EASTER SEALS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA - WORKFIRST

WorkFirst supports individuals with disabilities to get and keep paid employment or to operate their own business. People with disabilities want real jobs with real pay and the same choices as their non disabled peers. The inability to find employment robs people with disabilities of financial security, equal social standing, self confidence and the opportunity to be contributing tax paying members of society. WorkFirst, a division of Easter Seals Southern California, is committed to a future where people with disabilities are employed in jobs that are making the best use of their individual talents, where they are treated and viewed as any other employee would be, and the basic fundamental rights of everyday life are no longer out of reach.

WorkFirst has a service area covering all of Southern California. We support people who live and work in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego and Imperial Counties. WorkFirst helps individuals with disabilities maintain paid employment or start their own business. WorkFirst identifies each person’s talents, interests and abilities in order to support him or her to find a job that can be fulfilling long-term or what business can be successfully built. Guiding Principles of WorkFirst: ensure employment for people with disabilities, decrease the demand for State-funded services, stimulate the economy by adding people to the workforce, improve the quality of life in our communities. People with Disabilities Want to Work: •Most people with disabilities want to work. Two out of three people with disabilities who are unemployed (67%) say they would prefer to be working. Of those people with disabilities who say they are able to work, 56 percent are working, and the rest are looking. Employers Need & Will Need Their Skills: The U.S. job growth is projected to swell by 55 million by 2008, compared to a growth of only 20 million in workers, of whom 3.6 million will have a disability. Employers will need these 3.6 million people to fill vacant positions.