Sarasota proclaims October as Disability Employment Awareness Month
Sarasota Mayor Hagen Brody presented a proclamation Monday recognizing October as Disability Employment Awareness Month, singling out downtown coffee shop Rise & Nye's for its efforts to support the disabled workforce.
In 2020, just under 18% of persons with a disability were employed, down from 19.3% in 2019, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is a significant gap compared to the 62% without a disability who were employed last year.
These findings were influenced by the coronavirus pandemic and the age of those with disabilities, noting most are 65-years or older. But despite age, “across all age groups, persons with a disability were much less likely to be employed than those with no disability,” the bureau reported.
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“Our residents with disabilities deserve the right to live independently, enjoy self-determination, and be treated equally in the workplace,” Brody said.
Rise & Nye's is a coffee shop in downtown Sarasota working to close the workforce gap for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The store not only provides jobs, but it also has classrooms dedicated to job skills training to help employees in the future.
Kelly Rouse, a barista at Rise & Nye's, highlighted why her job is so important for her independence.
“I like going to work,” said Rouse. “I like making coffee. I really like meeting people, and I love to spend my own money.”
Working and spending her own money is something many others may take for granted. But for Rouse, whose disability was not disclosed by the company, it's beyond rewarding.
“Our mission is steadfast, and we want to employ as many individuals with intellectual and developmental as possible,” said Christian Nye, co-founder of Rise & Nye's. “We have about 30 employees currently and just love giving them the tools for success.”
Other employers also have championed disability inclusion, like Goodwill Industries, which has worked for 118 years to support job seekers with disabilities.
Locally at Goodwill Manasota, 490 of its nearly 700 employees have self-identified disabilities or disadvantaging conditions. Goodwill Manasota offers a Supported JobsPlus program that was implemented in 2005 and targets sustainable employment for those with significant disabilities.
“Obviously, there is a disconnect between perception and practice,” said Goodwill Manasota President Donn Githens. “At Goodwill, we choose to focus on abilities rather than see barriers to our mutual success. We have implemented policies and invested resources to ensure all of our team members have a pathway to find fulfillment and achieve success.”