SHREWSBURY, Mass. - A new store in Shrewsbury is helping give young adults with disabilities on-the-job experience to help them transition to life after school.

Maple & Main opened earlier this month, and is located directly next to the RISE Program’s new headquarters on Main Street. RISE aims to provide students ages 18-22 with the skills they need to be successful and increase overall independence.

Program coordinator Christine Pellerin said the Maple & Main store will help tremendously with those goals.

“It’s been great to see it get off the ground and get the students that hands-on work experience,” Pellerin said. “Building their skills here allows them to have employment later on, because we're able to really work on those skills that they might be lacking or need some extra support with, and then they can transfer it into other employment settings in the future.”

Pellerin said the students have been instrumental in getting Maple & Main off the ground, from screen printing shirts to bagging candy and assembling furniture.

Students say the experience has been rewarding so far.

“My favorite part is making t-shirts, just the way it presses on and off and seeing the thing on the shirt,” said Matthew Frost.

“I can wait for the people to come over and buy their clothes, and give them a helping hand,” said Carl Amazan.

“RISE means learning new things,” said Matthew Potter. “Thank you for coming.”

The store held its grand opening on Nov. 3, and it’s been quite busy since. Pellerin said the response from the community has been great, and students have been busy preparing for a winter pop-up market on Dec. 7.

“We had over 100 people here, so people have really embraced the store and embraced the students, which is what we wanted,” Pellerin said. “And each customer that comes in is an opportunity for the students to practice. They're able to practice their retail skills, they're able to work on their communication skills.”

When students aren’t out on the retail floor, RISE’s newly-designed learning space is right next door, complete with a kitchen, classrooms and a relaxation room.

Jen Tabor, retail manager at Maple & Main, is excited about the potential this new setup holds in the future for students.

“It's been very rewarding seeing the students come in every day with a smile on their face, super willing to work on anything that I ask them to do,” Tabor said.

The store’s Winter Pop Up Market will be held on Dec. 7 from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and will include local vendors and a raffle.