Inside the supply store at Buckley Air Force Base, cashier Bob Weinberg rings up and bags desert fatigues for a sergeant shipping out.
Only the sunglasses on Weinberg's face give any indication that the 56-year-old Denverite is slowly going blind.
Weinberg is one of 544,000 Coloradans with a disability, according to census figures. Those with disabilities have a much higher unemployment rate than the general population.
In 2000, just 32 percent of adults 18 to 64 with disabilities were working, compared with 81 percent of non-disabled adults, according to a Harris Poll conducted with the National Organization on Disability.
In the economic downturn since 2000, the tight job market has disproportionately affected those with disabilities, said John Cizman, an employment consultant with the Colorado Division of Vocational Rehabilitation.
Some employers turn away disabled applicants because of safety concerns, added costs and transportation hassles. Some discriminate, Cizman said.
And in the current economy, the job market climate has turned into survival of the fittest.
That's been the experience for Weinberg, who was previously self-employed as a photographer but found himself losing his livelihood as his world grew darker.
In the 1990s, Weinberg was shooting pictures for weddings, corporate brochures and newspapers. He photographed President Clinton and Pope John Paul II, violinist Itzhak Perlman and local celebrities Cleo Parker Robinson and John Fielder.
About 10 years ago, Weinberg drove over a median he didn't see.
Doctors told him he had developed retinal dystrophy, a progressive condition that muddled what appears straight in front of him but allowed him to see peripherally.
Weinberg stopped driving in 1998 and brought his wife or an assistant on photo shoots. He could still frame a shot, but details had vanished. His career was falling apart. A rise in digital technology and the recession only added to his problems.
With the help of state counselors and Cizman, Weinberg started hunting for a new job.
It took him nearly two years.
Home Depot had safety concerns. A manager at Fairmount Cemetery felt Weinberg needed more visual skills to sell cemetery plots.
Janus Funds offered him a job as a phone sales representative, but Weinberg turned it down because they didn't have text-to-speech software.
Then four months ago, he landed a job through Wichita-based Envision, whose mission is to employ the blind.
Envision is a nonprofit group that manufactures and sells office supplies and apparel to military personnel through its 15 Envision Express stores on military bases.
At least one blind or severely visually impaired person works at each store. Weinberg began working at the Buckley store, which opened in December.
Employers like his are unusual, Weinberg said.
"It takes a lot of technology, which costs a lot of money to keep (blind) people employed," said Weinberg, who added that the best part of his job is interacting with people again.
The equipment he uses -- text-to-speech software, a machine to enlarge text and a scanner that identifies products -- costs about $4,000.
The costs were split between Envision and the state.
The state often pays for equipment and accommodations an employer makes for a disabled worker.
In addition, small businesses can get tax credits of up to $5,000 for hiring disabled workers. Any size company can qualify for tax deductions.
The added costs or accommodations an employer may make in hiring a disabled person may result in a committed and loyal worker, advocates say.
To get hired, "blind people have to be better than other people" at what they do, said Buna Dahal, employment specialist with the Colorado Center for the Blind. "We have to equip (them) above and beyond to compete on terms of equality."
Kevin Dillman, call center director for Aurora-based Xanterra Parks and Resorts, didn't know much about hiring people with disabilities until a blind man showed up for an interview.
Dillman did some research and has since hired four people with disabilities.
"We needed good employees, and I thought this may be another segment of the working population we hadn't looked into before," he said.
Kathy Santaus, who is blind, came to Xanterra four years ago after getting laid off. Working the phones at Xanterra, she books lodging in national parks.
"What's keeping me at this job, I like what we're selling," she said. And "I'm treated equally."
Santaus has practical reasons for staying at the company. She spends three hours each day getting to and from work on buses. A new job would mean a new routine.
"My (Seeing Eye) dog would have to learn the new route, as well," she said.
DISABILITY DATA
The National Organization on Disability reports the following:
--32 percent of Americans with disabilities ages 18-64 are working.
--66 percent of those who are unemployed would rather be working.
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