Luv Michael - Share the Luv Overview
0 (0 Likes / 0 Dislikes)
My name is Dr. Lisa Liberatore
and I'm the founder of Luv Michael.
Luv Michael is a non-profit company
that was started with the purpose
to train, educate and employ
people with autism and special needs.
And we do that through the use of
a culinary entrepreneurial model.
So, we manufacture granola,
and use the manufacturing of granola
and the selling of granola
to accomplish our mission.
My son is Michael.
Michael is on the autism spectrum.
He's going to be 20 years old
and he attends a special school for autism.
And as I saw the other students
graduating through their school program,
it was very clear to me
that not enough was being done
to really focus on
what the ability is of the individual.
And they were graduating and sort of
figuring out what their life was going to look like afterwards.
And that concerned me--
my husband and I.
And we started to look at
what are Michael's interests and what are his abilities
and how could that be translated
into meaningful life for him.
And that's how we decided on cooking.
I haven't really come across many places
that would be willing to teach and employ
my son with a disability.
Lisa started this great opportunity
for them to learn how to do things
because as they reach certain ages,
it's difficult for them to find a job.
There really is not a lot out there
once a lot of these young people turn 21.
Their school programs come to an end
and then it becomes the family's responsibility
to either find a place for them,
a job, otherwise they might
just be sitting home doing nothing.
The Luv Michael program is organized in such a way
to fit the needs of each and every one
of the young men.
They adapt and adjust, they learn, grow, do,
and at the end of the day, they have made
a beautiful product called Luv Michael Granola.
And then they are able to work toward
obtaining a New York City food handlers license
and a Serve Safe certification
which are real-life recognized certifications.
This can be used either to stay employed
at Luv Michael
or to use that skill to work elsewhere.
Part of my job here is to prepare
a lesson plan.
So, if next week I say,
well, we're going to learn about chia seeds,
then I will go home, research
and I will modify for each student
on the level that I feel they can
retain that information.
Each student has their own recipe card to follow.
That lead to independence.
So, originally it started out with a job coach
maybe telling you what you had to do
whereas now, the student is independent
in referencing their own recipe card
and going through the recipe
100% independently.
I think that the perception that a lot
of children with autism
is that they don't speak, they can't look at you,
and that they can't have emotion,
or love, and be loved.
But, that's not true.
I'm Christian, I work here in Luv Michael,
in the kitchen.
I come here once a week,
work with granola,
spreading and cooking it.
So, my name is Steven.
I work for Luv Michael.
We make the granola,
we pack it, and then we sell it.
In the two years now that
Luv Michael has been in existence,
it is sold in probably 60 to 70
different stores,
retail outlets on the east coast.
This company was created
to help people with autism to find work
and our mission is to empower
and employ people with autism.
I'm hoping the company will grow
and we get more employees.
Our new facility that we want to build out
is about 3,000 square feet.
It will have a beautiful commercial kitchen
with windows
and it will be designed to be sensitive
to the sensory special needs
of people with autism.
The space will have a quiet room,
will have a laundry room,
because all these things actually are jobs.
Within this Luv Michael,
you have so many jobs that we can offer.
Everything from--you're in charge
of doing the samples for the event,
you're in charge of laundry services
and clean-up crew,
you could just go on and on.
You could have at least 25 jobs
just from that one incubator space.
If your child has autism and you'd
like to find out if Luv Michael
would be appropriate for your child,
the best way to do is to reach out
through our website.
I personally meet with the parents
to see what their expectations,
what their goals, what their vision is.
Buy our granola.
Help support Luv Michael.