Individuals with disabilities filling higher skill jobs

It's not uncommon to see individuals with disabilities completing various tasks at Centra Health, running the register at Food Lion grocery stores, preparing food at Liberty University Dining Services with Sodexo or helping customers find what they need at Home Depot or Lowe's in Madison Heights.

Kathy Hayfield, director of rehabilitative services at the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS), said these individuals no longer are only filing, fetching and folding, but they are working with the government, information technology and health care.

More companies recognize what these individuals are capable of and what they bring to the workforce and are making accommodations to bring them on board. The response from employees, managers and the community has shown a proven success rate from these individuals and their work ethic, Hayfield said.

"They have a much better chance to have a life like yours and mine," Hayfield said. "They have a better chance to live independently, make friends who aren't just friends with disabilities and their quality of life is better."

Abigail Tyree, 21, was hired at Centra after an internship there with Project Search, a national school-to-work program run out of Centra's Lynchburg General Hospital. She now stocks hospital rooms with necessities and attends to details like setting out cups and gowns for patients.

"Whatever needs to be done, I try to do," she said. "I like helping patients. I just enjoy being here."

She said her fellow employees at Centra treat her well, and she enjoys working with them.

"One woman, Erica [Smith], she brightens my day," Tyree said. "I come in, and she makes me smile."

Tyree loves working with people, especially those who need help.

"I want to do this for a long time," she said. "It makes me feel great. I feel great about myself."

She said the program made her feel more independent.

"If it wasn't for Project Search, I wouldn't be here now," she said.

Bobby Walsh, 20, is a current student with a Project Search internship in the linens department of the hospital. He manages four carts now, which he is very proud of.

He said he enjoys his job because he gets to help people and gets to play good music; his favorite is Michael Jackson.

Through companies like Centra, individuals with disabilities now are joining their peers, graduating high school and moving on to jobs or college.

"They are looking for their next step, and for them, it's a job," Centra's Human Resources Director Shannon Meadows said. "When the community walks through the doors at Centra, they can see people just like them regardless of where they're from, working and contributing."

Drew Trepanitis, 22, completed Project Search last year and soon was hired to do inventory at Centra. It is there he counts supplies for the Ground Transportation Department. He counts inventory such as stethoscopes, gauze, tape rolls, syringes, needles, blood glucose meters, face masks and trauma shields.

He said his favorite part of the program was being able to get a job.

"I like doing the ambulance and giving supplies to people," he said. "I like to help people."

He added it was difficult to learn the names of supplies at first, but now it comes much easier to him.

Wards Road Food Lion Store Manager Kristie Myers has two employees with disabilities, one of whom was a Project Search graduate.

"In today's society, it's hard to find good work ethic. I think he strives hard every day and gives 110 percent," Myers said. "He feels like he has purpose."

Every night before he starts his shift, he greets Myers with a hug.

"To me, it makes me feel good," she said.

In October, DARS recognized Centra and Lowe's in Madison Heights for their efforts to hire more individuals with disabilities.

DARS is a state agency that provides and advocates for resources and services to improve the employment, quality of life, security and independence of individuals with disabilities as well as older individuals and their families.

DARS, which has 32 offices across the state, generally serves about 30,000 individuals per year, Hayfield said. In the past four consecutive years, the agency has helped more than 4,000 people each year become successfully employed in Virginia.

Each year, about 10,000 new individuals come to DARS looking for help finding employment.

In the past, these individuals would end up in sheltered workshops, Hayfield said, and that's not the case anymore.

Ashley Glasser, manager of corporate communications with Lowe's Companies Inc., said across the company, Lowe's tries to foster an inclusive environment that values the perspectives of every employee and provides a culture where everyone can reach their potential.

"We believe a diversity of backgrounds, experiences and perspectives creates value for the diverse customers and communities that we serve," she said.

DARS receives 80 percent of its funding from the federal government and 20 percent from the state.

"We are no longer using our dollars to help people work at places that do not pay competitive wages or have settings with only those with or without disabilities," she said.

Of those served in 2016, 49 percent had a cognitive disability.

"We are working much harder to help people find jobs that are a career pathway instead of just a job," she said "We are helping to find jobs that might require certification or credentials they can build on over the years and have a sustainable wage."

She said she is seeing a greater number of jobs in manufacturing, health care, tourism, information technology and hospitality for these individuals.

"With the federal government in the [Northern Virginia] area and Hampton Roads, there are a good number of jobs in the military establishments," she said.

She said this has been a change in the past 10 years that these higher skilled jobs have even been offered.

Hayfield thinks communities as a whole across Virginia are more accepting of the individuals than they used to be in the past.

"They are more visible," she said. "They are not segregated in the schools like they used to be."

Last year, Project Search was introduced to the area.

The program, offered to Lynchburg City Schools and Campbell County Public Schools students and run out of Centra's Lynchburg General Hospital, teaches students job skills to enable them to find and keep employment after graduation and when their time in the school system ends.

Lauren Adam, a skills trainer with Stand Up, a Lynchburg-based program that works with students on finding and maintaining employment, works with the students in Project Search as well as those who have graduated the program.

A coach from Stand Up is assigned to each individual after they finish their internship so accommodations at companiescan be created if needed.

"They want to do the job, but the opportunity we have is to be their voice," she said. "Sometimes we are that link to creating a good community around this individual. We will start fading after they learn the job, but even after they are independent, we check in on them once a month to make sure they are doing OK."

Amanda Myers-Ramirez, an LCS special education teacher, works with students in their final year of high school. Many of them are in their 20s.

She said Centra opened its doors to the program and has offered internships, and provided materials and jobs. Centra hired five of the interns from the program last year. All nine who participated in the program now have jobs within the community.

The community has rallied behind the interns and now current employees, Myers-Ramirez said.

"They've just been over-the-top cheerleaders," she said. "They want to take the role to mentor our students."

It changes the entire climate and culture of an organization to have the individuals working at Centra, Myers-Ramirez said.

"When you think about the skills that some of our learners bring here? they are genuinely excited to work, on time, enthusiastic, bring teamwork, they bring so much," she said. "It might take them a little longer to get tasks and skills, but once they're there, what they bring to an organization is so powerful. This is their dream job, and they are proud to be here."

Meadows said she finds the individuals employed at the hospital bring retention and longevity to the job.

"These students who become employees do not see their jobs as boring; they breathe life into what could be seen as drudging day to day, 'this is just my job,'" she said.

Employers said the accommodations and modifications made by employers and employment specialists like Adams are small. Hayfield said some accommodations include assisted technology, a wheelchair ramp, making the font larger on a presentation or adding extra visual support like converting text to pictures.

"We have found those with unique abilities are longer employees," Meadows said. "They are highly loyal, they like to find a place they feel comfortable and stay. You spend more time in training maybe but the end result is a higher level of commitment for the organization."

Fellow employees at Centra love the Project Search students, Meadows said. It has given the traditional employee population new perspective and a restored attitude.

"These individuals have the best attitudes ever," she said. "They are always helping, smiling, and all they ever wanted to do is have a job. It has helped turn around morale."

If there are businesses hesitant about working with individuals with disabilities, Myers-Ramirez said it is worth it in the end.

"I think what we've learned and what our partners through Centra have learned is it is worth that extra time to work through some of those obstacles. There are families who see their young adult and didn't know what the outcome out be. It has empowered the student and their family to have these opportunities," she said. "A lot of people with disabilities are tied to a life of poverty. They don't have the opportunity sometimes. This program shines light on how valuable these learners are and how much they can do."