Breaking Workforce Barriers: The Advantages of Hiring People with Disabilities - April 2021 - BoardDocs

Breaking Workforce
Barriers: The
Advantages of Hiring
People with Disabilities

April 2021

Melwood – Then & Now

1963                                           2020
• Parents of children with intellectual and    •   Serving more than 2,500 people in DC, MD and VA
  developmental disabilities (ID/DD)           •   1,600 employees, nearly 1,000 people with disabilities
• Surplus federal land                         •   Over 60 federal contract sites
• Melwood Agricultural Training Center, Inc.   •   Over 550 injured veterans helped by Operation Tohidu retreats
                                               •   Over 500 children at Camp Accomplish each year

About Melwood

 For more than 58 years, Melwood has been a leading voice for
 social change, and we are now one of the largest nonprofit
 employers of people with disabilities in the country.

Making a Difference since 1963

                                VISION
                       A world where people with
                      disabilities are fully included.

                               MISSION
              Melwood advocates for and empowers people
                with disabilities to transform their own lives
              through unique opportunities to work and play
                              in the community.

MELWOOD CAMPUS LOCATIONS
Contract Locations   MELWOOD HEADQUARTERS:
                     DOWER HOUSE
                     5606 Dower House Road, Upper
                     Marlboro, MD 20772

                     MELWOOD RECREATION CENTER
                     9035 Ironsides Road, Nanjemoy, MD
                     20662

                     MELWOOD NIKE CENTER
                     12705 COUNTRY LANE, WALDORF,
                     MD 20601

                     MELWOOD ARLINGTON
                     750 S. 23rd Street, Arlington, VA
                     22202

                     MELWOOD TEMPLE HILLS
                     6001 Southgate Drive, Temple Hills,
                     MD 20785

Where
Where    We Serve
      We Serve

Contract Services

SERVICES OFFERED
    Custodial        Mailing & Administrative
                     Services

    Call Center      Hospitality

    Embroidery       IT/Cybersecurity

    Records          Total Facilities
    Management       Management

    Charity Car      Fulfillment, Warehousing &
    Donations        Packaging
    Landscaping
    & Horticulture

Melwood’s Programs & Activities

 Contract/Business Services
 • AbilityOne
 • B2B Services

 Community Services
 • Job training, placement, and retention
 • Independent living and community integration
 • Inclusive recreational activities

 Operation Tohidu Healing Retreat for Injured Veterans
 • Founded in 2014 as an experiential and healing retreat for
   veterans and service members.
 • Team is comprised of veterans and specialists who have direct
   experience with issues veterans experience, such as post-
   traumatic stress.

Operation Tohidu

•   A 7-week hybrid program offering            • A holistic retreat helping wounded
    participants both virtual and in-person       warriors overcome obstacles to their
    programming for this intensive retreat        recovery and supporting their
    offered at no cost to participants. Each      successful reintegration
    session serves between

•   8-10 participants, including male and
                                                • Due to the coronavirus pandemic,
    female veterans and service members
                                                  Operation Tohidu is being offered
    representing all branches and all eras of
                                                  virtually with a shift to the hybrid
    service. The focus of programming is the
                                                  programming in Fall 2021
    effects of trauma from military sexual
    assault and the post traumatic stress and
    moral injury that often accompany these
    traumas

abilIT

         abilIT is preparing
         people with disabilities
         and injured veterans for
         careers in technology

Melwood Private Sector Partners

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“We cannot
change what we
are not aware of,
and once we are
aware, we cannot
help but change.”

- SHERYL SANDBERG

COVID & Disability Employment

How has COVID impacted disability employment?
• As of August of this year, the unemployment rate for people of differing abilities has
  skyrocketed up to 14.3%.
• COVID has led to increased isolation which is especially problematic for people with
  disabilities
• On a positive note, COVID-19 has shown that many positions can be performed remotely,
  which is one of the top accommodations a company can make for a person with
  disabilities.

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Questions