We were fortunate and privileged to attend and participate in the NISH Annual Conference this past week in Anaheim. Over 2,000 folk from all over the country were on hand for what was a truly inspirational and uplifting program, all dedicated to helping people with disabilities to find more meaningful lives through meaningful work. We were there to help with the track around using virtual contact centers (call centers) as a means to bring people who have difficulty traveling into work regularly into the broadband and information age. With over 20M folks with disabilities that aren’t working right now, the opportunity is truly enormous.
Established in 1974, NISH is one of two national, nonprofit agencies designated by the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled [a federal government agency] to support nonprofit agencies (NPAs) participating in the AbilityOne Program which provides employment opportunities for people who are blind or have other significant disabilities by procuring federal contracts for goods and services.
Headquartered in Vienna, Va., NISH supports a network of more than 1,300 NPAs as well as federal customers by providing the legislative and regulatory assistance, communications and public relations materials, information technology support, engineering and technical assistance, and extensive professional training needed for successful contract management.
Our host was Peggy Grist, who is heading up call/contact center initiatives for NISH – after we spoke, I was particularly inspired by the woman who followed, Kristina Stuer – here is an excerpt from a recent article on Kristina in the Lansing State Journal: Kristina Stuer had modest hopes when she applied for a job at Peckham, Inc.’s call center in Lansing.
She wanted challenging work and a decent wage. Stuer, born with cerebral palsy, was in a wheelchair. She couldn’t work at places such as fast food restaurants that would require her to be on her feet. But Stuer, who had been studying psychology and writing at Lansing Community College, didn’t want to settle for a mind-numbing job, either. Stuer said the job she was offered at Peckham was more than she could have hoped for.”
Click below for a video excerpt of Kristina’s speech:
The whole BetterWorld team is so excited be involved with NISH and we look forward to adding jobs to the 45K+ jobs that NISH already provides!! For more information: www.NISH.org
In service,
Matt
Posted in: BetterWork Events Green Telecom Partners
