In just three years, Julia, a LIFE participant, has worked her way up from the stock room at Apothecare of Cape Cod in Hyannis to training to be a pharmacy technician.

“It’s a really special relationship,” said Julia’s employment coach, Stephanie Cappella. “She started out just doing the packaging, but the management saw a lot of potential in her and wanted to try the training. She’s very independent at work, and they’re so supportive. They love her.”

“This is exactly what you want to happen—having employers believing in our participants and willing to give them a chance,” she continued. “That’s all you can hope for.”

Julia, 24, enjoys the job, especially the accuracy component of it. She also feels gratified that she’s helping people get their prescriptions. “It’s important work,” she said.

Julia works 16 hours a week, commuting on her own from LIFE’s supported independent living community in Hyannis, where she lives with a housemate. She has been living there since 2017 and enjoys the social aspect, going shopping and having weekly dance parties and ladies’ nights.

(Photo by Sean Browne)

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