Some Success Stories
Dusty is a 33-year-old woman living in northern California who has been a professional puppeteer for nearly three years. Learn about how she created her own employment.
Arthur Fortaliza cleans tables and chairs three mornings a week at Mira Mesa Lanes. The 43-year-old with Down syndrome is a mainstay there. More...
Real People, Real Jobs is a website highlighting the employment successes of people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities who are working in paid jobs in their communities.
Success Stories
Success is defined as “The achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted”. When you consider employing someone with a disability, the onus of desire, planning, and eventually, “taking the leap” is often heaped upon the person seeking the job. The common success story, about an individual overcoming great odds, is usually peppered with sentiments of courage, perseverance and triumph over adversity.
But how often do we look at the benefit to business that an employee with a special perspective might bring? Where else might the application of desire, planning and “taking the leap”, reap similar rewards?
Consider the success achieved by Randy Lewis , senior vice president of distribution and logistics at Walgreens. The chain just opened a new $175 million distribution center in Anderson, S.C. Read this fascinating article about how Lewis gains 20% efficiency over the chain’s older facilities, by using technology as the stone in his soup to draw people to the rich potential for employing folks with disabilities.
Or read this compelling case about how a typical business can slash turnover rates and achieve significant cost savings by taking advantage of this proven loyal workforce. Learn how Northrop Grumman, Booz Allen and Halfaker & Associates tapped into the wealth of skills, dedication, discipline and can-do attitudes of our military wounded veterans returning from the war. Or consider these testimonials from employers who are currently reaping the benefits of employing workers with disabilities.
And yes… triumph over adversity for the job-seeker with a disability occurs every day. Read how Santina, injured in a car accident when only 5-years old, has leveraged her ability to put pen to paper (and one fantastic attitude,) to land a great communications job – and a stint on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” to boot.
Success stories come in many flavors and underscore how the success of one individual can bubble up; to buoy success for the team, department and organization as a whole. For more compelling success stories, feel free to browse the links to the right…