While visiting her daughter, Jerri Schlachter lifted a heavy suitcase resulting in an injury that led to the discovery of her condition of osteopenia. As her pain quickly escalated, she found herself in situations unable to move. This is the st

Michael Kinoshita

Apr 21st, 2017 3m 2s

Preparing for a hopeful spot on the Paralympics team, college student Michael Kinoshita tells DOR the path he has followed as a blind student-athlete.

Clay Hoffman

Jan 25th, 2017 1m 45s

Clay Hoffman tells the Department of Rehabilitation about his dreams of becoming a groundskeeper for the State of California.

Cy Lugo

Oct 27th, 2016 3m 18s

Cy Lugo recalls the morning after Monday Night Football, 14 years ago, when he woke up blind. Due to an autoimmune deficiency, Lugo became visually impaired but continues to push himself to become a better person, father and counselor to others

Sarah Theubet

Sep 16th, 2016 3m 10s

Due to glaucoma, Sarah slowly began losing her eye sight. After two hard years of transition, Sarah realized her potential to make a difference in the world. Here she tells her story of the hardships faced and explains her plans to help others

Stacy Cervenka & Greg Dewall

Jun 8th, 2016 4m 47s

Stacy and Greg's lives changed the instant he heard her voice at a convention for the National Federation of the Blind in Texas. Now married with their first child, they share a bond around their commitment to disability awareness, accessibilit

Ivonne Lauscher

May 26th, 2016 2m 19s

Ivonne was headed to work when her life changed in an instant. She acquired a significant Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) that left her unable to continue working as a teacher. After being released from the hospital, she received TBI services thro

Kelly Ray

Apr 27th, 2016 1m 15s

Kelly had just moved to Monterey to be closer to family and raise her son when she found out the pain in her hands was De Quervain’s tendinosis; preventing her from continuing her career as a massage therapist. She decided to check out DOR to

Dante Guin

Mar 18th, 2016 1m 38s

Dante wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life, so he moved to California at the suggestion of a friend. He enrolled in classes at Sacramento City College and after finding his voice and building confidence in a public speaking course, d

Jordan Gonzales

Feb 22nd, 2016 1m 14s

Jordan Gonzales spent much of his adolescence not knowing why he felt so sick, but a diagnosis brought some clarity and new opportunities. With assistance from DOR, Jordan is finishing his bachelor’s degree at San Jose State with a concentratio

Jason Chu

Jan 8th, 2016 1m 18s

Jason Chu got a degree in Criminal Justice from San Jose State that led to a job at the US Department of Justice. Working with his DOR counselor, he explored other options related to his field of study and now has a dream job at Google.

Travis Carlson

Nov 6th, 2015 1m 3s

Travis graduated from the University of Santa Cruz with assistance from Department of Rehabilitation and entered a training program through Expandability for job seekers with Autism Spectrum Disorder. He’s now living independently in Palo Alto

Jennifer Jones

Oct 26th, 2015 1m 17s

Jennifer Jones first exhibited signs of mental illness as young child, but she was not properly diagnosed until her 30s. Her high school years were very difficult and she ended up dropping out. Jennifer took a proficiency exam and started class

Alex Lee

Oct 1st, 2015 1m 42s

Alex Lee spent most of his childhood in Hong Kong, where he was first diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. At two years old, he began receiving occupational therapy and his parents started noticing a difference in his behavior — specificall

James Donnelly

Sep 1st, 2015 1m 19s

James Donnelly studied communication sciences and disorders at California State University Chico. He also has cerebral palsy with spastic dysarthria. With financial help and guidance from DOR and a personal aid to help with the transition to c

Elijah Martinez

Jul 1st, 2015 1m 21s

After college, Elijah Martinez wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to pursue until his counselor Nicole Green suggested he work with Evolibri, an employment services provider geared primarily to individuals with Asperger's Syndrome, ADHD, Learning

Andrew Shanley

Mar 23rd, 2015 1m 29s

Andrew Shanley had a very active lifestyle, traveling the world as a cable splicer for AT&T, until a stroke led him to the hospital. He soon learned he had a rare degenerative disease - Inclusion Body Myositis. Rather than transitioning into e

Robby Cochran

Feb 20th, 2015 1m 30s

Robby wanted to be a firefighter, but his mom Gail and teacher Barbara Schulman, knew that career goal was out of reach. With some hard work, the support of his family, Barbara, his DOR counselor Michele Kaplan (and natural charm of course) Rob

Haben Girma

Dec 23rd, 2014 2m 3s

Haben Girma grew up in Oakland, CA with her parents insisting that being Deaf-Blind did not mean she couldn’t attend her local public school. She transitioned from Skyline High School to the Department of Rehabilitation where she and her counse

Geoff Lance

Dec 4th, 2014 1m 20s

Geoff was injured in a surfing accident at age 24; the same day he was offered a job with a public relations firm in southern California. Following years of physical rehabilitation and a few trips across the country, he's back in southern Calif

Julio Jefferson

Nov 18th, 2014 1m 59s

Shortly after moving to Northern California, Julio sustained a life-changing injury. He wasn’t sure how he would be able to go back to work, or if he even could. Then he met DOR counselor Teresa Cole in 2013. She helped Julio enroll at the Comp

Nick Carlin

Nov 10th, 2014 1m 58s

Nick moved to California from Texas for a career in renewable energy. When things didn’t go quite as expected, Nick came to the Department of Rehabilitation in 2013. He was assigned to a job developer at Diablo Valley College who worked with hi

Debbie Deniz

Apr 8th, 2014 1m 47s

Debbie came to California to live with her parents and heard about the Department of Rehabilitation’s Business Enterprise Program. She graduated from BEP in 2012 and interviewed for the vending route at the High Desert State Prison in Susanvill