Job Training Thought

While listing to the conversation at a recent meeting I heard the following: “What is it the disabled community wants?”

I thought about this question, trying to find a simple way to provide a service that did not eliminate the disabled, but included them throughout the community. I would reword the above question to: “How can one provide a service to benefit every one in a changing social environment that is struggling to provide tools for independent living, even for the non-disabled?”

Most can agree that our economy and opportunity to live independently is going to become more difficult. This is even with the past American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and tax breaks for small businesses suggested by President-elect Obama for hiring and putting people back to work.

The one thing the ADA challenged our country to do was to make accessibility to employment, education and public services easily obtainable. In many ways, this has been proven to be advantageous for many in receiving public services.

It has also made education and employment obtainable through access, but addressing the conditions of comfort in these areas for the disabled (especially those with disabilities that are seen), has not been addressed.

Some examples of conditions that cause uncomfortable settings in my community can be seen in various activities I have tried to participate in. This comes from the organizers and coordinators of the activities/facilities not involving the disabled in the planning of the event/activity. Listing a few situations, though access has been provided:

· Actually, a list is not needed. For it is in the past and working on the future remembering the past from one’s own experiences by being involved is a better solution.

Along the lines of employment, there should be an accelerated program for training that can meet future needs of the community. This program would not be a once or twice a week program, but a program that would meet 4 days a week and offer training that offers an opportunity for the disabled, mothers/fathers of children and laid-off workers needing to be re-trained for new jobs (It needs to be recognized that unemployment and other public welfare is short term – This increases the need for accelerated training opportunities.).

Being considered are opportunities in Accounting (Tax Return Preparation, Payroll Accounting, Accounts Payable/Receivable, General Bookkeeping, Medical Billing/Coding), Small engine repair, Appliance repair, Computer use (Use of various programs such as Excel, Microsoft Word, etc.) and so forth. These training opportunities are not restricted to those listed, just come from what has been looked for in the classifieds for jobs.

In creating the above opportunities, the need for transportation would be addressed if needed to a central location depending on the community the training is offered.

It is believed that funding will be provided for this kind of short-term accelerated training in the near future from the stimulation package being proposed in Congress for getting America back to work. Why can’t this funding be used to improve the lives of low-income disabled and out of work individuals in our area? Even if these training opportunities were not used by individuals for employment, the return to the community for representing awareness and self-esteem will provide benefits for our society long into the future.

Just some thoughts that needs more work- hehe! So, what are the community needs?

Charlie Bean