West Orange Kessler Foundation to Host Students for Disability Mentoring Day

On Wednesday, October 15, 2014, from 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. at the Kessler Foundation, students will be invited to commemorate Disability Mentoring Day (DMD) for the seventh consecutive year

Three students from Horizon High School, a school for students with disabilities located in Livingston, N.J., will spend the day with staff from Kessler Foundation and test jobs in various departments. During each rotating session, students will learn about research equipment, typical job tasks and observe research studies in stroke, traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury.

There are approximately 56 million Americans living with disabilities—about 19 percent of the total population, according to 2010 U.S. Census Report data. According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, only 20.1% of Americans with disabilities are employed. DMD, a program of the American Association of People with Disabilities, promotes hands-on career exploration to raise awareness of the need to hire people with disabilities, ease the fears of employers, and give individuals with disabilities job exposure while increasing their confidence.

DMD takes place the third Wednesday of October as part of National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Local DMD coordinators plan activities for individual states. Kessler Foundation is participating for the seventh consecutive year. The Foundation also combats the strikingly high unemployment rate for people with disabilities by funding job training and employment initiatives that create or expand job opportunities for this population.

information courtesy of Kessler Foundation, photo courtesy of Kessler Foundation facebook page