According to The Century Foundation, poverty and unemployment still follow people with disabilities in the United States even decades following the Americans with Disabilities Act being signed into law.
As of 2021, people with disabilities are still twice as likely to live in poverty compared to those without. Workers with disabilities earn 74 cents on the dollar when compared to workers without. 40% of adults with disabilities find paying their rent to be a struggle, compared to the national average of 25%.
How can we help people with disabilities in the United States to bridge this gap, gain better financial independence, and build better lives for themselves going forward?
Workforce training programs for adults with disabilities helps people to learn the skills necessary to achieve gainful and meaningful employment in their lives.
Workforce Training Programs Empowering Adults With Disabilities
Workforce training programs provide a great deal of benefit for adults with disabilities as well as the communities they’re a part of.
Creates A Sense Of Independence
Workforce training works to create a sense of independence in a few different ways. First, it provides people with disabilities a way to build financial independence for themselves. They can meet their own basic needs, take care of their wants, and even live independently should they choose. However, while this is the most often cited independence benefit, it’s far from the only one.
Workforce training provides people with skills that not only work at a particular job, but that stay with them going forward. These skills can be applied to future jobs, used in everyday interactions, and even put into practice in the home. These programs also work on social integration skills that help to build social confidence as they work alongside others. This social independence helps people build connections and friendships that provide meaning and fulfillment for a lifetime.
Creating Purpose And Pride
Having a sense of purpose and pride is what keeps many people motivated. Workforce training programs build the kind of structure and confidence to organically form this purpose in the lives of people with disabilities.
Individuals are proud of the skills they’ve developed, the work they perform, and they have goals to move toward that keep them inspired throughout their working lives.
Promotes Social Inclusion And Education To The Broader Community
Isolation can be a difficult thing for adults with disabilities. As many as 40% of adults with disabilities report feeling isolated on a day-to-day basis. According to the CDC, feelings of loneliness and isolation can be contributing factors to a variety of different severe health complications.
Workforce training programs for adults with disabilities not only connect them to others with disabilities but to the greater community as a whole. This works to curb feelings of social isolation and helps them to build meaningful relationships and relationship skills they’ll retain for life. Additionally, these programs work to help educate the greater community about inclusion, equality, disability education, and how each member of a community makes it better in their own way.
Economic Impacts For The Community
Workforce training programs are economically beneficial for any community. The ways businesses benefit from these programs include:
- Helps local employers to expand their talent pool – When local businesses and employers are only taking from one talent pool in the area, they’re missing out on a ton of untapped potential. Workforce training programs for adults with disabilities grow these talent pools and introduce talented individuals to businesses that’ll form mutually beneficial relationships with them.
- Diversity and inclusion – A diverse workforce is a workforce that is prepared for anything. Diversity provides viewpoints and perspectives one simply cannot form without life experience, allowing any business to better represent the public they serve. Workforce training programs introduce a new diverse talent pool into the local community, with each new worker providing their own unique perspectives and skills.
- Positive social and customer impacts – Today’s consumers are more socially aware than ever, and they actively want to seek out businesses who don’t just talk about inclusion, but who put inclusion into practice. Workforce training programs show that businesses are serious about taking an inclusive stance, and this helps them to better connect with their customer base and community as a whole. Including adults with disabilities in your workforce brings your business closer to those you serve.
- Grows local businesses – Workforce training programs help adults with disabilities to grow within their communities, and help local businesses grow in the same way. By embracing diversity, inclusion, and better representing their customer base, businesses are able to progress forward to build better mainstays within their communities.
What Are Workforce Training Programs And What To Look For
Workforce training programs, like ours at Opportunity Village, aim to prepare adults with disabilities with the skills and training they’ll need to successfully enter the workforce in their communities. When seeking out a workforce training program, it’s important to choose one that works not just with potential employees, but with local employers as well.
These working relationships with local businesses aid in successful job placement for individuals within the program. Some of the skills the OV program teaches to future employees include communication, self-advocacy, customer service, transportation strategies, interview techniques, professional ethics, and general work training.
After training, our workforce training program will help our future workers to fill out applications, conduct interviews, and work through orientation as they take on their new roles. The support doesn’t stop there. If employees require coaching while on the job, our Opportunity Village workforce coaches can check in weekly or monthly to ensure employees continue on the path to success.
The Opportunity Village workforce training program is award winning and has been making a positive impact on the greater Las Vegas community for decades. To learn more about the program, click here.
