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Gary McIlvain and his guest Beth Teifke, from the Oswego County Workforce Development Board, presented a program on Oswego County’s Disability Mentoring Day.
Disability Mentoring Day is a job-shadowing program that coordinates partnerships with local employers and individuals with disabilities. This is a great way to introduce prospective job candidates into the workforce. The first Mentoring Day in Oswego County was held last year and it matched up 10 mentors with 10 disabled participants. Both Gary and Beth thought these results for a first year program was a great success, and are working to make this year even better. This year’s program will be held in October. Ms. Teifke may be reached at 591-9000 for more details.
Gary updated the club with the figures of unemployed people with disabilities. The unemployment rate for disabled adults is approximately 50 %, yet the overall unemployment rate is just over 5%. Many employers in the last 15 years have run into a workforce shortage, even though there are almost 54 million people with disabilities that are an untapped resource that should be utilized.
