Initiative Tries To Connect Businesses, Employees With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities
“There’s been a history of people devaluing people with disabilities … One way to help people become more valued is by having them show value,” says Tom Heinz, executive director of one of the partners involved in the project.
The Mercury News:
Amid Push For Workforce Diversity, Campaign Works To Include Bay Area Residents With Disabilities
Even as California’s unemployment rate has sunk to record lows in recent months, the population of people with intellectual or developmental disabilities has struggled with high levels of unemployment or underemployment. A collaboration among three Bay Area agencies is trying to change that. Launched in July 2016, HireAble is a campaign from three nonprofit partners — Contra Costa ARC, Futures Explored and East Bay Innovations — that connects local businesses to employees with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Since then, it has helped 70 people with disabilities get jobs in the Bay Area. (Sciacca, 8/10)