No Greatness Without Goodness
“When everybody is included, everyone wins.”
– Jesse Jackson
The Disability Initiative was established to promote the hiring of disabled individuals by large and small companies based upon the lessons learned from the Walgreens experience. The program is based upon the premise of “equal pay for equal work,” recognizing that an inclusive workplace serves the needs of the business owners and the community at large.
An ideal candidate for a disability hiring program would be those companies willing to establish a pilot program in their facilities where people with disability work side by side with able-bodied workers. Senior executive support is critical as well as establishing high goals for success.
Through the Disability Initiative, we—and our partners—will provide top-level guidance and advice with the knowledge of 400,000+ hours of experience in the Walgreens program. In short, if you will provide the will, we will help you find the way.
No one had ever built a large-scale production facility with the specific intent to have one-third of its workforce composed of people with disabilities -all performing the same jobs, held to the same performance standards, earning the same pay, working side-by-side. As the word got out about what we were doing, both ABC and NBC sent a team down to see what this was all about.
Many large companies have followed Walgreens’ lead in establishing new programs to hire people with disabilities. As a consequence of their confirmation of the benefits of the Walgreens program, more companies are exploring the possibilities with their own initiatives.
Small and start-up businesses provide hundreds of jobs for people with disabilities across the United States. According to Representative Steve Chabot (R-OH), Chairman of the House of Representatives’ Small Business Committee,the businesses report lower turnover, better safety records, innovation and higher productivity among their employees with disabilities.