Joseph’s Path to Community Employment 

Joseph Reinhard has never shied away from hard work, which is exactly what helped him find the kind of hard work that changed his life.  

In March 2025, Joseph joined Little City’s Employment First program – a service that extends beyond traditional Little City residents and participants to assist more people with disabilities in the community. Robert Hadden, a job coach for Employment First, took on Joseph’s case and said the hard work started right away.  

“From the start, Joseph was proactive and knew what he could and wanted to do. He was very engaged in the process,” Robert said. “The challenges came up in the interviewing process. We went through a lot of interviews trying to get him hired and it wasn’t panning out, and it was tough to know why.” 

The lack of early success was difficult to figure out at first, Robert said, because Joseph communicates well and works hard, but the managers conducting interviews didn’t always give feedback. Like many people who go through Employment First, Joseph does not have as noticeable or as severe developmental disabilities as many Little City participants, which can make the hiring process more confusing for employers.  

While Joseph is quite personable, Robert said he discovered it caused issues in the interview process employers didn’t fully understand.  

“He loves people so he would sometimes interact with them like he had known them for a long time, asking what they did that weekend, if they had gone fishing (since Joseph loves fishing), just questions you shouldn’t ask in an interview,” Robert said. “So, I worked with him on sticking to the questions at hand and asking situation-based questions if he had any for them. And he really got the hang of it.”  

Not long after Joseph improved his interviewing skills, he landed a job at Hines Components in Kirkland working as a general laborer both inside the warehouse and outside when needed.  

Joseph now works full-time, five days a week, and drives himself an hour each way to get to work. He said he loves the job and the people he works with. He’s so eager he will often get there half an hour early or more and will wait for his shift to start.  

Robert said that Hines has been an incredible start to Joseph’s work life and believes it will only continue to get better.  

“They really love him and support him there and when you have someone doing this kind of hard work who just really loves coming to work every day, it helps everybody,” Robert said. “He’s doing a great job.”