SETTING UP THOSE WITH DISABILITIES FOR SUCCESS: “WITH TRAINING AND LOVE, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.”
OCTOBER 2020
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Click to watch the WTVR’s Heroes Among Us segment

WTVR’s Heroes Among Us segment on October 7 focused on a great story about how SOAR365’s Supported Employment is helping DeAngelo in his job at Tech for Troops. October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month and we couldn’t imagine a better way to shine a light on disability in the workforce.

Reporter Greg McQuade and Photographer Curtis Akers met DeAngelo Thomas and his father Jon at Tech for Troops, where DeAngelo is training at Tech for Troops, a local non-profit organization that provides refurbished computers for veterans. His job coach at SOAR365, Leo Castro, tells Greg all about DeAngelo’s path and how much he’s grown.

“DeAngelo is great. He’s come a long way. We had to dig deep and discover his interests. Providing the access like this [at Tech for Troops] for DeAngelo I think has planted a seed for him for the future.”
— LEO CASTO, EMPLOYMENT SPECIALIST, SOAR365
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Click to watch the WTVR’s Heroes Among us Segment

First enacted by Congress in 1954, NDEAM highlights the many contributions of people with disabilities in the workforce, as well as the obstacles they still face. At SOAR365, we employ more than 130 people with disabilities who work on contracts with local companies and municipalities, as well as the federal government. But we do more than hire people to work for us…we help them get hired at other companies through our Supported Employment department.

Across the country, employers are learning that by recruiting and accommodating employees with disabilities, they not only improve those employees’ self-worth and financial independence — they also improve their own bottom line.