Virginia Beach, VA.- A surprise visit at a Virginia Beach non-profit that hires special needs adults.
News 3 was looking for Natalie Grayson, the founder and president of Mailing, Assembling and Copying Services, also known as MACS.
We told her, we've been hearing good things about her mission, starting with employing special needs adults who work from eight to three, providing a range of services for individual and corporate customers.
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Courtney Many has a 24-year-old daughter who works at the non-profit and is thrilled she has this opportunity.
"I knew that my daughter had skills and potential, but I never would've dreamed there would've been a place for her to actually use those skills," Many said.
Dr. Dawn Lawrence agrees, "As a parent, I am so thrilled to see my sons flourishing. It's like a career opportunity, they didn't get a chance to go to college."
News 3 spoke with one of her sons, Mark Lawrence Jr. who loves working at the MACS.
"And I don't stop until everything is done and when everything's done, I always go for more," said Mark Lawrence.
It was an email from Dr. Lawrence that got our attention. She read it to Natalie with our cameras rolling, "The work MACS does provides valuable opportunities, and builds their self-esteem so that they realize their own efficacy, value, and worth."
Natalie is a former special education school teacher for Chesapeake. She taught in the system for 15 years and what she noticed over the years was, her students would graduate, but would not be able to find any work, and that planted the seed for the startup of MACS.
She started to tear up a bit due to the recognition, "Thank you—I didn't expect any of this." And there was more to come, News 3 presented Natalie with an Everyday Hero award, along with a $300 Visa gift card from our community partner Southern Bank, "Oh my gosh!! Thank you! Oh my goodness!!"
For more information about MACS, including inquiring about opportunities for special needs adults or how to donate to this non-profit, click here.
