Christine is the kind of employee every manager dreams of hiring.
She is enthusiastic, committed to doing a great job and happy to take on extra responsibilities.
For example, every other week on one of her days off, Christine heads into work
for an hour to help with unloading a large shipment of cola. When a task that falls
outside of her job description needs doing, Christine is the first to put up her
hand to help out.
Yet, Christine spent seven years out of the work force. She has juvenile rheumatoid
arthritis and has had 29 operations since she was 13 years old. Her doctor’s advice
to her: “You’ll never work again. You may as well sit at home, watch TV and watch
life go by.”
Christine applied for jobs, but several potential employers
told her that she was “too crippled to do the work”. So, for the next seven years,
Christine gave up. Then one day, she says, “I got mad. I thought, ‘I’m not a cripple.
I want to work. And I’m going to get a job.’”
“I was referred to IAM CARES to help me in my job search, but the IAM CARES team
gave me so much more than just job search skills. The first thing they did was remind
me that I am a person who lives with a disability, not a cripple. It may sound silly,
but I had forgotten that I was a human being with lots to offer.”
“People like me – most of us who live with a disability – have
been beaten down so much that we don’t remember how to get back to work. The staff
at IAM CARES bend over backwards to support you in getting the job that is right
for you. They are the most beautiful people in the world. And I am the happiest!”
CL – 2007
