Twenty five local companies will recruit new employees this week in Moline. The Quad Cities Corporate Partners and Disability Employment Network will host the 22nd Annual Career Fair for People with Disabilities.
Tom Lowery is an Employment Resource Specialist with the Illinois Division of Rehab Services. He says the national unemployment rate for adults with disabilities is "horrible" at 70%.
“But it’s all because of ideas that people have about people with disabilities and their ability to work. And a lot of times when you think disability you think about people who either have cognitive disabilities or they are in a wheelchair, or use crutches. When in reality most disabilities you don’t even know they have. Such as mental illness and diabetes.”
But Lowery says, quite a few very good employers hire people with disabilities, such as Walgreens.
“They’ve set up a hiring program throughout the country and a training program throughout the country for people with disabilities. They’ll set up one of their stores as a training site for people with disabilities to go and learn how to be a cashier and learn how to do certain things. And then they’ll be in line to be hired by the Walgreens of this world.”
Each year, up to 300 people attend the career fair. But Lowery estimates 75- to 80,000 people with disabilities are unemployed in the Quad Cities area.
He also wishes more parents of high school students would come to learn about all the opportunities available after graduation.
This year, the career fair will be held at the i-wireless Center in Moline, beginning with a workshop on job interviews Thursday morning at 9, followed by the two-hour fair.