“It was a pleasure meeting with you on September 1st at the REALifelines briefing in Washington, D.C. and talking with you and your staff during follow on discussions over the past two weeks. Your organization is out front in providing innovative opportunities for injured service members, disabled veterans and their families to obtain meaningful jobs. Your embracing our HireVetsFirst effort is most welcomed.
On behalf of our Chair, T.P. O'Mahoney, our Executive Director, Bill Offutt, and our entire committee, I thank you for becoming a HireVetsFirst business. In the future, we will look at web linkages to our respective home pages as well.
Mike Olen, Director of Marketing
President's National Hire Veterans Committee
“This is a very worthwhile program. I hear from many constituents with disabilities and this technology would have a direct and positive impact on their lives. Thank you for your effort.”
Karyn Polito
State Rep. Republican, Massachusetts
“Monster would collaborate with this program by Referrals. Monster is delighted to partner with CORA in their mission to provide better opportunities for disabled veterans, military spouses and special needs workers. We strongly support the services offered by CORA, CFW, and partners.”
Stephen J. Pemberton, Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer
Monster Worldwide
“The mission and business model of CORA, Inc. and Corporate Financial Wellness, Inc. to identify and provide employment through telework opportunities for disabled veterans, spouses of military members and other adults is very relevant to our local Workforce Area. Our strong regional economy is generating thousands of new jobs each year and our major workforce challenge is developing and ensuring appropriate linkages between employers and skilled jobseekers. Our region clearly represents the opportunities for a 21st Century workforce and the utilization of online skills development along with telework connections can be advantageous to all jobseekers and employers alike.”
David Hunn, Executive Director
Northern Virginia Workforce Investment Board
“Thank you for the opportunity to share with you how I feel about what CORA does. My nearly 30 years of working with and motivating members of the disabled community have made it clear that this segment represents a vast source of underutilized talent. Having been involved with countless "peer mentoring" sessions, I know that gainfully employed people who become disabled often question their ability to continue to be productive members of society. It is comforting to know that CORA and its people are working to bridge the gap between disabled people with skills and energy to offer and employers who need what they have already been (or can be) trained to do.
As we age, many of us will experience life-changing events that will affect us physically and mentally. Add to this the reality that we are living longer and it is clear that that the reservoir of disabled and special needs individuals will continue to grow. The disabled community will need to find ways to care for ourselves because there are not enough "free" resources to go around. Keep up the good work. We need you. “
Jesse Parker, President
Spinal Cord Association
“Nearly 16 years after passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, people with disabilities continue to face a much higher rate of unemployment than the population at large. United Spinal Association has found, for example, that while 80% of its spinal cord injured members were employed before their injuries, only 20% have found work since they were rehabilitated. An organization like CORA, which takes as its mission the employment of people with disabilities, provides a vital service to people like our members, giving them not only the opportunity to earn a living but also a path toward independence, which is what they most want. Telecommuting, in particular, is a great way for people with mobility impairments to get back into the labor market. Furthermore, CORA's outreach to injured veterans is something particularly near and dear to United Spinal's heart.”
Christofer Pierson, Managing Editor, Action
United Spinal Association
“This sounds like a well-overdue idea. I have always felt our veterans have never received the thanks from the country- at a variety of levels. No wonder depression, alcoholism, and other negatives is very high in this group. Veterans and their families especially need to regain the pride they had in their country. Disabilities are just hurdles to overcome to use our abilities. We just need to reach out that hand to help. The mission statement and overview sound great. I could never understand why we have so many unemployed that want to work- despite and injury/ disability. The outsourcing to other countries because it is cheaper does not truly tell what this beautiful country is to be about. I hope this helps convey to you my thoughts and best wishes. I will be signing up for a newsletter and hopefully spread the word and support to others. “
Alison Sammon
Supporter of veterans from all wars/ activities and advocate for the disabled.
“I am Fran Osborn, a Vocational Rehabilitation counselor with Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services. I have referred consumers to Project Earn who, in turn, referred clients to CORA. I am very impressed with this organization, its goals and mission. They work very diligently to employ persons with disabilities. Their approach is practical, successful and hands-on with employers and consumers alike. CORA works hard to match consumers' abilities to employers' needs, a winning situation for all. I value their expertise with employers and businesses. I would like to see CORA and its staff recognized by receiving the New Freedom Initiative Award.”
Respectfully,
Fran Osborn, MA, LPC
“I represent Michigan Rehabilitation Services in Michigan. As the Business Services Manager, I am acutely aware of the high unemployment rate for People with Disabilities (70%). We support many program; this one in particular that affords our customers an opportunity to become contributing working members of society. A number of our MRS customers have been referred for positions and any training funding would be well spent. This will provide skill set development and transferable skills that people can use to find subsequent employment. Although I can't speak for our agency budget, we would like to have more information about how we can unite to make these opportunities can into reality.”
Robert E. Moore, Business Services Manager
MDLEG-Michigan Rehabilitation Services, Lansing, Michigan
“My name is Cathy Kohl, I am with the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) Services in Colorado. I market to businesses to hire our clientele. The individuals who come to DVR have a disability that is a barrier to employment, and have had no success on their own locating a job. Many businesses have a closed-door policy (despite the ADA) to individuals who have disabilities. This is why I appreciate Corporate
Financial Wellness Program (CFWP) and CORA, they gladly open their doors and encourage individuals with disabilities to come to work. If every business had the same attitude regarding people with disabilities, every person with a disability who wanted to would be employed!”
Cathy Kohl , DVR Marketing & Employer Services
Denver, Colorado
disABLEDperson Inc. is a non profit public foundation that’s mission is to reduce the extremely high unemployment rate amongst disabled Americans. We accomplish this through our web portal www.disABLEDperson.com and its state of the art, online recruitment application, recruitABILITY. recruitABILITY is a nationally based application reaching every state and city in the U.S. Given our mission and national accessibility, disABLEDperson Inc has become a National Employment Network for the U.S. Social Security Administration's Ticket to Work program. That said, we get many calls on a daily basis from disabled individuals who are looking to enter the workforce as sustainable independent individuals. A number of the Ticket holders are looking for employment out of their respective homes because of immobility issues. Those individuals are referred to CORA/CFWP. Since starting our relationship with CFW/CORA approximately 3 months ago, we have referred over 20 disabled individuals to them for work consideration.
Diana Corso-Founder/CEO-
disABLEDperson Inc.
“Thank you to Corporate Financial Wellness and CORA for offering a wonderful work opportunity to some of our Lighthouse job seekers. They can’t wait to complete the training process and “go live”. After some poor experiences with telecommuting operations, it is finally good to have come in contact with one that displays a high degree of integrity and professionalism. As I’m sure you are well aware, only a small percentage of capable, motivated, blind working-age adults are currently employed. In today’s high-tech environments, many jobs are still not accessible with assistive technology, especially for those who require the use of a screen reader. So when a company like yours comes along, with all the compatibility issues already ironed out, and with jobs to offer, we are thrilled. When those jobs can also be done from remote locations, we are even happier, because people can work at convenient times without worrying about the availability of transportation. It makes job seekers feel good to know that years of searching for employment are nearly over and that they will be well trained for what they are taking on. The Career Services staff at Lighthouse International looks forward to continuing to work with you to help Collection Consultants reach their work and financial goals.”
Janice O’Connor, Director of Placement Services
Lighthouse International Headquarters, New York, NY
Ilene Morris-Sambur
CORA
PO Box 215
Marshall, VA 20116
Reference: New Freedom Initiative Award Nomination
Dear Ilene:
Congratulations on your nomination for the New Freedom Initiative Award. I cannot think of a more worthy recipient because of your efforts to increase access to telework for citizens with disabilities.
President George W. Bush’s New Freedom Initiative included the expansion of telework opportunities for citizens with disabilities. For many persons with significant disabilities, the increasing prevalence of telework offers the possibility of an accessible, barrier-free workplace, flexible scheduling and the elimination of disability-related bias or discrimination. Still, many employers will question the value or need for telecommuting within their business. They may have concerns about loss of supervision, costs of equipment, off-site training needs, and potential liability. Many employers may also have concerns about employing individuals with disabilities working at a remote site. Together, these attitudinal barriers constitute the greatest hurdle to marketing this concept to businesses.
That is the area in which you are making an impact. Your training and consultation, built on 20 years of experience as a turnaround consultant, gives employers the knowledge and resources to use telework to increase worker productivity and company profits, improve management controls, build diversity in the workplace, fulfill their obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and better reintegrate injured workers and disabled veterans who have valuable skills that would otherwise be lost. In short, you help businesses understand that using telework as an accommodation is good business practice.
I also commend you for providing businesses with an alternative to offshore outsourcing, which has cost America far too many jobs. In addition, by targeting returning veterans with disabilities for increased access to telework, you are providing businesses with a means of welcoming back those who have given so much for freedom and justice overseas.
I wish you success in your continuing efforts on behalf of citizens with disabilities, and look forward to working with you on future projects.
Sincerely,
Michael D. West, PhD
Assistant Professor, Research Associate
