On Wednesday, Oct. 14, Key Biscayne's Disability Advisory Board will gather island businesses, families and community leaders in Village Hall's Community Room 120 for The Power of Potential, a free luncheon that launches a local push to put young adults with unique abilities to work, with the Miami nonprofit The de Moya Foundation and the Key Biscayne Chamber of Commerce as partners. It runs 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 88 West McIntyre Street, across from the Turtle Fountain, and it is open to the public.

What the lunch is for

The idea is simple and practical: get the people who own and run the shops, cafes, offices and clubs along Crandon Boulevard into the same room as the families of young adults who want a job, and the organization that knows how to make those matches last. Per the advisory board's invitation, the aim is real, lasting employment for young adults with unique abilities on the island and building ties between local business and the families who live a few blocks away.

That is a different thing from a job fair. Nobody is expected to walk out hired. The goal is to recruit employers who are willing to try, and to show residents what support exists once they do.

Who is behind it

The host is the Village's Disability Advisory Board, a resident panel that advises the Village Council on programs, services and facilities for people with unique abilities. Ilise Binhak chairs it, and Annie Thompson, its vice chair, is the contact for the luncheon.

The employment partner is The de Moya Foundation, a nonprofit founded in 2015 by Lileana de Moya. The family's own son, who has unique abilities, holds a full time job in the family business, and the foundation grew out of the realization that very few young adults like him get that chance. Its offices are in southwest Miami-Dade, and it has been placing workers with employers across the county for a decade.

According to the foundation's 10th anniversary fundraising page, it currently has more than 150 young adults employed and about 80 more waiting for an opening. That waiting list is the point of Wednesday's lunch: the workers are ready, and what is missing is employers.

How the foundation's model works

What separates this from a well meaning hiring pledge is the follow-through. The de Moya Foundation uses an approach known as customized employment, which starts with a person's particular skills and interests and matches them to a specific need inside a specific business. Its program page lists what an employer gets: disability awareness training for existing staff, intensive job coaching for the new hire, and support for the whole team through the hiring process.

The support does not stop after a few months. The foundation's extended services go past the 90 to 150 days of coaching that federal guidelines call for, which it credits with longer tenures. Workers in the program join a monthly peer group, held the second Thursday of each month, covering topics such as workplace etiquette, grooming, money management and building independence. There are monthly social mingles, virtual classes, in-person social skills sessions and Special Olympics teams in bowling, bocce and softball.

The people it serves include young adults with autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, Fragile X and other intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Who qualifies for a job match

Families on the island who are wondering whether a son or daughter might fit can check the foundation's eligibility page. The basics: candidates are 18 to 40, have a documented intellectual or developmental disability, went through special education or a modified curriculum in high school, have some work experience from a school program, internship, job shadowing or volunteering, can communicate their needs at work, can get to and from a job on their own (driving, transit, a ride service or Special Transportation Service all count) and have a bank account. The foundation asks interested candidates to send a resume and a reference letter, then meet in person.

It builds on what the Village already does

The luncheon is the work-life chapter of programs Key Biscayne already runs. The Village's Unique Abilities page lists Skills for Success, a weekly Monday class in vocational and life skills for teens and young adults, along with sensory friendly Saturdays for preschoolers, a Superhero Hour of calmer early access before big community events like the October Fall Festival, and a spring Family Fun Day that doubles as a resource fair. Wednesday is about what comes after those classes: a paycheck on the island where these young adults grew up.

If you want to go

The luncheon is Wednesday, Oct. 14, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Community Room 120 at Village Hall, 88 West McIntyre Street, across from the Turtle Fountain. It is free. Organizers asked for replies by Oct. 7, so if you have not responded, use the registration link and contact details on the Chamber's event page before you head over.

If you run a business on the island, own one or simply know a manager who might say yes, this is the room to be in. If you are a parent of a young adult with unique abilities, it is a chance to meet the foundation's team and the local employers in one place. And if you are neither, the next time a familiar face rings you up or hands you a coffee on Crandon, there is a good chance this lunch had something to do with it.