LuAnne found her dream job advocating for people with disabilities

LuAnne Cori is an advocate for herself, which helped her find her dream job advocating for others.  

Before getting to her new career, she faced some obstacles. LuAnne has a hearing disability, which she didn’t know about until she was in her thirties. 

She has adapted and persevered through every challenge that’s come her way. LuAnne secured the services of the State of Maine’s Vocational Rehabilitation Services to help her with some career decisions. Despite being well-educated and having a history of employment, she found herself unemployed for an extended period of time. 

LuAnne’s VocRehab counselor suggested she obtain Goodwill’s Workforce Services. She was given a career advisor through Goodwill who worked with her VocRehab counselor to best help LuAnne find the perfect match for her, which was important.  

Chad Leighton, LuAnne’s career advisor, said she is thoughtful and thorough.  

“She wanted to make sure that she found the right fit, and due to her experiences wasn’t going to take just any job,” Chad said. “It was really important to her that the organization she was going to work for, was a match.” 

After two years of looking for employment and hundreds of applications, LuAnne’s VocRehab counselor and Goodwill career advisor suggested she do a work experience at Disability Rights Maine. Initially LuAnne was hesitant. But with encouragement from Chad, she decided to give it a chance and ended up loving it.  

Following the work experience, a position as a Mental Health Advocate arose within the organization.  

LuAnne, who has been working in this role for a year and a half now, said advocacy is one of her passions. She now gets to help others advocate for themselves.  

“I absolutely love my job,” she said. “It is the best job I’ve ever had.”