Disabled volunteers ready to serve; Workshops help people put their skills to use

Chris Co

The Weekly (9/10/09) -- Avery Olmstead doesn’t think employers mean to discriminate against disabled people seeking work, but it happens, he said.

“I think there are a lot of barriers when employers see a person with a disability. Sometimes they see the disabilities, not the person’s skills,” Olmstead said.

To combat this, Olmstead, along with his co-workers at the University of Maine’s Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies, have set up a series of workshops about national volunteerism for disabled people.

These workshops are designed to teach people with disabilities about opportunities they have in national service, such as Americorps, and earn marketable skills.

“Volunteering, as a person with a disability, has the opportunity for someone to feel that having a disability is OK,” Olmstead said. “It makes them feel that they’re not defective.”

Olmstead works as a project specialist for the center’s Project Ready to ServeMaine. He knows all about people with disabilities working in national service — he’s done it.

By Heather Steeves

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