportive to the participants.

 

• What has God shown you about Himself as you worked in these various jobs/positions?
  • God has been faithful to me. He has provided for me.

 

I look forward to working at Lighthouse and am thankful that they and God have been navigating with me throughout my Lighthouse journey… these seven years… and counting.

~Alicia Robinson, Lighthouse Housekeeping with Maryellen Summers, HR Associate