Submitted by Camille Lindo and Jean Philippe from the aloft Brooklyn:
On November 12th the Aloft Brooklyn Hotel and Helen Keller Services for the Blind (HKSB) collaborated to host our first Mentor Day program.
This program allowed five individuals who are legally blind to shadow each hotel department head for the day. They are all interested in the hospitality industry and wanted the chance to see how a hotel is run first hand. Each professional was paired with an Aloft department head and had the opportunity to not only shadow but actually engage in the hotel’s daily activities .HKSB enables individuals who are blind or have vision loss to live, work and thrive in their community of choice.
From accounting to the front desk, From Sales to Housekeeping, all the way to our General Manager, these “Mentees” touched our hearts in a way that is indescribable
After our lunch and debrief with the HKSB staff we came to one united conclusion : We learned more from them than they learned from us.
Helen Keller Services for the Blind is located at 57 Willoughby Street Brooklyn, NY and they serve low vision and blind individuals living in the NYC Metropolitan area. For more information about the HKSB organization please visit www.helenkeller.org