ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Landing a job while living with a disability can be a struggle, but one business is embracing those job seekers.
Avery Becker loves getting ready for his job, because it’s given him a new lease on life.
“A lot of people just judge you and your outside appearance,” Becker said. “They don't really get to you or the person behind it."
Becker has a severe auto immune disorder, which gets in the way of landing or even holding a job.
"I have lots of medical things,” he explained. “I have a disease called Churg Strauss. That is an auto immune disease that basically attacks all my major organs.”
"If he has a fever, he has to go straight to the hospital,” explained Becker’s mom, Pam.
While his mom worried companies won’t hire her son, one company, Brewability, welcomed him.
"We have people with autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, blind and deaf,” said Brewability owner Tiffany Fixter.
Besides being able to serve up a cold one, inclusion is most important, Fixter says.
Last year, only 19.3 percent of people with a disability were employed, according to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“A lot of places that I have applied for said I can't work for them because I’d end up in the hospital or end up sick,” Becker said.
Fixter takes on that responsibility to allow her staff to shine.
"We are all a part of the community--not one group should be put away and hidden," Fixter said.
Despite her employee’s health being a determining factor on their ability to work certain days, Fixter has learned to make it all work.
"I try to pair someone who might have more medical needs with someone with less medical needs that way we can make sure we have someone here," she explained.
Brewability offers their employees the chance to be a part of society in a way they never thought possible.
"It gives me a sense of purpose, and the fact that I get to work with disabled people like me, has made me feel less ashamed of it," Becker said.
You can check out the Brewability Lab in Englewood, Colorado.
