Program helps people with disabilities find meaningful work

http://www.nj.com/news/local/index.ssf/2010/05/employment_horizons_helps_the.html

Hanover organization Employment Horizons helps the disabled find meaningful work

The question from the employee on the other end of the phone line was unique.


“Barbara, I’m in the hospital. Do I still have my job?” recalled Barbara S. Brown, the administrator for a pediatric and adult ophthamology practice based in Cedar Knolls.

Gary Sloane, 53, of Morristown, a clerical assistant at the office had had another psychological breakdown.

Despite the possibility of another hospitalization, his efficiency and reliability over nearly 10 years of work meant his job would be waiting for him.

“He’s an essential member of our staff,” Brown said.

Sloane is one of 375 people working in jobs throughout greater Morris County and
surrounding counties with the help of Employment Horizons, a 53-year-old Cedar Knolls organization that provides training and support for the disabled. An additional 125 disabled workers perform everything from the relabeling of Mennen deodorant sticks for Russian consumers to refurbishment of electronics for Cablevision.

Formed in 1957 by a group of seven Morris County families seeking day-time activity for their disabled children, the organization has blossomed and now derives 70 percent of its budget, or more than $4-million, from business services. The agency estimates that for every dollar it spends on employing, training or supporting a disabled worker, three dollars are generated in income taxes and other economic activity.

Employment Horizons is one of 37 similar services around the state, many of them founded by parents seeking fulfilling work for their adult children.

The organization covers many aspects of employment for the disabled. There is training for disabled people coming out of high school to transition into the job market, training in particular skills, like document handling, data-entry and other clerical tasks, and on-the-job support. Some participants with physical disabilities have used the organization to get jobs in computer science and chemical engineering.

Employees placed by Employment Horizons are paid competitive wages.

The organization is funded partially with state vocational rehabilitation money and private grants. It is also a business that includes clients ranging from a local resident seeking to scan family pictures to Australian entrepreneurs seeking to assemble their invention, a styrofoam-stuffed book support, in the United States.

In the past few years, nearly 125 workers at the airy and bright Employment Horizons center have worked assembling the Robin’s-egg-blue boxes for the Tiffany jewelry company, cleaning and refurbishing gray remote-controls and ethernet routers for Cablevision, and scanning and formatting documents for conversion to electronic records.

The inside of the nearly 20-foot high warehouse has the feel of a quiet production line. There is soft conversation and laughter, and a loud bell announces lunch time for a group of workers.

Some participants in the programs have developmental disabilities like autism or Down syndrome. Others have been physically disabled by a traumatic accident later in life, or are impaired by a chemical imbalance.

Sloane, the aide at the ophthamological office, is diagnosed as manic depressive and for years had bounced from job-to-job. He has to carefully balance his medications and watch for psychological breakdowns. But, he has flourished at his job, expanding his responsibilities to tracking patient records and reviewing doctors’ notes for grammatical errors.

The most important benefit is not necessarily the work, he said, as he pulled a misfiled document from a stack.
The job, Sloane said, “makes me feel I am wanted.”