The nursery told his family it was worried about his safety and advised him to take a leave of absence. He is a friendly man and shook hands or patted people on the back or shoulder, his mother said, and so he stayed home and practiced social distancing. But when Janie Hamblin, a job coach with Chinook Enterprises, a non-profit organization that helps people with disabilities find jobs, called about his returning after the beginning at the year, she was told his position had been eliminated.
How did he feel? Sad, he said. He wanted a chance to prove that he could be safe at work.
For Intellectually Disabled Workers, Coronavirus Threatens Hard-Won Jobs
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For Intellectually Disabled Workers, Coronavirus Threatens Hard-Won Jobs
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This year, Project Innovation will give away $315,000 in grants to deserving Connecticut nonprofits.
A group of parents, concerned about what their adult children with disabilities would do once they were no longer able to care for them started the Creative Community of Connecticut in 2009.
Since then, around 40 people take part in the program each year, growing microgreens in their Vernon greenhouse, and crops on their 10-acre farm in Coventry.
The Creative Living Community sells the microgreens to local restaurants and runs a successful farmstand on Route 44.
For some, the goal is learning skills they need to find and keep a job in the Connecticut workforce. For others, it s about learning to communicate with others. For everyone, it s about creating a sense of belonging.