Call4Health, Stand Among Friends

BOCA RATON, FL – December 2008 – A new door into the job world has opened in Boca Raton for people with disabilities.

The new work opportunities arise from the recent partnership of Stand Among Friends, a nonprofit that helps people with disabilities to live with independence and success, and Call 4 Health, a medical call center that specializes in enhancing the caller experience and improving communications between healthcare providers and their customers.

Since January 2008, Stand Among Friends, which is housed at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, has been offering an employment program aimed primarily at graduating FAU students and others with disabilities.

Shawn Friedkin, president and founder of Stand Among Friends, said “people with disabilities have far higher unemployment rates than the rest of the population, even though they are fully capable and qualified.”

Thanks to a grant from the Able Trust, the employment program has served nearly 200 individuals and placed over 50 people with disabilities in jobs paying above the living wage, Friedkin explained. “we work with organizations, such as Call 4 Health, to help their HR depts with their recruitmentment efforts and connect them with the best candidate.”

“This is a perfect fit for us,” said Joe Pores, co-founder of Call 4 Health. “Since the inception of our company, my business philosophy has been to provide compassionate customer service with an empathetic understanding of patient needs. Partnering with Stand Among Friends has enabled our company to tap into a pool of qualified candidates but most importantly, to help us recruit people that have an understanding and the initiative to do an excellent job of being sensitive to the needs of patients seeking healthcare.“

This unique partnership with Call 4 Health will put talented individuals with disabilities on a fast track into the workforce at Call 4 Health,” Friedkin said. “We are deeply grateful to Joe Pores for his interest in this untapped talent pool.”

“A critical component of the recruitment was insuring that the candidates for hire at Call 4 Health, successfully passed a very rigorous exam developed in part with Workforce Alliance. A triad-partnership between Call 4 Health, Workforce Alliance and Stand Among Friends enabled us to ensure that the candidates met qualifications and skill set required for the open positions.

Additionally, working with Stand Among Friends’ employment program, the Workforce Alliance created job profiles that specifically accommodate people with disabilities for positions at Call 4 Health. The new employees have already started working and are a wonderful addition to our team, Pores said.

Based in Boca Raton, Call 4 Health was founded in 1997 by Pores and Nicholas Koutrakos with a mission “to deliver compassionate solutions by mentoring, training and empowering employees, customers and vendors to exceed their client’s expectations.” Inc. magazine recently listed Call 4 Health as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the country. For details, visit: www.call4health.com

Friedkin, who was paralyzed from the chest down in a 1992 auto accident, founded Stand Among Friends in 1997 to promote opportunities for people with disabilities to live a life without limits and experience the highest degree of independence and success in their communities.

Stand Among Friends provides service and support through its comprehensive Web site; television programming and video resources; and programs on employment and disability sensitivity. For more information, visit www.standamongfriends.org

Contributing to the partnership is the Workforce Alliance, Inc., the private, non-profit corporation chartered by the State of Florida to create and manage a workforce development system for Palm Beach County. Workforce Alliance links businesses in need of qualified employees with individuals seeking employment opportunities. For details, visit www.pbcalliance.com

“We’re looking forward to working with the Workforce Alliance to find employment for more people with disabilities and help them become productive and independent,” Friedkin said.