With the recent job announcement postingwith regards to the company
featured in the article below I thought that the below article would be a
nice follow up.
Original message begins here.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 1 Mar 1999 16:07:34 -0500 (EST)
From: Cindy <[log in to unmask]>
To: VIPACE LIST: ;
Subject: VIPACE member in the news, 2-28-99
Below is an article about one of our VIPACE members, Mike Gravitt,
as well as other disabled associates. The newspaper article and photos
are from the Tribune-Review, front cover of their Business News
Section - Sunday February 28, 1999.
-----
Photograph is approximately six inches by 7 inches in size. The
caption reads: "Bender Consulting Services Inc. employs many disabled
people, (From left) Ricco Brusco, Mike Gravitt, Joyce Bender and Ren
Wang."
"Work at client locations sometimes leads to full-time jobs"
"Company Cites Success in Hiring"
by Catherine Erickson, staff writer
Joyce Bender miraculously recovered from a devastating epileptic
seizure, but she never forgot the people she met in rehabilitation.
She has been finding jobs for people with disabilities ever since.
"They want to work," she says. "It is so refreshing to have someone
work for you that views their job as independence."
Bender didn't know she had epilepsy until she suffered a seizure and
brain hemorrhage during a movie intermission in 1984. Despite concerns
she might die or suffer severe impairments, she was soon able to
resume work as a recruiter in the computer field. Medication now
controls her epilepsy.
As president of her own search firm in Pittsburgh, she volunteered to
help find jobs for those with disabilities. She recalls approaching
her own customers and saying, "Hey, would you hire someone? What
difference does it make if the person is in a wheelchair or vision
impaired? They can do this job."
Finally, in September 1995, she started Bender Consulting Services
Inc., a for-profit company that hires technical experts with
disabilities.
About 80 percent of her 25 employees have disabilities. Several are
blind and in wheelchairs. One is a double amputee and another is deaf.
All must have the education and skills to meet the needs of the
companies the firm consults with.
Demand has been so strong, Bender plans to open an office in
Harrisburg this year and add at least 30 more workers. "It's amazing
how many people are now contacting us," she says. "You have a
phenomenal scarcity of resources in information technology today."
Bender's employees typically spend six months to a year working at
client locations as part of their contracts. In some cases, Bender
arranges for her employees to eventually join companies as permanent
employees.
Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield is one of Bender's clients. The
company employs about 80 people with disabilities in a variety of
jobs, including customer service and computer systems, according to
John Brouse, Highmark president and chief executive officer.
"These people are dependable. They are conscientious. Their work ethic
is phenomenal," Brouse says.
Norris Vactor
Photo caption reads: "Norris Vactor uses a pencil to type as he
troubleshoots a computer program as part of his job as a systems
analyst for Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield."
Norris Vactor, 53, began working for Highmark in 1994 and is now a
computer systems analyst. Vactor has had to use a wheelchair since a
college football accident left him a quadriplegic in 1965 at the age
of 19. He graduated in 1992 from the Institute of Advanced Technology
with a certificate in computer programming but couldn't find a job
after a string of interviews.
"If you're in a wheelchair, a lot of people have a problem dealing
with that," he says. "You can usually feel it if somebody is
uncomfortable."
Finally, about two years later, he met a Highmark recruiter and got an
interview with the company. "All you need to find is one person who
likes your attitude and the things that you do," he says.
Vactor says the only special equipment he needs are typing sticks -
cuffs with a pencil attached that he wears on each hand to help him
peck computer keys. He is enjoying living independently and coming to
appreciate the wonders and woes of working. "I'm getting used to
simple stuff, like paying taxes," he says. "Now I know what people are
complaining about. Before I didn't understand it."
Janet Gerster
Photo caption reads: "Janet Gerster, personnel manager at the
Giant Eagle store in West View, North Hills."
Janet Gerster can appreciate those things, too. She graduated in 1986
from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a psychology degree, but
after a brief stint as a dormitory supervisor, could not find work. A
rare genetic disease had left her legally blind, and it was clear many
interviewers were put off by her disability. "I actually interviewed
with some people who said, `A blind girl, oooh, I don't think so.
Thank you for coming.'"
Forced to move back in with her parents and unable to afford her
monthly college loan payments, she took a job bagging groceries at a
Giant Eagle store in the North Hills. Despite her own lack of
confidence, her supervisors convinced her she could handle more so
they gave her a job as a clerk in the personnel office.
"It was really trial and error," she says. "They'd say, `See if you
can do this. Well, that worked. Let's try this.'"
The company bought a special computer that enlarges type on
applications and other material up to 100 times so she can read it.
They also gave her a calculator that talks.
Today, Gerster, who is 34, is the personnel manager at Giant Eagle's
West View store and an extremely loyal employee. "In the very
beginning, I was the one unsure," she says. "I can't imagine being
anywhere but Giant Eagle."
Giant Eagle Human Resources Director Dale Giovengo says the company
has had formal programs to hire people with disabilities since 1987.
"They're good employees. We have a need for good employees," Giovengo
says.
The company will accommodate workers when needed. Special platforms
are built so that cashiers in wheelchairs are at the right level.
Employees were taught sign language so they could communicate with
deaf co-workers. Other employees have Down Syndrome.
"We put them in a job where they are able to meet our requirements,"
Giovengo says.
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