Businesses seek to expand opportunities for disabled workers
NEW YORK » On any weekday morning, Miles Thornback is working on marketing campaigns for real estate agents or dealing with tricky tech issues at the office.
Thornback, who has cerebral palsy, got hired three years ago at the RE/MAX Prestige real estate agency in Costa Mesa, California, after the owners heard that he’d spent six years applying for jobs at hundreds of companies and finding nothing but negative mindsets.
Many small business owners are open to hiring or specifically recruit people who have disabilities, sometimes because they want to expand the opportunities for people with talent and skills but who can’t find jobs. The unemployment rate for people with disabilities who want to be hired is 8 percent, more than twice the national average.
“I think a lot of people assume that if you’re disabled, you can’t work,” says Thornback, 36, who uses a wheelchair.
While some jobs he applied for would have required him to do errands, which he couldn’t have done, at many places he never got a clear explanation of why he wasn’t considered. In his job, he coordinates with real estate agents and data providers to create postcards and letters that advertise properties for sale.
Jay O’Brien, an owner at the RE/MAX office, learned about Thornback through Goodwill Industries, which works with the Regional Center of Orange County, an organization that provides training and services for people with developmental disabilities.
O’Brien has been impressed with Thornback’s technical abilities, as he’s been able to resolve issues that confounded everyone else. O’Brien and his business partner, Sammer Mudawar, wanted to see Thornback flourish in his work. DISABLED » PAGE 6