Federal Government Trying To Shut Down Program That Helps People With Disabilities

Sheltered workshops are coming under attack by the federal government which is trying to shut down a program that provides meaningful employment for over 50 persons with disabilities in the lake area and 5,000 statewide.

“We’re trying to flood the Department of Labor with all these public comments letting them know, hey, you’re going to affect a lot of lives and it’s not OK for you to take this choice of employment option from our folks,” says Natalie Couch, Director of Lake Area Industries, “Here in Camden County, we provide 55 jobs, but across the state, it’s 5000 and there’s more states out there that are part of our coalition to preserve this employment choice. So it’s it’s impactful. If they try to shut down shelter workshops, there’s a lot of people that are going to be affected.”

She says a public comment period on the government’s effort to shut down sheltered workshop programs will close on Friday. Couch also says a groundswell of public support is needed by going to Lake Area Industries social media site.

“There’s a post there with a link. If you just click on that link, it’ll take you one minute to just say I support sheltered employment. I oppose the proposed rule. Here’s why sheltered employment, it’s important. You can tell your own story whether you’ve used our services or somebody that works in a shelter workshop.”

As for its impact…Lake Area Industries pays out $300,000 yearly in wages to disabled workers.

Again, all public comments need to be submitted by the end of Friday.

Here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/15nEMuSJL2/?mibextid=wwXIfr