“It is not the disability that limits a person’s potential. It is the lack of opportunity, not the disability itself, which poses the greatest barrier to success.”

- Frank Devlyn, Rotary International President 2000 – 2001

“It is important to them (workers with disabilities) to have a good job, meaningful work and pay for it, but I think it is even more rewarding for the rest of us to be able to help them to achieve some of those personal goals.”

- Pete Capell, Rotarian and Public Works Director, Clark County, WA

(Read full articles below.)

* Clark County, WA – 5 Union Shop Workers with Developmental Disabilities

* Partners for Work – Rotary Clubs Increase Opportunities

* Rotary International Employee: On Time, In Time

On May 9, hosted by Fred Meyer Stores, the OBLN is holding a moderated Employer Roundtable on issues of accommodation and supervision of workers with hidden disabilities and mental health issues. This will be a telephone conference call and will include input from the national Job Accommodation Network. It is scheduled to be held from 7:30 AM to 8:30 AM.

Kevin inspects a motor pool vehicle.

Clark County, WA – Five Union Shop Workers with Developmental Disabilities are Part of the Team in Maintenance, Grounds, and Office Support. Five years ago, Clark County, WA began an initiative to purposefully find employment opportunities for people with disabilities within its workforce. The Public Works department was particularly suitable for this task. With about 260 employees, it was a fairly large department and quite diverse in occupational areas – from office jobs to field work.

Pete Capell is Public Works Director for Clark County and, when contacted by the OBLN, he welcomed our request to share his personal experience with us. Pete enthusiastically told us that his department ended up hiring five people with disabilities – all employed in different operational areas, all still employed today, and four who are now represented by unions.

“We have one gentleman, Kevin, who does all the grounds maintenance out at our Salmon Creek waste water treatment plant. He is on a team of about a dozen employees. It is a close-knit group and he’s a great part of that group. He takes a lot of pride in his work. He is getting paid well because he does a great job and is really contributing.

We have another gentleman, Jeremiah, who we employ in our equipment shops. When a vehicle comes in to be serviced, Jeremiah’s job is to clean and vacuum the interior, wash the outside and provide support to the mechanics as they check it out.

Two other employees, Paul and Kevin, are office assistants. Paul works at out Maintenance and Operation Administration Building. He does data entry, photocopying and similar office support tasks. Kevin does similar tasks at our downtown office. He also delivers our mail, keeps our meeting rooms clean, and does record-keeping on our motor pool vehicles (pictured above).

Robert works at our 78th Street Operations and Maintenance facility. He is our longest-standing employee with a disability. He does the afternoon/early evening janitorial work. The other employees have become almost like family to him. Outside of work, they often invite him to events like Blazer games or Winter Hawk games. When he was ill for a period, another employee took Robert into his home to help him through his recovery.”

According to Pete, four of these jobs were originally created just for the particular employees. With the help of a local nonprofit agency, all of the existing jobs the particular workplace were examined for tasks that were more straightforward and routine in nature (e.g. photocopying). These tasks were then pooled into one job description for the new employee. Freeing other employees from these more mundane tasks enabled them to then spend their time on work that needed their particular expertise. Overall, the new jobs improved productivity and efficiency in the workplace.

Kevin, Paul, Jeremiah, Kevin and Robert have all excelled as County employees. Four of them are represented by Unions. When necessary, all are still supported by the agency they were recruited from. Occasionally, when their job changes or other challenges or issues arise, they need assistance Pete explains: “Having someone available to us who is more skilled at working with people with developmental disabilities and helping them work through challenges is very beneficial to us. Our supervisors don’t always have the skill sets needed to address some of the challenges.”

Pete firmly believes that this has truly been a win-win for everyone involved. The County went out of its way to create jobs for these five men, but Pete insists that both these men and the County itself have benefited from this undertaking; “It is important to them to have a good job, meaningful work and pay for it, but I think it is even more rewarding for the rest of us to be able to help them to achieve some of those personal goals.”
 

“It is not the disability that limits a person’s potential. It is the lack of opportunity, not the disability itself, which poses the greatest barrier to success.”

- Frank Devlyn, Rotary International President 2000 – 2001

During his term as Rotary International President, Frank Devlyn established a “Jobs for Disabled Persons” Task Force. Knowing that “lack of opportunity” was the major employment barrier faced by people with disabilities, he believed that Rotary Clubs could effectively be mobilized to create those missing opportunities. Rotary Clubs throughout the world responded to this challenge & developed a variety of projects in their local communities. In 2003, following in the spirit of this initiative, the Rotary Club of Auburn, WA began its “Partners for Work” program.

The Partners for Work program was designed to “create meaningful employment opportunities for people with developmental disabilities by working with businesses and the broader community.” The program focuses on educating club members and other employers about the employability of people with developmental disabilities and the win-win opportunity that it represents to employers. The program has been highly successful and has been replicated by a number of other Washington Rotary Clubs.

The OBLN recently learned about this program from two members of the Rotary Club of Vancouver, WA. They began their own Partners for Work program about two years ago and were happy to share their experience with us. Pete Capell has been a Rotarian for sixteen years. He is the Public Works Director for Clark County, WA and, five years ago began proactively hiring people with disabilities. Based on his personal experience, Pete readily participated in forming his club’s Partners for Work project. Paula Johnson, a resident of Lake Oswego, is also a founding member of the project. Paula is Vice President of O’Neill and Associates – a company that specializes in addressing employment issues for people with disabilities.

Paula Johnson

PAULA JOHNSON: We have a monthly breakfast meeting and we invite members from our club who we think might have employment opportunities in their companies.

PETE CAPELL: We show them a short video, talk to them about what opportunities are available to them and what our experiences have been, answer their questions - and see if we can’t help them to identify opportunities for people with disabilities within their own workplaces.

OBLN: How are employers invited to your monthly meetings?

PETE CAPELL: Our committee has four members. We encourage each of them to bring a new employer to our monthly meeting. It doesn’t always work out that way, but we average two to three new employers at every meeting. Some of them are able to commit to hiring people and some say “Thanks but it won’t work for me.” And that is fine too. We just want to expose people to the opportunity.

PAULA JOHNSON: At most meetings, we have a combination of Rotarians and other businesses. For our next meeting, for instance, we have invited a couple of people from a law firm who are not members of our club. We have had lots of employers who attend our meetings and comment “I had no idea that this (employment opportunities for people with disabilities) was such a great need. I had no idea that these agencies (that help people with disabilities find jobs) even existed!” It is so amazing to me that many of the community’s largest employers have never even heard of the agencies that are representing job seekers with disabilities.

OBLN: Once they have heard your presentation, do you ask attendees to make any kind of commitment to hiring people with disabilities?

PAULA JOHNSON: These are low-pressure meetings. We let them know that, if they are interested, we can arrange to have someone tour their operations and help them to identify potential job opportunities.

PETE CAPELL: The Partners for Work committee doesn’t provide any direct services but we do put interested employers in touch with local agencies that can help them recruit, train, and support people with disabilities as employees. Some of these agencies will provide new employees with a “coach” who will help them to learn the job and stay in touch with them throughout their employment to provide support and coaching when it is needed. This is attractive to many employers because it overcomes their concerns about training or accommodation issues.

At our last meeting we had three people from Waste Connections – a local refuse & recycling hauler and disposal organization. They could see that there are definitely employment opportunities for people with disabilities in their workplace. They were interested and asked a lot of good questions. As a next step, someone from a local agency is going to go out and tour their facilities, identify tasks and develop job descriptions that they can recruit for.

OBLN: It sounds like your Partners for Work program is really producing some exciting results. Are any other clubs following your lead?

PETE CAPELL: We have been invited to travel to other Rotary Clubs to explain the program to them and encourage them to start up their own Partners for Work programs.

PAULA JOHNSON: The President of the local Lions Club also heard about Partners for Work and wants us to go and speak to his club. It is terrific when civic organizations, who really do care about their communities, realize that this is a real issue - and are so ready to help and get involved.

With many of its local clubs actively engaged in efforts like "Partners for Work" in order to improve employment for people with disabilities, Rotary International also leads by example. The following article is © 2005 Rotary International. Written by associate editor Vanessa N. Glavinskas it was published in the March 2006 issue of The Rotarian.

Chris Hebein at work.

The 21 November 2005 issue of Time magazine is still on the wall of Rotary International's mailroom this spring. Proud employees posted it to honor one of their own, mail clerk Chris Hebein, who was featured in the publication last fall. Hebein, a clerk in RI's mailroom, was interviewed by Time for an article discussing a new technology that detects Down syndrome earlier during pregnancy. The technology gives women the option to terminate a pregnancy sooner, if they choose to do so. Hebein, who has Down syndrome, and his mother, Sheila, gave their thoughts on the new technology and noted the significant contributions Chris makes working full time at Rotary International.

"I love my job very much," says Chris, noting he's never been late to work in 12 years. "My mom says, 'Chris, you have the perfect job.' "

Sheila attests to her son's punctuality and devotion to Rotary.

"One day Chris called me from work about 8:40 a.m. and said he'd been robbed," remembers Sheila. Worried, she asked Chris what happened, and he told her that a boy on a bicycle had approached him a few blocks from their Evanston home and asked if he had any money. When Chris said he did, the boy reached into Chris' pocket, took the money, and rode away. But Chris continued walking to the bus stop and got to work on time.

"When I asked him why he didn't just come home, since he was only a few blocks away, he told me, 'Mom, he stole my money, not my bus pass!'," says Sheila.

But RI employees like Chris for more than his punctuality.

"He's very thorough and efficient," says his supervisor, Golden Corbbins. "Chris is great to work with, and he knows the departments like the back of his hand."

As for his celebrity status? Chris seems to be enjoying a little good publicity. "I got a lot of attention," he says. "Everybody [on my mail route] said 'great job.' "
 

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Flying in the face of all-too-common misinformation and attitudinal barriers that prevent people with disabilities from fair opportunities in the job market, this little video is a refreshing and convincing portrait of many real individuals, with a wide range of disabilities, who are productive and enthusiastic participants in the workforce. It presents a fast-paced series of portraits and interviews with dozens of people with disabilities who describe how they found their paths to successful careers, how they have worked with their employers to meet any accommodation needs, and why they love their jobs. This video accomplishes an amazing amount in 9 minutes. Its compact length makes it ideal for HR Managers who only have a limited time to capture the attention of hiring managers, recruiters or other key employees in their company.