December 8, 2023 • 19 mins
Easterseals is calling on the United States to commit to making air travel accessible by the 40th anniversary of the Air Carrier Access Act in 2026.Renee DiNino chats with Easterseals Capital Region and Eastern CT President and CEO Robin Sharp (interview below)At Easterseals Capital Region, is leading the way to 100% equity, inclusion and access for those we serve -- Easterseals provides critical services and powerful advocacy so that people with disabilities and active military and veterans are provided with the resources they need to achieve their full potential in life.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I our communities. Thank you somuch for listening. I'm Renee Denino and
out here with the CEO. Youshould know Robin Sharp, who is Easter
Seals Capital Region and Eastern Connecticut Presidentand Ceoh hello Robin, Hello, Renee,
so nice to see you again.Nice to see you. And You've
got a lot going on at EasterSeals, so for the Capital Region,
(00:21):
and I'm so happy that we're goingto have a little bit of time today
if you did tell us all thegood stuff. We certainly do have a
lot going on at Easter Seals.So many things going on. We are
you know, as you know,Easter Seals is leading the way to one
hundred percent equity access and inclusion peoplewith disabilities and veterans, and our purpose
(00:41):
for being is really to ensure thatanybody who wants to work has the opportunity
to do so in a meaningful way. Absolutely, and Veterans is a huge
platform on this program. We werejust talking about the new CT Veterans Grown
campaign Reese across America. We've beenpromoting all the veterans programs, building homes
for hero and things like that.So it's so natural as we're finishing off
(01:04):
the year in the holiday season talkingabout your connection with veterans and adding you
know, accessibility and travel and plansand things like that. And I know
we're going to talk a lot aboutthis, but let's talk about travel number
one, and we're going to getto the veterans a little bit, but
let's talk about accessibility for travel,which does affect a lot of our wounded
veterans, right, So what areyou doing with that as an office?
(01:27):
Absolutely, it does affect so manyof the people that we serve, including
our veterans. Easter Seals at thenational level has this amazing resource in transportation
and a accessible transportation team. Wedo a lot of serving as experts in
this field, a lot of consultationto different states and federal government, a
(01:51):
lot of public policy advocacy, andyou know, we feel that it's time.
A lot of people don't realize thatairlines were exempted from the age,
which is so weird though, right, well, it is when you think
about it, probably was the mostdifficult form of transportation to make accessible.
Yeah, with the room and therows and zac you know, the rams
(02:14):
they got down right, rams areprobably the least of their concerns. But
think about the size of those bathroomson airplanes. I mean, I mean,
I have trouble exactly. You gottago out in the hallway to change
your mind, right, so youcan't. You know, you could barely
turn around. So trying to bringa wheelchair into those is virtually impossible.
Most airlines have you know, onlythe airline wheelchair can actually fit through that
(02:38):
aisle. So I know, ifI'm carrying even a big, big pocket
book, it's hard to not hitsomebody. Robin, I just did some
traveling recently, and God bless theairlines. Listen, I've always been treated
very well. This is not acomplaint, but absolutely every time I'm walking
down the aisle, I'm like,ooh, sorry oop. And that's just
me with a simple carrier, witha simple carry on, our simple average
sized person book, right exactly.So if you're trying to get a you
(03:01):
know, stanndred size wheelchair down that, although you can't do it. So
it requires people to transfer from theirown wheelchair into the airline wheelchair, and
then transfer again from the airline wheelchairinto a seat. Now, for some
people that's that's doable, and forothers it's not. Now again, once
you're in that seat. You don'thave your legs, you don't have your
(03:23):
former mobility to get into a bathroom. So well, and also I'll add
the space with the most room arethe emergency exits. But you've got to
follow the parameters. You've got someresponsibilities if you're going to sit there,
which a person in a wheelchair maynot be able to do. But I
would love for you to give out. You know, as we're talking about
this, do you have many statsas to how many people with wheelchairs do
(03:46):
fly or do need the services ofyou know, flying. I mean,
just because you're in a wheelchair doesn'tmean you don't get to enjoy travel,
travel, and sometimes you have totravel for work, right, you know,
think about it, We have totravel sometimes for what we do for
a living. And so when you'retalking about accessibility, you know, to
employment, this becomes a factor.And what's what's somewhat disturbing in you know,
(04:09):
in airline travel, is that theairlines, for whatever reason, tend
to lose or damage wheelchairs. Onan average day, thirty one wheelchairs are
lost or damage a day. Aday. Yeah, so last year more
than eleven thousand lost or damaged wheelchairsand that's that's losing mobility, ability,
(04:33):
employment, opportunity, everything, familygets to get whateverancial. You know,
there's so many implications to that.So I just feel like that's something where
we really can do back. Andwe don't talk about this, and we
don't really talk about this. It'sit's hard, right, I mean,
we don't we don't talk about this. And there's a lot of other obstacles,
a lot of which you've just beendescribing. But let's even before we
(04:55):
even get on the plane. Areyou thinking that there's some issues even going
through TSA or or or or troubleslike that, Because I know I've never
had an issue obviously I'm I'm ablebodied if you will, but I never
thought about this, Robin. SoI'm so glad you're here today to bring
us, uh these these this informationbecause I don't think that the average person
thinks about this. I don't think, Yeah, a lot of us,
(05:15):
you know, there's things that wedon't even realize we take for granted.
And we're saying our trying to getfrom point A to point B sometimes and
going through that security checkpoint is oneof those things. And sometimes it's just
you know, more education needed onthe point of TSA agents on how to
do these screenings for somebody who's ina wheelchair, you know, who's not
mobile, who can't go through themetal detector say, or how you know,
(05:39):
how we even talk to people ortreat people. So just some a
little bit more education would probably makethis process a whole lot better. I
was reading that when people in wheelchairsarrive at their gate, they are actually
asked to be removed from their wheelchairs. What do they do after? Especially
(06:02):
if your wheelchair is the only wayof and sometimes they're custom you know what
I mean, they're custom built,so they don't maybe they can't even that's
exactly right. For people that haverely on certain kinds of electric chairs or
have certain types of equipment that areattached to their chair, it's impossible for
(06:25):
them. So what happens at thegate then is you have to transfer into
that Airlines wheelchair because that's the onlyway you can get down the aisle.
Well, well, I'm just thinkingthere's some people that I work with within
iHeart communities, their wheelchair actually issort of like their central headquarters because maybe
it's a mode of communication. They'reelectronics, like you were just mentioning you
(06:45):
know, maybe they don't have mobilityof their hands and they need to use
their mouth with a special attachment toas a form of communication or eye movement
or whatever the case may be.So this is something that I'm embarrassed,
Robin, that I haven't really talkedabout as much. I think a lot
of us, again, we justdon't really think about the implications of that.
Thank you for wheelchair technology and mobilitytechnology has come so far that we're
(07:12):
you know, amazed, and we'regrateful for all of the opportunity that's offered
to that. And then when wethink about there's still this like last frontier
of travel, and so people thathave custom chairs like that are or who
are unable to transfer into the airlinechair and then into a seat. They
(07:32):
they can't fight, they're restricted towhere they could drive. So what is
it that you're hoping for the airlines? And when do you think this act
could possibly be really put into fullforce? And do you think the airlines,
I mean, have you met anyany trepidation with any of the airlines?
I mean, do you I wouldthink most people want to get on
(07:55):
board with this, but do youhave like a time stamp on this when
you're hoping to have all this inplace. So we think at easter Seals
that twenty twenty six, which isthe fortieth anniversary of the Air Carrier Access
Act, is a perfect time,yeah for the airlines to commit to being
accessible. And besides advocacy for this, I know you know, which is
(08:18):
a huge thing. And actually,before we get into the next subject matter
here, is there a way thegeneral public can help you with this act?
Or maybe just talking to their aircarriers, maybe talking to their local
leaders. Is there something that wecan do to help you get this in
place? I think talking to anyelected official of how important this is is
what's really helpful. Because the moreour officials hear from us, the more
(08:39):
the airlines hear from us, themore people are likely to respond and take
action. All right, So let'ssee if we can't make air travel accessible
by the fortieth anniversary of the AirCarrier Access Act by twenty twenty six,
so you have our support on that. All right. Let's move ahead,
as we are talking about employment andcareer development, which I know is a
(09:01):
huge platform for Easter Seals Capital Region. What do you have in store for
us? So at Easter Seals.We work with people at all levels of
employment, so whether that's pre placementin employment, helping people to find jobs,
getting prepared to be able to work, and then supporting people once they
(09:22):
are hired, and also supporting employers. And when we look at our workforce
shortage right now, which I thinkevery employer is experiencing, and we look
at people with disabilities, it's suchan untapped workforce. In fact, in
twenty twenty two, only twenty onepercent of people with disabilities that were employable.
(09:45):
We're actually employed, and you're talkingabout millions of people. So again
when we talk about workforce needs,you know, and that number, that
twenty one percent number, that's actuallya record high, you know. I
I often think about when we saydisabled or people who have different needs and
(10:05):
different accessibility needs or modes of transportationor anything that's a little bit different than
than what is quote unquote the averageor normal professional person. Right. I
think people put people in stereotypes thinkingthat because you're disabled, that means you're
just your non functioning or or allthese horrible stereotypes that maybe people run through
(10:28):
their brain, right, which isone hundred percent not the case, just
because you're in a wheelchair, ormaybe you don't have the use of both
hands or legs or whatever the case. Maybe or you're a veteran who do
to combat have now an injury thathas no bearing on your ability to work
and produce, it might change theway you do it, right. You
(10:50):
may need to be have some adaptionadaptability things. But I really want to
kind of focus a little bit,if we could, on the fact that
people, sometimes through no fault,or through the media or through movies,
or through wherever the case may be, when you hear the word disabled,
it conjures up a lot of negativeconnotations, especially when it comes to work
and education, right, right,And I think you know, we all
(11:13):
it's it's really important that we allkind of examine that, right and we
acknowledge it. We say, Okay, I have this preconceived notion of what
someone might be able or not ableto do without even having giving them the
chance to do it. Right,And when you look at like work environments,
I mean, so many things thatwere designed as adaptive technology have become
(11:39):
so commonplace now that we all usethem. Voice to text, we all
use everybody, everybody that was anadaptive technology, right, high adjustable desks.
That was an adaptive technology for people. And now we all want to
be able to stand up and worksometimes or sit down right right times.
Right, So a lot of thesethings that we you know, once considered
(12:00):
special adaptations are really not any thinkthat the workplace. You know, one
of the silver linings of COVID wasthat it showed us what can be done
remotely, what can be done withtechnology for all abilities, for all abilities,
and it leveled the playing feel justa little bit to you know,
expand workforce opportunities for people with disabilitiesthat might have limitations when it comes to
(12:24):
transportation or travel or anything or anything. Right, and you have a success
story that you're going to share withus today, Right, we have a
lot of success stories. We don'thave us. We don't have to take
one. You can come back andshare more later, okay, As we
will say that, you know,businesses that do hire people with disabilities,
(12:45):
there's a business case for this,and you know, they tend to have
higher returns, they tend to havehigher employees around higher productivity because people see
that the business is living their valuesand so there's really it's it's a great
there's great reasons to have a veryinclusive work environment. One of our stories
(13:07):
that we're sharing this holiday season isNacho Perez. Nacho's is so wonderful,
but he came to us through theBureau of Rehab Services looking for a job,
and he wanted to work in therestaurant industry, and we happen to
have a relationship with Chili's Restaurant ina number of communities that we work with,
and we did what's called a trialwork experience with Nachos, so we
(13:31):
were able to work with him atChili's, give him some training, and
let Chili's try out how this relationshipwas gonna work, and they ended up
hiring him full time. So,you know, we're grateful to our employers
that give people a chance, andwe're very proud and happy for Nacho.
(13:54):
We also have a relationship with ourveterans with a lot of trick boat where
we do direct placements, and youthink of it, it's it's perfect right.
People coming out of the military thatare trying to transition back into the
workforce to work. They already havethis clearance, a lot of them right
to work for some of our defensecontractors, and they have a skill set
(14:16):
that is second to none. Exactly. You know, we're worried if we're
running later, if we haven't donea report on time, and they're in
combat or they're being trained and they'revery structured. If you ever want anyone
on time as an employee, you'regoing to go to our military. You
got it. They're going to beearly. You've got it. Changed my
way of being to be five minuteslate for everything, not anymore. No,
no, no, you have tobe fifteen minutes early or you're life.
You're right. So, but it'sanother untapped resource. And I know
(14:37):
you partner with a lot of othergroups and organizations across the state that are
starting to open their eyes and understandwe have a lot of great companies and
support here in the state of Connecticutfor people of all abilities and especially our
veterans. And actually, if you'rea business listening right now, you want
to find out more ways you canhelp not only people of all abilities,
(14:58):
right, we'll say it that way, or our veterans. You have a
number or a place where they cango, right, Robin, Yeah,
absolutely, Our website Easterseals dot com, Forward Splash, hard Forward Slash Hartford.
Okay, or call us eight sixzero two seven zero zero six hundred
again eight six zero two seven zerozero six hundred. I'm gonna go ahead
(15:20):
and put the link in that numberas well at mycommunity access dot com.
So if you're listening right now,you'll be able to find that information online
again as well. And I know, before we wrap up our holiday interview
with Rovin from Easter Seals Capital Region, tell me a little bit about some
of the other opportunities and other socialenterprise organizations that you are are working with
(15:43):
and how they help the community.Yeah, in addition to you know,
helping to place people and jobs withyou know, many employers, multiple employers
in the community, we also havetwo of our own businesses where we hire
people's disabilities and veterans. And oneof those is Enviral Shred, which is
a secure document destruction business. Ineed to get a hold of you for
that. By the way, maybedoes now right. Well, I was
(16:07):
looking, I was cleaning out inmy rooms and I'm like, oh boy,
I need one of these shred eventsto come happen exactly. Set one
up after, Well, we'll dosomething after this one. We figured absolutely
do we have to do those allover the state and you know, yeah,
we've all been keeping all these likesecured you know, time to declutt
documents. Yeah, I'm gonna getrid of them. We got to clean
up. So uh so we dothat for businesses. We do that,
(16:27):
you know, for for municipalities thereanybody that wants to hold a shred event,
or we do the you know regularold shredding you know, contracting where
we've got bands in your office andthey come pick them up, you know,
once twice a month, whatever theneed. Is so fantastic business and
that helps us again to provide jobopportunities for people with disabilities and for veterans.
(16:48):
And then in Viral Clean, whichis a janitorial and maintenance company,
so we also do you know,office building cleaning as well. And if
people are interested for any of thoseprograms, you can go to my community
access dot com. I'll have alink up right now. But if you
want Robin, if someone's listening rightnow, where can they go directly?
(17:10):
Again our website or enviro sh Redphone numbers eight six zero seven two eight
one zero six one. That's eightsix zero seven two eight ten sixty one.
Get ready, because I think alot of people will be interested in
that. And then lastly, whatdoes an Ability one partner mean? I
don't even know that answer, andyou've been on a bunch of times tell
(17:32):
me all about this. So Abilityone is a really neat program. Uh.
Ability the Ability One Commission was setup because the federal government has a
mandate to help to employ people withdisabilities on some of their federal contracts.
And so Source America is our partnerin this. Source America is you know,
helps us to actually bid on federalcontracts and provide services, uh employ
(18:00):
people with disabilities. So seventy fivepercent of people employed on these contracts are
people with disabilities. So, forinstance, we run the mailroom services at
the Coast Guard Academy, we runthe mailroom services at one of the IRS
offices in the state. We providedocument destruction to some of our federal contractors,
(18:22):
and we provide janitorial services to someof our federal office buildings. So
really neat program. We really wantto grow it and do more with it.
And if you go on to oursocial media pages, our Facebook pages,
you can see the stories of someof the people that have been employed
through these contracts and how it's reallychanged their lives. These are pretty well
(18:44):
paying jobs. Yeah, and alsoproving that people of all abilities can work
and contribute, which I think isjust natural for any human being. We
want to know that we're helping.We want to know that you know we're
included. We want to know thatwe're making a difference. We want to
provide for our families, for ourselves. We all need a purpose to get
up in the morning, right,absolutely, all right, Robin, tell
(19:04):
us how to find you online again. It is Easterseals dot com forward slash
Hartford, all right, and I'llmake sure those links are live. Easter
Seals Capital Region and Eastern Connecticut Presidentand CEO, Robin Sharp. It is
always a pleasure to see you.Wishing you and your family a happy holidays.
Sames Urine, thanks so much.Do you hear the show again?
(19:25):
Please visit my community access dot comwhere all these links will be live.
Thanks for being here. Thank you,
I our communities. Thank you somuch for listening. I'm Renee Denino and
out here with the CEO. Youshould know Robin Sharp, who is Easter
Seals Capital Region and Eastern Connecticut Presidentand Ceoh hello Robin, Hello, Renee,
so nice to see you again.Nice to see you. And You've
got a lot going on at EasterSeals, so for the Capital Region,
(00:21):
and I'm so happy that we're goingto have a little bit of time today
if you did tell us all thegood stuff. We certainly do have a
lot going on at Easter Seals.So many things going on. We are
you know, as you know,Easter Seals is leading the way to one
hundred percent equity access and inclusion peoplewith disabilities and veterans, and our purpose
(00:41):
for being is really to ensure thatanybody who wants to work has the opportunity
to do so in a meaningful way. Absolutely, and Veterans is a huge
platform on this program. We werejust talking about the new CT Veterans Grown
campaign Reese across America. We've beenpromoting all the veterans programs, building homes
for hero and things like that.So it's so natural as we're finishing off
(01:04):
the year in the holiday season talkingabout your connection with veterans and adding you
know, accessibility and travel and plansand things like that. And I know
we're going to talk a lot aboutthis, but let's talk about travel number
one, and we're going to getto the veterans a little bit, but
let's talk about accessibility for travel,which does affect a lot of our wounded
veterans, right, So what areyou doing with that as an office?
(01:27):
Absolutely, it does affect so manyof the people that we serve, including
our veterans. Easter Seals at thenational level has this amazing resource in transportation
and a accessible transportation team. Wedo a lot of serving as experts in
this field, a lot of consultationto different states and federal government, a
(01:51):
lot of public policy advocacy, andyou know, we feel that it's time.
A lot of people don't realize thatairlines were exempted from the age,
which is so weird though, right, well, it is when you think
about it, probably was the mostdifficult form of transportation to make accessible.
Yeah, with the room and therows and zac you know, the rams
(02:14):
they got down right, rams areprobably the least of their concerns. But
think about the size of those bathroomson airplanes. I mean, I mean,
I have trouble exactly. You gottago out in the hallway to change
your mind, right, so youcan't. You know, you could barely
turn around. So trying to bringa wheelchair into those is virtually impossible.
Most airlines have you know, onlythe airline wheelchair can actually fit through that
(02:38):
aisle. So I know, ifI'm carrying even a big, big pocket
book, it's hard to not hitsomebody. Robin, I just did some
traveling recently, and God bless theairlines. Listen, I've always been treated
very well. This is not acomplaint, but absolutely every time I'm walking
down the aisle, I'm like,ooh, sorry oop. And that's just
me with a simple carrier, witha simple carry on, our simple average
sized person book, right exactly.So if you're trying to get a you
(03:01):
know, stanndred size wheelchair down that, although you can't do it. So
it requires people to transfer from theirown wheelchair into the airline wheelchair, and
then transfer again from the airline wheelchairinto a seat. Now, for some
people that's that's doable, and forothers it's not. Now again, once
you're in that seat. You don'thave your legs, you don't have your
(03:23):
former mobility to get into a bathroom. So well, and also I'll add
the space with the most room arethe emergency exits. But you've got to
follow the parameters. You've got someresponsibilities if you're going to sit there,
which a person in a wheelchair maynot be able to do. But I
would love for you to give out. You know, as we're talking about
this, do you have many statsas to how many people with wheelchairs do
(03:46):
fly or do need the services ofyou know, flying. I mean,
just because you're in a wheelchair doesn'tmean you don't get to enjoy travel,
travel, and sometimes you have totravel for work, right, you know,
think about it, We have totravel sometimes for what we do for
a living. And so when you'retalking about accessibility, you know, to
employment, this becomes a factor.And what's what's somewhat disturbing in you know,
(04:09):
in airline travel, is that theairlines, for whatever reason, tend
to lose or damage wheelchairs. Onan average day, thirty one wheelchairs are
lost or damage a day. Aday. Yeah, so last year more
than eleven thousand lost or damaged wheelchairsand that's that's losing mobility, ability,
(04:33):
employment, opportunity, everything, familygets to get whateverancial. You know,
there's so many implications to that.So I just feel like that's something where
we really can do back. Andwe don't talk about this, and we
don't really talk about this. It'sit's hard, right, I mean,
we don't we don't talk about this. And there's a lot of other obstacles,
a lot of which you've just beendescribing. But let's even before we
(04:55):
even get on the plane. Areyou thinking that there's some issues even going
through TSA or or or or troubleslike that, Because I know I've never
had an issue obviously I'm I'm ablebodied if you will, but I never
thought about this, Robin. SoI'm so glad you're here today to bring
us, uh these these this informationbecause I don't think that the average person
thinks about this. I don't think, Yeah, a lot of us,
(05:15):
you know, there's things that wedon't even realize we take for granted.
And we're saying our trying to getfrom point A to point B sometimes and
going through that security checkpoint is oneof those things. And sometimes it's just
you know, more education needed onthe point of TSA agents on how to
do these screenings for somebody who's ina wheelchair, you know, who's not
mobile, who can't go through themetal detector say, or how you know,
(05:39):
how we even talk to people ortreat people. So just some a
little bit more education would probably makethis process a whole lot better. I
was reading that when people in wheelchairsarrive at their gate, they are actually
asked to be removed from their wheelchairs. What do they do after? Especially
(06:02):
if your wheelchair is the only wayof and sometimes they're custom you know what
I mean, they're custom built,so they don't maybe they can't even that's
exactly right. For people that haverely on certain kinds of electric chairs or
have certain types of equipment that areattached to their chair, it's impossible for
(06:25):
them. So what happens at thegate then is you have to transfer into
that Airlines wheelchair because that's the onlyway you can get down the aisle.
Well, well, I'm just thinkingthere's some people that I work with within
iHeart communities, their wheelchair actually issort of like their central headquarters because maybe
it's a mode of communication. They'reelectronics, like you were just mentioning you
(06:45):
know, maybe they don't have mobilityof their hands and they need to use
their mouth with a special attachment toas a form of communication or eye movement
or whatever the case may be.So this is something that I'm embarrassed,
Robin, that I haven't really talkedabout as much. I think a lot
of us, again, we justdon't really think about the implications of that.
Thank you for wheelchair technology and mobilitytechnology has come so far that we're
(07:12):
you know, amazed, and we'regrateful for all of the opportunity that's offered
to that. And then when wethink about there's still this like last frontier
of travel, and so people thathave custom chairs like that are or who
are unable to transfer into the airlinechair and then into a seat. They
(07:32):
they can't fight, they're restricted towhere they could drive. So what is
it that you're hoping for the airlines? And when do you think this act
could possibly be really put into fullforce? And do you think the airlines,
I mean, have you met anyany trepidation with any of the airlines?
I mean, do you I wouldthink most people want to get on
(07:55):
board with this, but do youhave like a time stamp on this when
you're hoping to have all this inplace. So we think at easter Seals
that twenty twenty six, which isthe fortieth anniversary of the Air Carrier Access
Act, is a perfect time,yeah for the airlines to commit to being
accessible. And besides advocacy for this, I know you know, which is
(08:18):
a huge thing. And actually,before we get into the next subject matter
here, is there a way thegeneral public can help you with this act?
Or maybe just talking to their aircarriers, maybe talking to their local
leaders. Is there something that wecan do to help you get this in
place? I think talking to anyelected official of how important this is is
what's really helpful. Because the moreour officials hear from us, the more
(08:39):
the airlines hear from us, themore people are likely to respond and take
action. All right, So let'ssee if we can't make air travel accessible
by the fortieth anniversary of the AirCarrier Access Act by twenty twenty six,
so you have our support on that. All right. Let's move ahead,
as we are talking about employment andcareer development, which I know is a
(09:01):
huge platform for Easter Seals Capital Region. What do you have in store for
us? So at Easter Seals.We work with people at all levels of
employment, so whether that's pre placementin employment, helping people to find jobs,
getting prepared to be able to work, and then supporting people once they
(09:22):
are hired, and also supporting employers. And when we look at our workforce
shortage right now, which I thinkevery employer is experiencing, and we look
at people with disabilities, it's suchan untapped workforce. In fact, in
twenty twenty two, only twenty onepercent of people with disabilities that were employable.
(09:45):
We're actually employed, and you're talkingabout millions of people. So again
when we talk about workforce needs,you know, and that number, that
twenty one percent number, that's actuallya record high, you know. I
I often think about when we saydisabled or people who have different needs and
(10:05):
different accessibility needs or modes of transportationor anything that's a little bit different than
than what is quote unquote the averageor normal professional person. Right. I
think people put people in stereotypes thinkingthat because you're disabled, that means you're
just your non functioning or or allthese horrible stereotypes that maybe people run through
(10:28):
their brain, right, which isone hundred percent not the case, just
because you're in a wheelchair, ormaybe you don't have the use of both
hands or legs or whatever the case. Maybe or you're a veteran who do
to combat have now an injury thathas no bearing on your ability to work
and produce, it might change theway you do it, right. You
(10:50):
may need to be have some adaptionadaptability things. But I really want to
kind of focus a little bit,if we could, on the fact that
people, sometimes through no fault,or through the media or through movies,
or through wherever the case may be, when you hear the word disabled,
it conjures up a lot of negativeconnotations, especially when it comes to work
and education, right, right,And I think you know, we all
(11:13):
it's it's really important that we allkind of examine that, right and we
acknowledge it. We say, Okay, I have this preconceived notion of what
someone might be able or not ableto do without even having giving them the
chance to do it. Right,And when you look at like work environments,
I mean, so many things thatwere designed as adaptive technology have become
(11:39):
so commonplace now that we all usethem. Voice to text, we all
use everybody, everybody that was anadaptive technology, right, high adjustable desks.
That was an adaptive technology for people. And now we all want to
be able to stand up and worksometimes or sit down right right times.
Right, So a lot of thesethings that we you know, once considered
(12:00):
special adaptations are really not any thinkthat the workplace. You know, one
of the silver linings of COVID wasthat it showed us what can be done
remotely, what can be done withtechnology for all abilities, for all abilities,
and it leveled the playing feel justa little bit to you know,
expand workforce opportunities for people with disabilitiesthat might have limitations when it comes to
(12:24):
transportation or travel or anything or anything. Right, and you have a success
story that you're going to share withus today, Right, we have a
lot of success stories. We don'thave us. We don't have to take
one. You can come back andshare more later, okay, As we
will say that, you know,businesses that do hire people with disabilities,
(12:45):
there's a business case for this,and you know, they tend to have
higher returns, they tend to havehigher employees around higher productivity because people see
that the business is living their valuesand so there's really it's it's a great
there's great reasons to have a veryinclusive work environment. One of our stories
(13:07):
that we're sharing this holiday season isNacho Perez. Nacho's is so wonderful,
but he came to us through theBureau of Rehab Services looking for a job,
and he wanted to work in therestaurant industry, and we happen to
have a relationship with Chili's Restaurant ina number of communities that we work with,
and we did what's called a trialwork experience with Nachos, so we
(13:31):
were able to work with him atChili's, give him some training, and
let Chili's try out how this relationshipwas gonna work, and they ended up
hiring him full time. So,you know, we're grateful to our employers
that give people a chance, andwe're very proud and happy for Nacho.
(13:54):
We also have a relationship with ourveterans with a lot of trick boat where
we do direct placements, and youthink of it, it's it's perfect right.
People coming out of the military thatare trying to transition back into the
workforce to work. They already havethis clearance, a lot of them right
to work for some of our defensecontractors, and they have a skill set
(14:16):
that is second to none. Exactly. You know, we're worried if we're
running later, if we haven't donea report on time, and they're in
combat or they're being trained and they'revery structured. If you ever want anyone
on time as an employee, you'regoing to go to our military. You
got it. They're going to beearly. You've got it. Changed my
way of being to be five minuteslate for everything, not anymore. No,
no, no, you have tobe fifteen minutes early or you're life.
You're right. So, but it'sanother untapped resource. And I know
(14:37):
you partner with a lot of othergroups and organizations across the state that are
starting to open their eyes and understandwe have a lot of great companies and
support here in the state of Connecticutfor people of all abilities and especially our
veterans. And actually, if you'rea business listening right now, you want
to find out more ways you canhelp not only people of all abilities,
(14:58):
right, we'll say it that way, or our veterans. You have a
number or a place where they cango, right, Robin, Yeah,
absolutely, Our website Easterseals dot com, Forward Splash, hard Forward Slash Hartford.
Okay, or call us eight sixzero two seven zero zero six hundred
again eight six zero two seven zerozero six hundred. I'm gonna go ahead
(15:20):
and put the link in that numberas well at mycommunity access dot com.
So if you're listening right now,you'll be able to find that information online
again as well. And I know, before we wrap up our holiday interview
with Rovin from Easter Seals Capital Region, tell me a little bit about some
of the other opportunities and other socialenterprise organizations that you are are working with
(15:43):
and how they help the community.Yeah, in addition to you know,
helping to place people and jobs withyou know, many employers, multiple employers
in the community, we also havetwo of our own businesses where we hire
people's disabilities and veterans. And oneof those is Enviral Shred, which is
a secure document destruction business. Ineed to get a hold of you for
that. By the way, maybedoes now right. Well, I was
(16:07):
looking, I was cleaning out inmy rooms and I'm like, oh boy,
I need one of these shred eventsto come happen exactly. Set one
up after, Well, we'll dosomething after this one. We figured absolutely
do we have to do those allover the state and you know, yeah,
we've all been keeping all these likesecured you know, time to declutt
documents. Yeah, I'm gonna getrid of them. We got to clean
up. So uh so we dothat for businesses. We do that,
(16:27):
you know, for for municipalities thereanybody that wants to hold a shred event,
or we do the you know regularold shredding you know, contracting where
we've got bands in your office andthey come pick them up, you know,
once twice a month, whatever theneed. Is so fantastic business and
that helps us again to provide jobopportunities for people with disabilities and for veterans.
(16:48):
And then in Viral Clean, whichis a janitorial and maintenance company,
so we also do you know,office building cleaning as well. And if
people are interested for any of thoseprograms, you can go to my community
access dot com. I'll have alink up right now. But if you
want Robin, if someone's listening rightnow, where can they go directly?
(17:10):
Again our website or enviro sh Redphone numbers eight six zero seven two eight
one zero six one. That's eightsix zero seven two eight ten sixty one.
Get ready, because I think alot of people will be interested in
that. And then lastly, whatdoes an Ability one partner mean? I
don't even know that answer, andyou've been on a bunch of times tell
(17:32):
me all about this. So Abilityone is a really neat program. Uh.
Ability the Ability One Commission was setup because the federal government has a
mandate to help to employ people withdisabilities on some of their federal contracts.
And so Source America is our partnerin this. Source America is you know,
helps us to actually bid on federalcontracts and provide services, uh employ
(18:00):
people with disabilities. So seventy fivepercent of people employed on these contracts are
people with disabilities. So, forinstance, we run the mailroom services at
the Coast Guard Academy, we runthe mailroom services at one of the IRS
offices in the state. We providedocument destruction to some of our federal contractors,
(18:22):
and we provide janitorial services to someof our federal office buildings. So
really neat program. We really wantto grow it and do more with it.
And if you go on to oursocial media pages, our Facebook pages,
you can see the stories of someof the people that have been employed
through these contracts and how it's reallychanged their lives. These are pretty well
(18:44):
paying jobs. Yeah, and alsoproving that people of all abilities can work
and contribute, which I think isjust natural for any human being. We
want to know that we're helping.We want to know that you know we're
included. We want to know thatwe're making a difference. We want to
provide for our families, for ourselves. We all need a purpose to get
up in the morning, right,absolutely, all right, Robin, tell
(19:04):
us how to find you online again. It is Easterseals dot com forward slash
Hartford, all right, and I'llmake sure those links are live. Easter
Seals Capital Region and Eastern Connecticut Presidentand CEO, Robin Sharp. It is
always a pleasure to see you.Wishing you and your family a happy holidays.
Sames Urine, thanks so much.Do you hear the show again?
(19:25):
Please visit my community access dot comwhere all these links will be live.
Thanks for being here. Thank you,
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.