By Marie Strahan, Program Policy Analyst for Bob Williams, Associate Commissioner ofSocial Security’s Employment Support Programs
Did you know that community service is a great way for people with disabilities to serve our nation and to connect with others with similar interests, develop new skillsets, and even get a jumpstart on your career? Whether it is in the field of education, conservation, recreation, health, or even politics, there are national, state and local opportunities where you can contribute your time and talents in your area of expertise and interest!
Why do community service?
People seek out community service to make a difference in their state or local community, and sometimes on a national level, and for many other reasons, including learning new skills, getting real work experience, seeing new places and meeting new people and also having some fun. Everyone benefits from community service.
Here are several personal and professional ways you can benefit from serving.
Make a difference - Personal satisfaction and feeling like you are making a contribution are important aspects of all work. Simple tasks like helping others or contributing to a public project like a playground clean up creates a joy and a sense of self-worth that is of great value to every citizen. Whether you have a particular skillset or just a willing heart and time to give, seeing positive change in your community or watching others’ lives made better by your contributions, are things that will bring a smile to your soul.
Explore potential career areas: When you contribute to a cause you care about, without even realizing it, you are expanding your horizons and exploring new areas of interest that can lead to a future career path.
Strengthen your resume: Not only will you learn from others and develop new competencies, but you can use relevant community service experience on your resume! If, for instance, you served as a counselor at a youth summer camp, you might use that experience to pursue work in the field of education. Think about the skills you developed that may be transferrable to professional positions. Here are tips to present your volunteer experience on your resume.
Build your network: Working together on projects with other members in pursuit of a common goal presents wonderful relationship-building opportunities. When you serve, you meet new friends, mentors, and even potential referrals and references for future job opportunities, and sometimes you develop lasting friendships. Never underestimate the power of connecting with others. It can benefit you now as well as in the future.
By Bob Williams, Associate Commissioner for the Social Security's Office of Employment Support Programs
In observance of Labor Day, the day meant to remind us of the importance of the American Worker, I would like to share some success stories of people with disabilities who used Social Security’s Ticket to Work and Work Incentives to make a change in their lives. I continue to be impressed by the determination of these individuals to achieve a higher quality of life, earn more money, and enjoy the benefits of being financially independent.
Let me introduce another one of our success stories:
Five years ago, Terry Anderson confronted two major challenges in her life: she was diagnosed with cancer and then lost the job she had held for 11 years.
By Bob Williams, Associate Commissioner for the Social Security's Office of Employment Support Programs
In observance of Labor Day, the day meant to remind us of the importance of the American Worker, I would like to share some success stories of people with disabilities who used Social Security’s Ticket to Work and Work Incentives to make a change in their lives. I continue to be impressed by the determination of these individuals to achieve a higher quality of life, earn more money, and enjoy the benefits of being financially independent.
Let me introduce one of our success stories:
Robert Statam served in the U.S. Army for several years, and then sustained a spinal cord injury that left him with limited mobility.
By Bob Williams, Associate Commissioner for the Social Security's Office of Employment Support Programs
In 1990, I was privileged to be part of a coalition of people with disabilities, civil rights workers and disability advocates in Washington, DC who, with the tremendous support of thousands of ordinary citizens across America, convinced the Congress to enact the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law. One of the most powerful memories of that day was watching, from high in the galleries above the Senate floor, as the bill was signed into law, after years of hard work and debate. I remember watching Senator Tom Harkin, the chief author of the law address his colleagues, the nation, and his brother Frank, not just in spoken words but in American Sign Language as well.
The Senator described how his older brother Frank, who grew up deaf, had to live far away from his family in order to attend a boarding school specializing in education for people who are deaf. He described the discrimination Frank experienced in adulthood, while trying to find a job. It’s an experience that many of us with disabilities in the chamber that day knew well. Senator Harkin then turned the conversation to the future, by dedicating the passage of the ADA to the children born that day, regardless of their disability status. It was then that tears of sorrow and hope flowed most freely.
Over the last 22 years, the ADA has been sweeping in its impact in assuring equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for Americans with disabilities of all ages, races and regions. Instead of weakening the country as some predicted it might, the ADA is continuing to strengthen America’s core value of individual freedom. Today, due to the ADA and related laws, more students with disabilities are graduating from high school and college. More Americans with significant disabilities are receiving the support they need to live in the community rather than languishing in institutions. Stores, restaurants, businesses, courts, and transit systems are now readily accessible to people with a range of mobility, sensory and other disabilities. The country’s telecommunications, 911 and other emergency preparedness systems are similarly accessible and usable by those with and without disabilities alike. The Internet and other digital technologies are transforming barriers into opportunities in education, employment and many other facets of American life.
President George H. W. Bush declared that the ‘shameful walls of exclusion’ must fall when he signed the ADA into law on July 26, 1990. Tremendous progress has been made, however to make the promise of the ADA a reality for millions of Americans with disabilities, there is still much work to be done. Barriers to full equality of opportunity persist. This is particularly true with regard to promoting the improved long-term employment, economic self-sufficiency and genuine financial well-being of working age Americans with disabilities and their families.
In an effort to address these discrepancies in employment opportunity, Congress created the Ticket to Work and Self Sufficiency Program. Like the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Ticket program is a work in progress. Since its inception, the program has equipped more than a quarter of million Americans with disabilities with the opportunities, life choices, services and support they need to become and remain competitively employed. Thousands have earned their way off Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, and created better lives and futures for themselves and their families. The ADA and the Ticket are working to improve our country.
To learn more about how Ticket to Work and Work Incentives can work for you or someone you know, please visit www.socialsecurity.gov/work or call the Ticket to Work Help Line at 1-866-968-7842 (V) or 1-866-833-2967 (TTY/TDD).
Dan O’Brien is the Deputy Associate Commissioner for Social Security’s Employment Support Programs. Prior to joining Social Security, Mr. O’Brien managed return to work programs for people with serious mental illness for 27 years.
Since 1949, May has been recognized as Mental Health Month, to help raise awareness for mental health in America and to bring attention to services that support people with mental health issues. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) estimates that one in four adults in the U.S. will experience mental illness per year. That translates to more than 57 million Americans. Serious mental illness is the leading cause of disability in the U.S. for people between the ages of 15 and 44.
Nationwide, one of the most pressing issues for young adults is making the transition from education to full time employment.This is a challenging transition for many, especially in these tough economic times. However for those with mental illness, additional resources and support may be required. As a family member of someone with mental illness, I’ve been concerned for some time that society does not create the same high career expectations for people with a mental illness as it does for those without mental illness. Unemployment rates for people with mental illness hover around 80 percent- the highest unemployment rate of any disability group and more than twice than that of young adults without a disability. While this can be partially attributed to the debilitating effect of multiple barriers, I believe it’s also a result of what I call the “tyranny of low expectations.”
Every year, thousands of people with disabilities find jobs and leave behind Social Security disability benefits to support themselves and create better futures. As you think about going to work, Social Security wants you to be confident in your choice and to understand what Ticket to Work is all about:
The Ticket program offers you the help you need to work, earn more money, and support yourself as much as possible.
The Ticket program is voluntary. You decide if it’s right for you.
Ticket to Work gives you the choice to partner with an approved Employment Network (EN) or your State Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Agency to get the career counseling, job placement, ongoing support, and other services you need to be able to become or stay employed or find a better job.
The goal of Ticket is for you to earn a better quality of life through work than you had on benefits and to give you a safety net while you work toward supporting yourself.
By participating in the Ticket program, you are agreeing to try your best to earn your way off cash benefits.
Social Security understands that going to work is a major change, and if you can’t completely eliminate your need for cash benefits, you won’t be blamed.
By Featured Blogger Bob Williams, Associate Commissioner for the Social Security ’s Office of Employment Support Programs
The beginning of the New Year is a good time to make plans for what we want our lives to be like in the near future. Whether the future is six months, twelve months or three years from now, a new year provides us with a new beginning. As Abraham Lincoln once said, “…we must think anew, and act anew…" By doing so, you can identify and begin to achieve the goals that are most important to you. This is why I strongly urge you to make 2012 YOUR year to join the thousands of Ticket to Work participants who are achieving their goals through work. This year, you can increase your earnings and test whether earning your way off benefits can lead to a higher standard of living and a better future.
Ticket to Work is committed to providing YOU with the information and supports YOU need to build YOUR future. Here are some tips on how to start the New Year off right and create fulfilling goals in 2012.
Choose your goal: Select an area you would like to improve and or change. This could be as simple as enhancing your skills, increasing work hours and earnings, or starting a new line of work or career.
Define success for yourself: Think of what will make your life better and set out to achieve it.
Specific: Be focused and know precisely what you hope to achieve. This is the only way you'll be able to tell whether you have actually succeeded in accomplishing your goal.
Measurable: Measure and track your progress over time.
Attainable: Make your goals achievable. Think about what you can really achieve over the next three, six, and twelve months. This will help you set milestones toward your goal. Remember, don’t try to do too much, too fast; otherwise, you can become frustrated and overwhelmed.
Realistic: Make the goal relevant and realistic. It is ok to stop and think about whether or not your goal makes sense and can be attained with the right resources.
Timely: Set a goal with milestones and deadlines to help you keep focused on the end result.
Be committed and work hard.
Be flexible and patient. Remember, you may experience small setbacks, but stay positive.
Develop a network of family and friends to support your journey.
Reward yourself and celebrate your progress and successes. By doing this, it will keep you motivated and focused on what you can achieve next.
One of the things I like to do most is sail. Thus, one of my New Year’s resolutions is to become a better sailor. What I enjoy most about sailing is the challenge—you can never get to where you want to go immediately. You have to be flexible; sometimes you need to zig to the right and then zag to the left in order to catch the wind and fill your sails. Eventually, through hard work and persistence, you reach your destination.
This is going to be a good year to set your sights high and sail slowly and steadily toward new goals and endeavors in 2012. It’s a new beginning. Happy New Year and Happy sailing!
Working can change your life! If you want to work, Social Security’s Ticket to Work program may be right for you. Listen to Bob Williams, Associate Commissioner for Social Security’s Office of Employment Support Programs message to learn about the Ticket to Work program.
Watch below or the video on our Choose Work YouTube channel.
To learn more about the Ticket program and take the first step toward financial independence, visit www.socialsecurity.gov/work, e-mail us at support@chooseworkttw.net or call our Ticket to Work Help Line at 1-866-968-7842 or 1-866-833-2967 (TTY/TDD).
People seek out community service to make a difference in their state or local community, and sometimes on a national level, and for many other reasons, including learning new skills, getting real work experience, seeing new places and meeting new people and also having some fun. Everyone benefits from community service.
In observance of Labor Day, the day meant to remind us of the importance of the American Worker, I would like to share some success stories of people with disabilities who used Social Security’s Ticket to Work and Work Incentives to make a change in their lives. I continue to be impressed by the determination of these individuals to achieve a higher quality of life, earn more money, and enjoy the benefits of being financially independent.
Since 1949, May has been recognized as 
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