Workers highlight their jobs at Rotary meeting

Two individuals with developmental disabilities recently spoke with members of the New Philadelphia Rotary Club about their success with employment in the community. October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. It celebrates those workers with disabilities and raises awareness of the employment of people with disabilities.

Jehred Bennett spoke first about his job at the New Philadelphia Fire Department, where he strives to keep the station spotless by helping to clean, emptying trash, and mopping floors and stairways.

“It means a lot to me; it means so much purpose to me. And you know it basically kind of changes my life a little bit. It makes me a lot more happier. It makes me very nice to people. I’m making a lot of new friends,” Bennett said.

He enjoys working in the community.

His mother Christy Bennett works with individuals with disabilities through Advocates for Success, which provides employment support. She is happy to see him succeed.

“We get lots of compliments. We have two individuals, Jehred’s one of them, that go to the fire station, and constantly the firemen are coming in, letting us know how much they enjoy having them there and what a great job they do,” Christy Bennett said.

Jehred Bennett spoke about one hurdle he overcame, saying the most difficult part of his job is mopping the stairs.

“I want to take my time on it and don’t like to rush it because I don’t want to fall off the steps,” he said. “I take it one step at a time.”

“You just kept doing it, and you got better at it,” Christy Bennett said.

It’s important individuals with disabilities are given a chance.

“A lot of times our individuals are just counted out of employment for no other reason than that they have a disability,” Christy Bennett said.

She introduced Lauren Clay, who now works at Dutch Valley.

“Lauren was first involved in group employment. That’s where we have a group of individuals that go with a job coach, and they were all working at Dutch Valley restaurant doing dishes,” Christy Bennett said. “Lauren went out there, and she knocked it out of the park. She was one of our best workers.”

Clay soon realized she was ready to leave group employment, and she applied for a job that would mean she was working on her own. She is on her second month at the restaurant.

“Toward the end of September, one of the ladies came over and said to me, ‘I have something else that I would like to offer to you. I’m going to promote you to being the busser,’” Clay said.

She’s making herself indispensable on the job.

“So I still go back, and I help with putting the dishes on the shelf and putting stuff away in the kitchen. But I also, on the weekends, go out and clean the tables,” Clay said. “And I’ve made some extra money doing that. On the one Friday, I helped the waitresses to clean their tables for them. And by the end of the day, she gave me three fives. So that night I had $15 that I could take home and put into my wallet.”

Clay is proud to be earning a paycheck.

“I have friends that work there,” Clay said as she named them. She’s also made new friends too.

Lou Paris, employment navigator with the Tuscarawas County Board of Developmental Disabilities, has seen the connection individuals make when they are working in the community. They become co-workers, and there is relationship building with others in the community.

Clay named her co-workers who helped her learn the job and become a better worker.

“They all showed me where everything went in the kitchen, and now I know where stuff goes,” Clay said.

The job has helped her build confidence and provided her with a productive and more meaningful life.

“There was another lady who came over before I got my promotion and asked me, ‘Lauren, how much do you like being here?’ And what I said to her was I love working here,” Clay said.

Paris encourages those who have a business and need employees to give people with disabilities an opportunity.

“Sometimes, supports are needed to help, but all these (individuals) have the ability to go out there and do the job as needed per the job description,” Paris said. “There are resources out there. There are people out there that can help fill those needs.”