DUXBURY & DANVERS, Mass. – VERC Enterprises announced its partnership with Hopeful Journeys Educational Center Inc., which will offer two students the opportunity to intern at the retailer’s Danvers, Massachusetts, location.

Hopeful Journey Education Center is a private school, approved by the Massachusetts Department of Education, that provides a comprehensive education to students ages 3 to 22 diagnosed with autism and requiring an individualized curriculum.

“We are extremely excited about our new partnership with VERC Enterprises,” said Korey Ouellette, vocational coordinator with Hopeful Journeys. “At Hopeful Journeys, we provide our students the most comprehensive educational experience, including vocational job opportunities. Our goal is to provide our students the opportunity to gain skills that will aide them in becoming more independent across a variety of environments as they prepare for adulthood.”

Ouellette continued that community-based vocational experiences, like its partnership with VERC Enterprises, “are an essential and invaluable component to the learning process for our students. We admire VERC’s willingness to provide these experiences to our students and hope that their example is followed by other businesses in the future.”

Barry Ahern, director of operations and human resources at VERC Enterprises, added that the company is looking forward to providing students at Hopeful Journeys “with an opportunity to apply the skills they have learned in our active Danvers location.”

Two decades ago, VERC started a program to employ individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Today, more than 20% of the company’s 250 employees have joined the VERC team thanks to this program. NACS sat down with VERC CEO Leo Vercollone to talk about his company’s dedication to the community in a Convenience Matters podcast in December 2016 (episode #46).