Packing, sorting, assembly, and other contract services work puts smiles on faces and money in the pockets of people with disabilities. (Photo courtesy of Paige Connors, American Training, Inc.)
Sometimes, when examining how contract labor services provide people with disabilities the opportunity to acquire skills and experience that can help them transition to other work environments, we neglect the immediate benefit this type of work has on one’s bank account.
But we are quickly reminded of the main reason many of us get up in the morning and go to our place of work at the start of Brittany Cooper’s report for KMVT News, “Twin Falls Organization Empowers Local Adults with Disabilities.” The smiling face of a woman named Nancy fills the screen as we hear Cooper, off-camera, ask why she’s working at the contract labor facility. Nancy continues to beam and says simply: “To make money.”
Over 6,500 people with disabilities in that Idaho community have reaped similar rewards during the past 39 years, according to Cooper’s report, and many of these people also transition into businesses within the community after getting accustomed to the responsibilities of having a job. Because the report coincided with the March 21 observance of National Down Syndrome Awareness Day, Cooper speaks with Laura Stewart, who hopes her 17-year-old son, Conor, will follow a similar path when he finishes school. Stewart says:
In a lot of ways, it’s ability and you know what do I see down the road for my son Conor… [Y]ou try and see if there’s something we can develop in him that can be a life skill or a job skill and we’ll try to coordinate those interests of his.
The opportunity to earn their own money is also mentioned by a couple of recycling facility workers interviewed by Dominic Genetti for his article in last Friday’s Hannibal Courier-Post, appropriately entitled “Making green: Shelter offers benefits, opportunity.” But these central Missouri workers area also learning the societal benefits of the work the perform while sorting the plastic, glass, and paper materials:
Everyone works carefully to make sure each piece of recyclable material goes to the correct sorting bin. The less trash the facility can dispose of means more materials go to Green Hills Recycling near Chillicothe or to a facility in Quincy. Roosevelt, another plastic sorter, said the facility serves a purpose because it allows him and his co-workers ‘to give back to our community.’
The American Training, Inc. Contract Services division has workers ready, willing and able to perform many types of assembly, packing, sorting, and fulfillment duties for businesses in Massachusetts; while the StarWorks program provides the career training that brings out an employees’ best. Get in touch with them today to learn how you can make a difference in a person’s life, and wallet!
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