White tablecloths, flower arrangements, polished dining trays and servers filling plates and carrying drinks around the room — the things that filled the ZerNona Black Multigenerational Community Center could have been laid out for a black tie dinner.

That was the idea.

On Wednesday, staff from a new University of Texas at San Antonio program worked with trainees on food service and catering skills, giving participants an opportunity to get free, hands-on training with the basic components of those jobs.

Employ 210 is a grant-based program run by UT San Antonio researchers that partners with local businesses to create job training for people with autism and other neurodevelopmental disabilities.

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“It’s open to a broad definition of disability. It could be autism, neurodevelopmental disabilities, ADHD, a learning disability,” said John Davis, an associate dean professor at UT San Antonio and Employ 210’s project director. “Individuals with autism are unemployed or underemployed at a rate that’s higher than any other disability.”

That rate is 50%, according to a UT San Antonio officials, much higher than the 4.4% unemployment rate for the San Antonio area in August.

Employ 210 creates specialized job training blueprints by working with employers and breaking their work down into specific tasks. The goal is to have training that prepares people for not just a general occupation, but the very granular components of a job for a specific employer.

“We’re not training for a bus boy,” Davis said. “We’re training for the tasks that a bus boy does.”

At Wednesday’s event, that included ironing and folding napkins, arranging flowers, serving drinks and a host of other tasks that participants could rotate between and try out with trained staff from Employ 210.

Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report

Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report

Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report

Employ 210 participants demonstrate food service tasks like beverage serving techniques during a job experience event for neurodiverse individuals at the ZerNona Black Multigenerational Community Center on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report

“Each of these stations represent a position they would be hiring for,” Davis said.

It’s a broad taste of the industry, he said. Participants who enjoy the experience or want to pursue a job can get more in-depth experience. Employ 210 then refers trainees to job applications and provides on-the-job support.

Davis said they don’t require or expect employers to hire trainees, their goal is to teach competitive workers and support them in getting the job. Employ 210 is in its first year of a five-year grant. It has created 29 different job blueprints, taught 30 successful trainees and helped 12 people get hired.

Ruby Edwards, one of the participants, said she had an opportunity to lay out tables and chairs, learn complicated napkin folding and work on flower arrangements. It was like working in a restaurant, she said.

“It’s been great, I like the experience, figuring out what restaurants are like,” she said.

Edwards enjoyed the flower arranging, in particular, she said. It was an opportunity to practice something artistic.

Davis said Employ 210 built the job blueprints by partnering with local employers, discussing about their hiring needs, shadowing those employees and then breaking down those jobs.

“We start with the employers’ needs and open positions they identify within their organizations,” Davis said. “Once they identify the positions, we do the shadowing.”

For this week’s training, Employ 210 partnered with the RK Group, a catering and event company based in San Antonio that employs more than 800 people across multiple states.

Jacqueline Beiberich, the company’s human resources director, said the RK Group had wanted to get involved in the community and is impressed. “They had all the right questions that made it easy to fit the program,” she said.

Rene Lopez, the RK Group’s director of catering, noted the trainees’ work and attention to detail on Wednesday. He added that catering services provided opportunities for entry level and experienced workers alike.

One benefit of having such a granular training process was that Employ 210 and the RK Group could train workers to fit the company’s specific needs and requirements.

“We’re definitely impressed in how they’ve progressed and how they can advance,” he said.

Employ 210 participant Amanda Brown listens to instructions from staff during a job experience event for neurodiverse individuals at the ZerNona Black Multigenerational Community Center on Wednesday. Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report

The company often has part-time seasonal needs, he said, based on when events and food services are in demand.

Davis said finding local businesses to work with is always a critical need. Much of Employ 210’s work is around building those relationships. “Our bottleneck at this point is open positions,” he said.

Local officials are hoping the program expands. State Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins (D-San Antonio) attended Wednesday’s training. She saw it as a chance for disabled community members to learn, grow and access more opportunities.

“What I want to be able to see is after the training, they get jobs,” she said. “Once they learn, once they get that training, they get that job, that’s what makes it a win-win.”

Gervin-Hawkins wants to see the program grow, particularly in urban communities.

“Bringing things to the inner city is so critical,” she said. “When we can bring these types of programs to the city, that’s when we’re meeting the greatest need.”

Anyone interested in Employ 210 can fill out an interest form on the organization’s website or email it at employ210@gmail.com. 

Employ 210 was not the only resource for people with disabilities who want to pursue job training in San Antonio. Other local resources include: Morgan’s Multi-Assistance Center has its Workforce Inclusion Network, SA Life Academy and Mission Road’s Unicorn Center.

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