A nonprofit dedicated to serving individuals with autism aims to employ them, but it can’t give jobs to everyone who needs them.

That’s why the organization is launching a new training program this summer to help young adults who might be lacking support get ready for a job in the community.

Spectrum Studios was founded four years ago, and it employs young adults on the spectrum at its art supplies store at 830 N. Columbia Center Blvd., Suite B2, Kennewick. The store provides art supplies, customizable gifts, T-shirt printing, awards and trophies, a photo lab, video digitizing and refurbishing services, and more. 

The business is breaking even and impacts 22 families, but there’s more to be done. That’s why Spectrum Studios is launching the Empower Center for Growth.

“We need to find another way to reach more families. We can only employ so many, but the need is so great, here in the Tri-Cities especially, that we need a place for these young people to come, not just to come and be able to get out into the world and socialize, but to learn social skills, learn life skills … cooking and the like, vocational skills,” said Jim Pridemore, co-director of Spectrum Studios with his wife, Karen Pridemore. 

Life skills program

The Empower Center for Growth will be a six-month program and is set to kick off July 7. 

Spectrum Studios is still working on the curriculum, but Pridemore said he’d like it to include subjects like financial literacy, computer repair, AI prompting, healthy living and habits, kitchen training, interview practice and social activities.

Pridemore said he hopes participants will be able to help shape the curriculum so that it fits their needs and wants. 

Already, Spectrum Studios is making space for stoves and ovens provided by Lowe’s to teach cooking skills classes.

Each day Monday through Friday or perhaps through Saturday, there will be something that participants can come and choose to do. Mostly, the hours will be in the daytime, between about 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., with a few evening options. 

Even though the center was only recently announced, Pridemore said there’s already been interest from families, and he hopes to get 25 to 30 participants. The fee for the program is $2,400.

While young adults who have aged out of high school are the target audience, Pridemore stressed that “it will not be 13th grade. It will not be a situation where you have to be here at X time and stay until X time. This is going to treat adults like adults,” he said. 

There are no age requirements, but participants will need to be able to arrange their own transportation. That will mean their functioning level is high enough to participate, Pridemore said. 

“The biggest challenge that we have to overcome with autism are the social anxieties that typically come along with being autistic, and what this has created is an epidemic of young people aging out of high school and losing all their support and guidance, which happens at 22 and most of the time it’s a surprise to the family,” Pridemore said.

That’s why it’s vital to help support these individuals and give them a place to go and learn social and life skills, he said.

A place for those on the spectrum

When Jim and Karen Pridemore first came to the Tri-Cities, they launched a do-it-yourself photo studio in Richland. The couple had raised an autistic son as well as another autistic young man they took in when he was about to be sent into the foster system. 

The Pridemores started a program called Portraits with a Purpose, designed to train young adults on the spectrum how to practice photography, interact with clients and make a living. 

But after the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the photo studio, they realized they would have to start from scratch if they reopened it, and their Portraits with a Purpose program would only impact a few lives. 

“We just said, you know, we need to develop a business where we can teach these people skills and, you know, they can make a living, and the business can hopefully pay for itself,” Jim Pridemore said. “And that was four years ago.”

Since then, Spectrum Studios has stepped up to help to provide opportunities for employment and create community. Each week, the team has Positive Pizza Fridays, where they come together to share things they have learned or good things that have happened during the week. 

Community support

To run the new training program, volunteers are needed, but Pridemore is hoping to get several paid instructors as well. 

Spectrum Studios’ business model so far has been a little different. “Our model is to be able to provide products and services created by those on the spectrum, right, to help pay their own way,” Pridemore said. But to kick off the new training program, they’ll need help from community donations. 

Already, the program has received $18,800 from AgWest Farm Credit, and a number of other companies are supporting the program as well. The goal is to raise $350,000, Pridemore said, which would sustain the program for two years with paid staff included.

In the future, he hopes that Empower Center for Growth could outgrow Spectrum Studios’ space and move into a new facility with room to incorporate more physical activities like hula hoops, indoor volleyball and Zumba. 

Pridemore also hopes to partner with more businesses to help place individuals in jobs after going through the training program. Having those partnerships can help match those on the spectrum with a job that would fit them and help “fast track” them to the interview, he said. 

“We want to grow that network of businesses that are willing to learn about our mission and willing to consider employing these individuals, and we’ll make sure that those businesses are educated enough that they’re more comfortable than they previously were,” Pridemore said. 

Contact: 509-579-4278, spectrum-studios.org.