Mentoring Day Is Set For Disabled
October event links businesses, those with disabilities
By Bobbi Mlynar
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Two Emporians are looking for participants for the third annual Disability Mentoring Day, a nationwide event that is sponsored by the American Association of People with Disabilities. This year, mentoring day will be Oct. 17.
Co-chairs for the event here are Carrie Boettcher of The Resource Center for Independent Living and Shanti Ramcharan of the Office of Disability Services at Emporia State University.
Both mentors and participants are needed for the special day, and applications are being accepted. More than 30 people with disabilities participated last year.
“Each year we’re striving to have more people participate,” Boettcher said. “Anyone who has a disability is welcome; it’s not exclusive to one group of people.”
Boettcher said that adults primarily are the participants, though high school students with career interests often have taken part.
“It’s a job-shadowing experience, so it’s anyone who’s interested in learning more about a career field or a job they might have been interested in,” she said.
Boettcher and Ramcharan have been talking with a variety of businesses in the area to secure mentors, and volunteer mentors would be welcome. Participants will spend a portion of the day with the mentors and will learn more about the work and opportunities that may be available.
“There’s a whole untapped market of workers out there and it does give the businesses an opportunity to learn about a new labor pool,” Boettcher said.
The mentoring day has a dual function. It gives disabled people an opportunity to get first-hand information about a career interest and also helps the employment sector recognize and acknowledge that people with disabilities are able to work well at a variety of jobs.
“There are stigmas and most of them aren’t true,” Boettcher said. “They’re mostly based on what people don’t know instead of what people are able to do.”