Able Trust connects workers with employers

BRADENTON — Chinna Buck appreciates having a job to go to every day.

During her yearlong quest to find work, she faced two hurdles: a troubled economy and cerebral palsy.

“It wasn’t good,” Buck said of her job search.

But about two months ago, the Goodwill at 17th Street in Sarasota hired Buck as a retail sales associate. Now gainfully employed, Buck is no longer among the estimated 14.5 percent nationwide who are unemployed and disabled, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2009 report.

A recession that has delivered pink slips to thousands across Florida is making it far more difficult for people with disabilities to find work, said Ben Mills, who helped form a local chapter of The Able Trust, a foundation established by the state in 1990 to help the disabled find jobs.

The efforts to form the Manasota Business Leadership Network, the local Able Trust chapter to serve disabled residents in Manatee and Sarasota counties, began about two years ago.

“When we started the local chapter, our mission was to do two things: educate the local community on the advantages of hiring people with disabilities and find jobs for those who are disabled and want to work,” Mills said. “Unfortunately, the timing could not have been worse.”

Mills and Diane Roberts, an adult, career and technical education specialist for the Manatee County School District, have spent the bulk of the past two years on community outreach and recruiting efforts.

The Able Trust requires local chapters to have a mix of non-profit and private supporters, with 85 percent business support.

The Manasota Business Leadership Network pulled together at least 40 businesses from Manatee and Sarasota counties — including Manatee Memorial Hospital, Blake Medical Center and Publix — to meet the 85 percent minimum.

Now that the network meets those requirements, Mills and Roberts hope the hard work will pay off by getting disabled residents in permanent jobs.

On Sept. 10, the local chapter will be formally introduced during a community event in which Susanne Homant, president and chief executive officer of The Able Trust, will give the chapter a $60,000 grant to help local disabled residents find paid internships.

The grant is expected to help 10 residents from Manatee and 10 residents from Sarasota land paid internships. The ultimate goal of the $60,000, however, is to raise awareness about the local Able Trust chapter.

“We want the grant to spark that awareness,” Mills said. “People with disabilities need the same opportunities as other folks looking for jobs.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that four out of five people with disabilities were out of work in 2009.

Manatee County resident Michael Vale is among that majority. Vale, who is legally blind in one eye, says his job search has been “frustrating” because the market is so crowded with job seekers.

“Any kind of program out there that can help people like me would be good,” Vale said. “The more people working for you, it gives you a better edge.”

Business recruitment will continue in an effort to make the local chapter successful in placing the disabled in jobs, Roberts said.

“The reality of doing this is it just doesn’t happen over night,” Roberts said of finding jobs for the disabled.

“We’re fortunate to have the support we’ve gotten. But we need more businesses to see these people want to work, they really do.”

For more information about the Manasota Business Leadership Network, contact Diane Roberts at 708-8770, ext. 2186.