Direct Link tidies up YARS Published Aug. 1, 2017 By Senior Airman Jeffrey Grossi 910th Airlift Wing Public Affairs YOUNGSTOWN AIR RESERVE STATION, Ohio -- Participants in the Direct Link (DL) program lent a hand to the 910th Airlift Wing by volunteering their time cleaning the grounds July 26-27, 2017, here. DL is a vendor through Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities that helps individuals who want to work in the community find and retain employment that matches their personal skills and interests. Though affiliated with the Trumbull County Board of Developmental Disabilities (TCBDD), which has been around for more than 50 years, DL has only just recently gained momentum in 2016, creating workshops in Champion, Northrop and Niles, Ohio. “The Direct Link program allows these people to come out and volunteer, helps them get acclimated to different jobs and allows them to work out in the community,” said Tammy Danes, a Job Developer with Direct Link. “It also shows people that these folk are capable of working out in the community and able to help out. It gives them exposure, so if someone sees that they’re doing really well they can come over and say, ‘Hey I want to hire you.’” The clean-up activities on the 26th and 27th were not the first time members of DL helped out YARS. Throughout Father’s Day weekend many of these individuals volunteered their time to keep the YARS Thunder Over the Valley Air Show free of trash and litter. Danes said that YARS has many different types of jobs that they could find work in, including hotel and kitchen staff or janitorial services. “It’s just a really great experience for them to be around working military members and being able to see the planes landing and taking off,” said Danes. Danes, who has worked with Direct Link for 1.5 years and for TCBDD for 19 years said DL serves just more than 80 individuals with developmental disabilities, and they have the capability to serve 300. DL helps provide individuals in the program with a variety of life skills. “We really like to work on their soft skills and show them how to do different things,” said Danes. “It also exposes them in different areas. Sometimes people will think they want to clean houses or do lawn work until they get that position and they say, ‘Oh God this isn’t what I want to do.’ That’s why we go to different job sites and try different things. Exposure.”