NORFOLK, Va. — October is Disability Employment Awareness Month, a month set aside to celebrate the contributions of workers with disabilities.
The Americans with Disabilities Act really wasn’t signed that long ago, just 32 years. July 26, 1990, is when President George H.W. Bush signed it into law. The ADA law prohibits discrimination against disabled individuals in all areas, including transportation, schools, and jobs. While equity in the labor force has improved, we still have a long way to go.
Ashley Hall, who is the Program Director for the Ability Center in Virginia Beach puts it this way, “Think about your own workplace and how important it is for you to feel welcome and included and part of a team.”
According to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 21 percent of Americans aged 16 and over with disabilities were working or actively looking.
Frances Durham, who serves as the Community Work Incentives Coordinator for the Endependence Center in Norfolk, says, “There are so many people who have disabilities who can work, who want to work. It’s just finding that right fit for the individual.”
Frances is legally blind and has been totally without sight since her early 20s. She is a wife, mother, grandmother, and attended the University of Virginia.
Frances shares, “I can’t see. I can’t see anything, but I work full-time, and I help other people. That’s why I love my job.”
Each day, she works with disabled individuals in Hampton Roads to end dependence. She and her colleagues at the Center provide them advocacy and services. Frances also supplies important resource information including the Ticket to Work Program, which supports career development for social security disability beneficiaries who want to work.
The Ability Center in Virginia Beach helps those with disabilities lead happy, productive lives. They offer adult day and weekend programs along with a summer camp. That’s where News 3 found Julie Touhey. She has been their Program Assistant for 14 years; she also has Down Syndrome.
Julie says, “I just do whatever my bosses tell me to do with a smile on my face.” She adds, “I have other friends who also have Down Syndrome and it’s actually something to celebrate, everyone.”
Julie is a hard worker who helps everyone around her and is dearly loved by her friends and colleagues.
Disability Employment Awareness Month recognizes the important role people with disabilities play in a diverse and inclusive workforce.
From her desk at the Endependence Center, Frances tells us, “It’s our job to educate the community to help them understand that we’re all different, but people who have a disability and people who don’t have a disability, we all have skills.”
A strong workforce is the sum of many parts, with disability being a key part of the equation. For more information regarding the services provided by the Ability Center, visit abilitycenterva.com. The Endependence Center is at endependence.org
