Conversations with Jenifer Band (article for Voyage Tampa)

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Conversations with Jenifer Band (article for Voyage Tampa)

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenifer Band.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
The Autism Awareness Shop is a nonprofit started by myself and my husband Scott when we realized how great the need was for a program like ours. We have a 25-year-old son Cody on the autism spectrum. Cody is way too smart, dependable, and hard-working to spend his days in front of a tv but not quite ready to enter the mainstream workforce. I have been providing Occupational Therapy services for the past 18 years specializing in autism. This put me in the unique position of understanding autism from both a parental and professional perspective. 

In 2014 we decided to start an online store selling autism merchandise to provide Cody with work. This would have been enough for him to be gainfully employed but I as worked with so many others that I love on the spectrum, I realized we needed to do more. We applied to become a nonprofit and were confirmed with our 501c3 status in 2015. By 2018 we had raised enough funds to open our current location. We are a fully functioning thrift store that is open to the public. Having a store with real customers and customer service opportunities has allowed us to not only provide valuable training for individuals with autism but also serves to increase awareness, understanding, and acceptance within our community for autism. In 2021, we were finally able to create the next phase of our venture. We opened an amazing adult day training program to not only focus on vocational skills but also social and life skills. We provide Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, and Behavior Therapy on-site, as well. 

As a bonus, we are also able to help our local community in other ways. We have the lowest prices of any local thrift store. We offer different specials every day including 50% off on Saturdays and $10 fill-a-bag on Tuesdays and Sundays. We feel blessed to be able to help our patrons in this way, especially with so many struggling financially due to the pandemic. Since all of the proceeds from the sales in our store are applied directly to our program, staying local. We value every customer and have become friends with a great deal of them. Our clients look forward to seeing the familiar faces of returning customers. The more the merrier. We would love for everyone to come and experience what we have to offer.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has been a very bumpy road. Opening our location and keeping it going is a constant struggle. It took us several years to raise enough funds to be able to qualify to rent our current building. In the lease we signed, we are responsible for all and any repairs. Since day one, our building has had many issues. We have roof leaks that we have spent thousands of dollars to try to repair. There are much less now but still a couple. We have replaced 3 air conditioning units, repaired and refinished our parking lot, and carpeting for the large portion of the building devoted to our programs. In addition to our very high rent this has had a negative impact on our financial health.

It took us over 2 years to become Medicaid and medwaiver (a special needs program within Medicaid) providers. It has been important to us not to financially burden our families and accepting these forms of payment has been a priority to us. But what we are doing is too important to fail, so we just keep pushing. We stay diligent, focusing on our mission, and crossing our fingers every month that we will be able to pay the bills we need to pay to continue to supporting this deserving population.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I got my degree in Occupational Therapy (OT) shortly after Cody was diagnosed with autism. OT made such a big difference for him that I wanted to do the same for others. I started out in early intervention because that is where I felt I would make the biggest impact. Once Cody started school, I switched to school-based therapy because I saw what a great need there is in that setting. I also was an instructor at the University level for Occupational Therapy Assistants for a couple of years. Once I started researching options for post-secondary opportunities, I was very discouraged and that put me on the path that I am on now. 

Scott, my husband, had worked many years as a massage therapist and entrepreneur. When we opened our current location, he sacrificed his previous career aspirations. He is responsible for managing the business side of our program. As well as facilitating all of our online operations. 

We have both given everything that we have into fulfilling the mission of the Autism Awareness Shop.

 

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