In 1988, Congress expanded "National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week." week to a month and changed the name to "National Disability Employment Awareness Month." in an attempt to acknowledge the employment needs and contributions of individuals with all types of disabilities. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, about 49.7 million Americans have a disability, which includes people of all ages. About two-thirds of these individuals have a severe disability. Census Bureau data show that only about 30% of working age adults with severe disabilities are working.
Chesapeake Service Systems, Inc (CSS) well into its twentieth year, currently serves close to 400 individuals with severe developmental disabilities (mental retardation, autism, cerebral palsy) from all over Hampton Roads, Virginia in such activities as production specialties, commercial laundry, food service and supported employment at area businesses.
Hampton Roads is a community with leaders that deeply care about empowering people with mental retardation. When the Tidewater Occupational Center closed in June of 2004, it created a crisis when 168 people with mental retardation lost their jobs in one day. Since then, the Beazley Foundation, the Virginian- Pilot, the Norfolk Foundation, Towne Bank, Earl Industries, the Wachovia Foundation, Resource Bank and many other faithful donors made it possible for Chesapeake Service Systems (CSS) to erect a new state of the art laundry occupational center in Portsmouth, Virginia to re-establish this critical resource. So far, CSS has successfully raised enough money to complete phase 1 and they been able to employ and serve 70 people, four of which were homeless.
Work gives people with disabilities a sense of self-esteem and dignity that has a dramatic effect on development. It makes people with disabilities feel like they belong in their communities. One person currently working at CSS’s commercial laundry facility said, “I want to work, because when I work, I exist.” Other people have spoken for the first time, some have stopped self-abusive behaviors and all have literally come to life.
The bottom line is that these amazing individuals, who would normally be in institutions or derivatives of baby-sitting programs, now produce over 3,000,000 pounds of laundry a year, man the galleys at Dam Neck, Oceana, NOB naval bases, pick up tons of trash while beautifying the city of Chesapeake, Virginia and are almost the entire logistics work force for preparing products for Cox Communications. This month we need to remember that people with mental retardation are a gift to our community. They are not mistakes to be mourned, but human beings to be treasured.
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