KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Job One in Kansas City provides job placement, job coaching and training for individuals that have barriers to employment.
Their goal is to have successful employment placements that benefit the business and the individual. Job One has partnerships with different businesses throughout the metro to meet their goals and provide employment options and choices for their clientele.
One of those businesses is Hy-Vee as they provide multiple positions for the people they serve.
Kaari Bullard started with Job One in their Summer Work program two years ago as a junior in high school.
Bullard went through Job One's career center to figure out job skills and provided him with volunteer experience at a community center. He then started working with a community integration program for employment and was supported by Job One with job skills coaching, pre-vocation services, and more.
The Hy-Vee Fulfillment Center reached out directly to Job One to see if they had individuals who might be a good fit and Bullard began his employment journey with Hy-Vee. Unfortunately, the Fulfillment Center closed and he had to find another job.
Thankfully one of Job Ones Employee Specialists, Pete Nicklin worked with all the Hy-Vee managers near Bullard's home and finally found him a job at the Lee’s Summit location.
"Kaari's great - he has a positive attitude he’s a social butterfly," Nicklin said. "I think sometimes he gets a little shy and so since working at Hy-Vee I feel like he’s really opened up a lot socially."
Bullard has a job coach working with him at all times, so when he is at Hy-Vee, Brittany Vaugh-Barker from Job One is supporting him.
"As a worker, Kaari is dedicated he does his best at his job; He does what he needs to do someone asks him to do something like go to another department he’s willing to go on and go to that department," Vaugh-Barker said.
Vaugh-Baker and Nicklin say that COVID-19 has impacted what they do on a regular basis, but they are glad to still be assisting those who need it. Even in the midst of these uncertain times Job One and Kaari are still finding ways to help others.
