Maribel Surita Receives Workplace Recognition

In honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month in October, the Lancaster County Employment Coalition recognized Maribel Surita, who was submitted for her contribution to her workplace her co-worker and mentor, Brian Braightmeyer.

Maribel, a customer service representative in VisionCorps’ business development and marketing division, is hard at work each day taking customer orders and providing status updates on orders to them.

Her office work is something she couldn’t have imagined doing a few years ago.

“In 2011, I started working at VisionCorps on the production floor sewing,” said Maribel, who has low vision. “I learned how to work on almost all the production lines, but I had never worked in an office.”

She heard about a program offered by VisionCorps called Upward Mobility and filled out an application. She left for vacation to Puerto Rico, and returned to find out that the HR office was calling her in to talk.

“I thought uh oh, did I do something wrong?” said Maribel. “Instead, they told me I was selected for the program!

“I was very happy and screamed and cried!“

She attended training for a full year – after she finished her work day in production.

“I didn’t know how to work with the computer or anything like that,” said Maribel. “I learned how to use it, how to type and send out e-mails. I learned how all departments worked in the company.

“It was hard. It was a tough schedule,” she said. “Sometimes I would be working in the plant in Lebanon and I had to come back here after and then change my clothes before I started my training.”

Maribel started as an administrative assistant in the business development and marketing division at the end of 2016, where she stayed for about two years before being promoted to a customer service representative and trained on how to enter orders.

In her daily job she uses Zoom text to enlarge the print and magnify her screen. She uses Microsoft programs and some specific customer/business software for orders and working on an e-commerce website.

“Sometimes you think because your vision-impaired, it limits what you can do,” said Maribel, “but with all the help available, there is no reason to let your disability stop you.

“I love doing what I do!”

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