{"id":176915,"date":"2024-01-24T09:21:34","date_gmt":"2024-01-24T14:21:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/?p=176915"},"modified":"2024-01-24T09:22:32","modified_gmt":"2024-01-24T14:22:32","slug":"meet-melinda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/mari\/meet-melinda","title":{"rendered":"Meet Melinda!"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”176916″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]Melinda is one of our superstar job participants! She has been working at Sodexo at Umass Memorial in Worcester as a food service worker! She has been there since 2017 and graduated from our jobs program!<\/p>\n

She is very excited to participate in the 2024 Friendship walks and represent the jobs program!<\/p>\n

“I am always so excited about the Friendship Walk because I get to meet new people, new friends, and help spread inclusion without limits. I love my job because I have the best coworkers and managers. Thank you all for accepting me for who I am and never giving up on me. Follow your heart and eventually your dreams will come true”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We can\u2019t wait to see all that Melinda does in 2024!<\/p>\n

The Best Buddies Jobs program represents one of our organization\u2019s four key mission pillars, Integrated Employment. This program secures jobs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), allowing them to earn an income, pay taxes, and continuously and independently support themselves.
\nThe Jobs program places focus beyond the typical jobs in which a person with IDD might be placed. Best Buddies focuses on finding work that matches the job seeker\u2019s interests and talents.<\/p>\n

If you or your company are interested because contact Shiloh Murray, Director of Jobs in Massachusetts at ShilohMurray@BestBuddies.org<\/a> to learn more.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meet our superstar jobs participant, Melinda!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2080,"featured_media":176916,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"state-single-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[490],"tags":[723,318],"yoast_head":"\nMeet Melinda! - Best Buddies International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/mari\/meet-melinda\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meet Melinda! - Best Buddies International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Meet our superstar jobs participant, Melinda!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/mari\/meet-melinda\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Best Buddies International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-24T14:21:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-24T14:22:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/2024-BBMARI-Meet-Melinda.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"leemosler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"leemosler\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/mari\/meet-melinda\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/mari\/meet-melinda\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"leemosler\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#\/schema\/person\/e016e3c8c2cd3b7e04adf72b23efb560\"},\"headline\":\"Meet Melinda!\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-24T14:21:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-24T14:22:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/mari\/meet-melinda\/\"},\"wordCount\":245,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/mari\/meet-melinda\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/2024-BBMARI-Meet-Melinda.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Best Buddies Challenge\",\"Tom Brady\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Massachusetts News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/mari\/meet-melinda\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/mari\/meet-melinda\/\",\"name\":\"Meet Melinda! 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