This evening in Cypress College’s Building 6, Cypress College and North Orange Continuing Education’s Disabled Support Services Programs will host the annual Transition Night from 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm.
DSS Counselor Kristina De La Cerda, 46, who has worked for NOCE since 2014 and in the California Community College System for almost 20 years said, “The purpose of Transition Night is to connect our students with programs and services within the community to help students reach their full potential.”
Fifty vendors are expected to attend the Transition Night and include Easter Seals of Southern California, Orange County Transport Authority, Anaheim & Fountain Valley’s Department of Rehabilitation, Aspire Creative Arts Program, My Day Counts, and many others.
Deborah Barret, a teacher at Cypress College, said that one of the main benefits of the Transition Night for disabled students in the community was an opportunity to “…allow them to see what’s available for finding a job.” The obtaining of a job is a major step towards independence for many disabled individuals, such as Richard Morales, a student in the DSS program at Cypress College and one of Barret’s students, who hopes to one day become a journalist in order to better inform the public on the realities of being disabled. Transition Night is one of the many services and events the DSS program offers in order to help and inspire students like Morales to achieve their goals.
The event includes a workshop Estate Planning & Special Needs Trust, as well as a fashion show, which, according to De La Cerda, will include students wearing the uniform of the field they are entering into or are already in – the purpose being to show what is possible to students in the program as well as inspire them to reach their own goals. There will be free parking for the event in Lots 1 & 9.
