The latest employment report from the U.S. Department of Labor has yet to be released at the time of this writing, so we won’t know for sure if the projected addition of 158,000 jobs in September will make a dent in the unemployment rate for people with disabilities, or if the figure is even accurate. There will be plenty of time to analyze those statistics in the coming days and weeks. But let’s all exhale for a moment from the the devastation of Hurricane Sandy and look at a few last National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) stories and how working can make life matter for these individuals.
Writing about NDEAM turned into a business success story for Forbes blogger Judy Owen, whose “Diary of a Start-up” blog we check in on from time to time. Owen has been growing her employment service for people with disabilities by focusing on contract labor and temporary work for her clients in hopes that it leads to a full-time hire. On Wednesday, she reported placing three new clients, including getting a military veteran work as a delivery truck driver.
Susan Parrish of the The Columbian in Washington state wrote a terrific article about Bracken Harden, who was honored as the Clark County Employee of the Year for his work at Walmart. His mother, Sharon, discovered early on that her son retained information best through repetition. The family used that technique to help Bracken get through high school and find the job at Walmart, which he has held for a decade. The 42-year-old Bracken has been given more job responsibilities over that time. He is also responsible for himself outside of working, living in his own apartment, and managing his living expenses independently.
Albany Times-Union reporter Larry Rullson filed this article about the Capital Region Employer Alliance annual NDEAM award recipients, which included a man named Keith Clark who exemplified the strong work ethic many individuals with disabilities possess by spending only a few minutes accepting the award before returning right back to his mail fulfillment duties; and a woman named Sundance Lev who adjusted her career goals according to her strengths and now owns and operates a thriving dog-grooming business.
The common threads for all these individuals, despite the wide range of occupations, is that they all found a job they love to do and they all took advantage of help from family, friends, and organizations in their community that provide training and support for people with disabilities. This article in West Virginia’s Petersburg News and Sentinel about 21-year-old David Douglas perfectly illustrates how these services can turn a person’s passion into job placement:
[Douglas] knew the type of work he wanted to do, but he didn’t know how to go about getting a job or filling out applications… DRS [West Virginia Division of Rehabilitation Services] arranged for a community-based assessment, which helped Douglas to learn about work and the type of job opportunities that might interest him. Through this process, he made a choice he wanted to be a direct service professional… REM Community Options, a community rehabilitation provider in Williamstown, provided Douglas with job training. He received the certification to be a direct service professional and landed a job with REM.
Share your NDEAM success stories in the Comments.
Image by wolfsavard (Laura Bittner).