Bradley Roop stands tall and straight and has a friendly smile on his face as he strides through the produce department at Strack & Van Til on U.S. 30 in Valparaiso, on his way to a checkout lane. There, he engages with a friendly customer and efficiently packs the groceries.
“I started in November last year,” Roop said and recalled that before he was hired at the supermarket, he applied everywhere he could think of in Valparaiso. “It was so hard to find a job. You fill out every application and you wonder, is it the economy or a matter of disability?”
That is a question being asked a lot this month — Disability Awareness Month — and all year as the Americans’ With Disabilities Act hits its 25th year. With less than 40 percent of the working-aged Hoosiers with disabilities employed, “it is the largest untapped employment pool of individuals ready to join the workforce of Northwest Indiana,” said Kathleen Parks Savich, Director, JobSource Community Employment for Opportunity Enterprises Inc. in Valparaiso.
In the U.S. in 2014, the unemployment rate for people with a disability was 12.5 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The bureau defines the unemployed as people who do not have a job, are available for work and were actively looking for a job in the four weeks prior to the survey.
In an effort to raise awareness of the eligible pool of workers with disabilities, Indiana University Northwest is hosting its 6th Annual Disability Employment Symposium from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Bruce W. Bergland Auditorium and the Savannah Center lobby.
“If you are an individual that is living with a disability you can come and find out what resources are available. We also want to raise general awareness so that people can appreciate individuals who are living with a disability. Our general purpose is to raise awareness and to provide service to those who need it,” said James Wallace, director of IUN Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs. It is free and open to the public.
To find his job with Strack at and Van Til, Roop worked with Opportunity Enterprises, a nonprofit. It is one of the local organizations providing job assistance to those with disabilities through its JobSource program. JobSource serves Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Jasper, Newton, St. Joseph and Starke counties.
The nonprofit is a partner with the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration’s Division of Disability and Rehabilitative Services’ Vocational Rehabilitation Services. The goal is to provide services to those with disabilities with the goal of obtaining and/or retaining employment.
“We are able to evaluate skill sets, passion, and then from there we can move into job development and help them write a resume,” said Savich. OE’s clients are taught interview protocol and how to dress for success.
Once an individual is hired, he or she is assigned to a job coach who goes along for the job orientation and works with the individual to learn the job and help that person be successful, said Savich. “Depending on what program they are in, there is a fading process,” Savich said. “Our goal is to provide individuals with maximum support needed up front so eventually they can work as independently as possible.”
According to Savich, OE works with about 150 individuals per month. The types of disability vary, but OE works with those who are dealing with deafness, hearing impairments, blindness, amputations, seizure disorders, mental health illnesses, addictions, intellectual development issues, multiple sclerosis, diabetes and a variety of other concerns. Some of those people are college-bound and may need adaptive assistive technology.
“We have a large caseload of individuals we are working with right now and they are in college,” Savich said.
Roop, 32, initially connected with OE through Vocation Rehabilitation Services. He said it had been a challenge to find a job. “I tried the whole town of Valparaiso,” he said.
“When he came (to Strack and Van Til), he just blossomed. It was a good fit and he became a model employee,” said Jennifer Hunter of Valparaiso. Hunter was Roop’s job coach when started at the supermarket and now she works as a benefits counselor for JobSource.
She said it is very rare to see him only at the checkout.
“He became a go-to person,” she said. “They know they can count on him. By having that recognized in him, it caused him to flourish.”
Roop agreed. His daily tasks include bagging groceries, stocking shelves, cleanups and corralling the shopping carts, but “if they need me to do something, I do it. I was in the meat department last week stocking meat,” he said. “I love the people here. They are nice.”
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Poised, with his arms crossed confidently in front of his chest, Roop takes a moment as he discusses his journey to successful employment.
“Whether the person has a disability or is non-disability, you can’t just deny them,” Roop said. “If they are in a wheelchair or they have a problem reading — people should have a chance like any other person in the community. There are accommodations to help them get over the challenges. If they need help (to do the job) there are places that will help.”
Nancy Coltun Webster is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.