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“To be part of that and to watch the leadership and those agencies catch fire…" Connie Ferrell recalls the excitement of introducing supported employment to Indiana in the early 1990s. "At the time they were doing it, it was like heresy. And they had…

“We were scratching our heads saying, this is wrong. This isn't the right way to do it, but I'm not sure what the right way is,” describes Patrick Sandy of his experience with the Deinstitutionalization Project at the Developmental Training Center…

The supported employment movement, an initiative to expand the opportunities for people with disabilities to find work in their own communities through vocational rehabilitation and ongoing job coaching, began spreading across the United States…

The supported employment movement, an initiative to expand the opportunities for people with disabilities to find work in their own communities through vocational rehabilitation and ongoing job coaching, began spreading across the United States…

“I remember her having a lot of apprehension,” recalls Patrick Sandy of a meeting with a mother on why her son could succeed in supported employment. When her son was born, physicians told her to put him in an institution and forget about him. Now,…

Karen Scherer began her career as a work adjustment specialist at Morgan County Rehabilitation Center in Martinsville, Indiana. She was soon asked to serve as the coordinator for the supported employment grant received by the center in 1986.

In…

"I couldn't see myself making a career standing bagging somebody's groceries," Melody Cooper explains. Starting her employment at Goodwill Industries and then at a Meijer store, Melody was hired by The Arc of Indiana. She attributes her career growth…

“I wish I had recorded all the stories that we heard during those interviews,” stated Bettye Dunham on interviewing Muscatatuck State Hospital and Training Center residents for jobs at the Jennings Training Center in the 1970s. She talked to…

A photograph of Columbus, Indiana resident Ethan Crough in front of the Commons, 300 Washington Street in Columbus on May 15, 2016. Ethan has been employed as a school administrator and an actor, among other professions. He has been active as a board…

"When Mark left high school there was no plan," recalls his father. Mark Hublar went to work at a sheltered workshop. Today he is a motivational speaker who is asked to address audiences around the U.S. In these video interview excerpts, Mark and his…