Sheltered workshops are meant to employ disabled adults as they prepare to enter the regular workforce. In Missouri, these workers rarely graduate to higher-paying jobs.
One weekday morning in July, Kerstie Bramlet was at her workstation inside the Warren County Sheltered Workshop near St. Louis, putting plastic labels on rabbit-meat dog chews one by one. It s legal to pay her a low rate because she works at what is known as a sheltered workshop.
For Rep. Bridget Walsh Moore, D-St. Louis, having her right leg amputated saved her life. However, when she was elected to represent the 93rd District in the Missouri House, accessibility issues at the Capitol almost prevented her from things as simple as parking.