Alyssa Frohlich (right) working next to a Job Coach in Production
Alyssa Frohlich has been blind since birth and is grateful to be working at the Lighthouse. She has been commuting every day for work from Federal Way to Seattle for the past ten years. She lives with her parents and her best friend, Bob, a Lab-German Shepherd her family rescued several years ago, and it’s obvious he means the world to Alyssa.
At the Lighthouse, Alyssa is part of the Supported Employment Program. Job Coaches help her be successful every day. They set up her job each morning and help her meet personal goals, such as most recently learning to use the lunchroom microwave independently. She says, “My Job Coaches make me smile.”
Recently, Alyssa has been working on “ellipse clips” for hoses on hydration packs for the U.S. Army. She knows how to do just about every job available to her at the Lighthouse and is always ready to learn more. She is a great team leader, keeps her coworkers accountable, and is the go-to-person when coworkers need extra encouragement to stay on task.
Alyssa is excited to be learning to use her new Android phone from a coworker two days a week and loves taking braille classes on Thursdays. Alyssa knows her schedule better than her job coaches and keeps track of the time with her talking watch.
Bob is the love of her life, hanging out with him at home is her favorite pastime. When asked what she would do if given $1,000 to spend any way she wished, Alyssa didn’t hesitate and enthusiastically responded, “I’d give Bob a pedicure and buy him more kibble.”
Besides snuggling with Bob, when not at work, Alyssa enjoys going to the movies with her parents and takes great pride in helping out around the house.
When it’s offered, Alyssa likes going to a camp for the blind called Sunset Lake in Washington State. There she makes arts and crafts, pottery, and goes horseback riding.
When she first started working Lighthouse, she was so glad to meet so many people and make new friends. The people, her paycheck, and the pride in her work are why she commutes each day on Paratransit, spending more than half of her eleven-hour day traveling to and from the Lighthouse. Likely though, the favorite part of Alyssa’s day is going home to Bob!
