Racing to His Work!

For Alan Cohen, working at his job is the highlight of his week

While many people hit snooze on their alarm clock, slowly get out of bed, and unenthusiastically head to their daily work, Alan Cohen has quite a different outlook.  Alan Cohen, who lives in OHEL Bais Ezra’s Avenue M residence, races to his job – 4 days a week.

As a sign of his appreciation and gratitude for his job, Alan wakes up and excitedly walks to Navar Pharmacy, located on the corner of Avenue M and Nostrand Avenue, where he has been working for the past year. With the help of OHEL Bais Ezra, and Alan’s job coach Mordechai, Alan interviewed and was able to secure a job at the Pharmacy. Alan’s responsibilities include organizing the placement of various items, checking inventory, and restocking the shelves when products run low.

When David, the owner of Navar Pharmacy, was asked about Alan’s work ethic, he said that he was one of the hardest working people he’s met. He said Alan is a real team player, and works very well with the rest of the staff.

Mordechai, Alan’s job coach, said about him working at Navar Pharmacy, “Allan has immersed himself in the retail activities of the store with extensive exposure to all of its varied product and services. During his daily shift, he relishes the moment when he reads aloud a product’s six-digit control number, expiration date, number of units/weight and price. As one of his supervisor’s recently exclaimed about him, “Allan has come a long way”. He sure has!

When Alan was asked what is his favorite part of the job at the Pharmacy is, without hesitation, he immediately responded “I love it. I like all of the people that work here, I like all of the different jobs I have to do, and I like all of the customers who shop here”. And then Allan added, as an afterthought, “oh, and I get paid every Thursday”.

Many people don’t appreciate their jobs, and grudgingly leave their house to go to work. They view it as another chore they must complete before the day is finished, and indifferently perform their daily tasks. However, we can learn a great lesson from Alan, who wouldn’t trade anything for the job that he has. No matter what position you are in, or what responsibilities you have, nothing should be taken for granted.

OHEL Bais Ezra provides employment opportunities for dedicated, hardworking individuals. To learn more about OHEL Bais Ezra’s recruitment opportunities, or if your company can use the skills and services of a loyal employee, please contact OHEL today at 1800-603-OHEL, access@ohelfamily.org or visit www.ohelfamily.org

Since 1969, OHEL Children’s Home and Family Services has served as a dependable haven of individual and family support, helping people of all ages surmount everyday challenges, heal from trauma, and manage with strength and dignity during times of crises. Driven by service excellence, OHEL’s professional staff meet the myriad social service needs of the general community, while at the same time providing culturally-sensitive services to the Jewish community, including Yiddish, Hebrew and Russian speakers. Through highly-rated foster care, developmental disability, mental health, and other programs and services, OHEL provides supportive housing, treatment, care coordination, education, outreach and much more to elevate lives and strengthen individuals and communities in New York City, Long Island, New Jersey, Florida, California and worldwide on the web. David Mandel is the CEO of OHEL.