Guest guest Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 Some of you may recall from last year there was a group of us in Naperville who were trying to get funding to start an employment initiative we were calling NapervilleWorks. We applied for a grant from ICDD, were rejected, then my mom passed away and the project basically derailed. But we now have some new energy and some new volunteers who are working to get things moving again, albiet in a slightly different direction, and I wanted to share it with all of you in case you can take something from this to use in your own communities. And if this idea is something you've already tried in your own hometowns, pls let me know so that we can learn from your experience. Here's what we're trying: GOAL: Raise awareness in the local business community about the value of hiring people with developmental disabilities into their workforce. Remind families and business owners that the disability community represents a consumer spending block, that may be positively influenced by the knowledge of what companies/businesses share our values of employment for individuals with DDs. PLAN: With the cooperation of our local school districts and funding from another local parent support group (ACC) which has some money in the bank, we are planning the following activities: 1) Display ad in our local newspaper highlighting businesses who have hired our individuals from the high school or transition programs in 2008 (uploading to files section) 2) Business cards distributed to families, friends, staff and others who care -- to carry in our wallets and to hand out to managers or at cash register when we, as customers of an establishment, either physically notice or know them to be an employer of an individual with a DD. Our hope is that we can sell the business cards on a 'break-even' basis, and use students or adults with DDs to package and mail the business cards to local parents or others who use them. I'll try uploading the copy of the ad and business cards now, so you can see them. We should have them available after winter break. Thanks, Laurie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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