{"id":4946,"date":"2019-05-07T07:58:01","date_gmt":"2019-05-07T12:58:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=4946"},"modified":"2019-05-10T16:03:17","modified_gmt":"2019-05-10T21:03:17","slug":"career-expo-assisting-people-with-disabilities-for-22-years-to-find-and-keep-employment-meet-employment-specialist-walter-waranka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=4946","title":{"rendered":"Career Expo: Assisting People with Disabilities for 22 Years to Find and Keep Employment \u2013 Meet Employment Specialist Walter Waranka"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--powerpress_player--><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_5528\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-4946-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/blindabilities\/ExpoWaranka.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/blindabilities\/ExpoWaranka.mp3\">http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/blindabilities\/ExpoWaranka.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?page_id=4965\">Full Transcript<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Show Summary:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>State Services for the Blind hosted a Career Expo for high school and college students who are blind, low vision, or DeafBlind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"Image of man with cane and woman with service dog and City Skyline with Job Insights in bold letters.\" class=\"wp-image-4489\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg 1400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p> The event took place on Saturday, April 27.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Throughout the Expo students had the opportunity to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Connect with adults with a vision loss from a variety of professions and careers.<\/li><li>Hear from college representatives about what college is like.<\/li><li>Learn why diversity matters from an employer\u2019s point of view.<\/li><li>Share and learn about assistive technology<\/li><li>Sign up for individual informational and\/or mock interviews.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In this interview, Jeff Thompson caught up with Walter Waranka:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Walter Waranka&nbsp;<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Employment Specialist<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Lifetrack Resources&nbsp;<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier in his career, Walter founded the nonprofit agency CHANCE (Challenged People Having Abilities Needing Competitive Employment), which educates disabled people in job seeking skills and potential employers about the advantages of hiring disabled people.&nbsp;He has been an Employment Specialist at Lifetrack Resources for 22 years, assisting people with disabilities and recipients of welfare to find and keep employment.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLifetrack:&nbsp;Together, we expand educational horizons and open doors to meaningful career opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can find out more about&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/lifetrack-mn.org\/programs-services\/employment-economic-advancement\/\">Lifetrack on the web<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&nbsp;<strong>Contact:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you would like to know more about Transition Services from State Services for the Blind, contact Transition Coordinator Sheila Koenig by&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:Sheila.Koenig@state.mn.us\">email<\/a>&nbsp;or contact her via phone at 651-539-2361.<br>To find your State Services in your State you can go to&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.afb.org\/directory.aspx\">www.AFB.org<\/a>&nbsp;and search the directory for your agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you for listening!<br>You can follow us on Twitter&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/blindabilities\">@BlindAbilities<\/a><br>On the web at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/\">www.BlindAbilities.com<\/a><br>Send us an&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:info@BlindAbilities.com\">email<\/a><br>Get the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/app\/blind-abilities\/id1085849859?l=es&amp;mt=8\">Free Blind Abilities App&nbsp;on the App Store<\/a>and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.blindabilities.android.blind&amp;hl=en_US\">Google Play Store<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Check out the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/607027582712671\/\">Blind Abilities Community<\/a>on Facebook, the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BlindAbilities\/\">Blind Abilities Page<\/a>, the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/jobinsightssupportgroup\/\">Job Insights Support Group<\/a>and the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/assistivetechnologyfortheblind\/\">Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<!--powerpress_player--><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_5530\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-4946-3\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/blindabilities\/ExpoWaranka.mp3?_=3\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/blindabilities\/ExpoWaranka.mp3\">http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/blindabilities\/ExpoWaranka.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p>http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/blindabilities\/ExpoWaranka.mp3 Full Transcript Show Summary: State Services for the Blind hosted a Career Expo for high school and college students who are blind, low vision, or DeafBlind. The event took place on Saturday, April 27. Throughout the Expo students had the opportunity to: Connect with adults with a vision loss from a variety of professions [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4489,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[373,348,519,514],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career","category-careerexpo","category-jobinsights","category-transcribed"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6rcRg-1hM","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4941,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=4941","url_meta":{"origin":4946,"position":0},"title":"Career Expo: From Homeless, to Training, to Employment and Working on His Degree \u2013 Meet Bobby Binns","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"May 6, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Full Transcript Show Summary: State Services for the Blind hosted a Career Expo for high school and college students who are blind, low vision, or DeafBlind. The event took place on Saturday, April 27. Throughout the Expo students had the opportunity to: Connect with adults with a vision loss from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Career&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Career","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=373"},"img":{"alt_text":"Image of man with cane and woman with service dog and City Skyline with Job Insights in bold letters.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5152,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=5152","url_meta":{"origin":4946,"position":1},"title":"Career Expo: Volunteering Led Sam Jasmine to Her Engineering Position and Has Been Engineering the Disability in Progress Radio Show for 14 Years","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"June 25, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Show Summary: State Services for the Blind hosted a Career Expo for high school and college students who are blind, low vision, or DeafBlind. The event took place on Saturday, April 27. Throughout the Expo students had the opportunity to: Connect with adults with a vision loss from a variety\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Career&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Career","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=373"},"img":{"alt_text":"Image of man with cane and woman with service dog and City Skyline with Job Insights in bold letters.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5023,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=5023","url_meta":{"origin":4946,"position":2},"title":"Career Expo: Hands On with Physical Therapist Alex Loch, DPT. Doctorate Degree, Low Vision and Staying Fit","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"May 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Full Transcript Show Summary: State Services for the Blind hosted a Career Expo for high school and college students who are blind, low vision, or DeafBlind. The event took place on Saturday, April 27. Throughout the Expo students had the opportunity to: Connect with adults with a vision loss from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Career&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Career","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=373"},"img":{"alt_text":"Image of man with cane and woman with service dog and City Skyline with Job Insights in bold letters.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5052,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=5052","url_meta":{"origin":4946,"position":3},"title":"Career Expo: Bachelor\u2019s Degree in Computer Forensics and Testing for Accessibility Barriers \u2013 Meet Alyssa Gourley","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"May 24, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Show Summary: State Services for the Blind hosted a Career Expo for high school and college students who are blind, low vision, or DeafBlind. The event took place on Saturday, April 27. Throughout the Expo students had the opportunity to: Connect with adults with a vision loss from a variety\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Career&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Career","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=373"},"img":{"alt_text":"Image of man with cane and woman with service dog and City Skyline with Job Insights in bold letters.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5075,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=5075","url_meta":{"origin":4946,"position":4},"title":"Career Expo: Life Throws Curves &#8211; Get a Well-Balanced and Broad Foundation, Meet Manager of Braille Programs &#8211; Jennifer Dunnam","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"June 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Full Transcript Show Summary: State Services for the Blind hosted a Career Expo for high school and college students who are blind, low vision, or DeafBlind . The event took place on Saturday, April 27. 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The event took place on Saturday, April 27. Throughout the Expo students had the opportunity to: Connect with adults with a vision loss from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Career&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Career","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=373"},"img":{"alt_text":"Image of man with cane and woman with service dog and City Skyline with Job Insights in bold letters.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4946"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4968,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4946\/revisions\/4968"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}