California Abilities Network throws Friendsgiving for people with disabilities

The California Abilities network opened a new site in Long Beach and had a Friendsgiving event to kick off the holiday season.

Jaysha Patel Image
Tuesday, November 23, 2021
People with disabilities celebrate Friendsgiving in Long Beach
California Abilities Network helps people with disabilities find jobs. They recently had a Friendsgiving in Long Beach.

LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- The California Abilities Network, also known as ICAN, is a nonprofit that connects people with disabilities to jobs in their community.

They just opened a new location in Long Beach and kicked off the holiday season by throwing a Friendsgiving event.

"Many of our clients live in diverse housing environments, but also work in various work contexts, and so we try to provide not only an opportunity to learn life skills and get them jobs, but also to provide them an authentic community," said Scott Elliott, executive director of ICAN.

ICAN'S other site is located in Torrance. Friendsgiving will be celebrated at both locations.

ICAN will be feeding about 130 clients between their two locations.

"I'm thankful for my family. I'm thankful for my dad and all of my peers at ICAN," said James Wackerman, an ICAN client.

The Long Beach location opened in September and it's where many clients learn job skills and socialize with each other through activities. Friendsgiving is their first big event there.

"We have a good old time conversating, talking about sports, talking about baseball," said Criss Roberson, an ICAN client.

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