Thursday, October 1, 2026
For the members of Life’s WORC, teamwork is a key part of making their dream work. Since 2007, the East Rockaway location of the non-profit organization is helping participants strive for success.
Their “work” is to provide services for individuals with developmental disabilities like autism and mental retardation. Specifically, they focus on identifying, targeting, and improving areas of need in each members’ lives. By embracing five governing principles including responsibility, quality and communication, staff leaders teach the members to lead independent and productive lives.
“We prepare the young adults for different things like employment,” said Stephany Holwyn-Weaver, the day habilitation supervisor of the East Rockaway branch. “They get to write resumes and volunteer at different sites. They learn about work ethic and responsibility because everyone has a schedule.”
The organization, which began as just the “Working Organization for Retarded Children” or WORC about 40 years ago, has evolved to offer a diversity of services and resources that are not all categorized by a disability. Nowadays, members can join a Lifelinks day habilitation or an at-home residential habilitation, partake in the Life’s Connection to Music service, or enjoy art and music therapy geared toward autistic children at various locations in Queens, Garden City, Bethpage and Deer Park. And right in East Rockaway, you can hear the laughter, see the smiles and feel the energy emulating from several members who attend the daily “dayhab” at the Main Street location.
According to Holwyn-Weaver, 26 young adults meet each weekday from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. for different activities. Many of the 19-year-old and 20-year-old participants come from many Long Island communities like Baldwin and the Five Towns area, from which most of them have already graduated high school. Currently, each of the five counselors guide a group of five to six participants through a specific daily schedule. Participants can visit job sites to volunteer and deliver food , fold sheets, or spend a free day every Tuesday working out at the gym or going to a museum.
