'La verguenza' means shame. It doesn't matter whether you prefer the English word or the Spanish. What matters is that 'la verguenza' is probably the single biggest barrier to Latinos getting and staying employed, according to Kathy Martinez of Proyecto Visión. Latinos with disabilities and their families are often embarrassed or humiliated by the disability. This in turn leads the family to avoid seeking services that might help lead to education, training and employment.

And it is employment that agencies like the Rehabilitation Services Administration, the agency charged with overseeing the state vocational rehabilitation services programs is pushing for. "Real jobs, with real wages, benefits and a future," said Timothy Muzzio, the Director of Professional Development and Special Projects Division. "McDonalds isn't going to cut it."

American Express, one of the conference sponsors, offers such opportunities for real jobs with real wages, benefits and a future, according to Teresa Belthrop-Hairston, the Manager of Employee Initiatives. It was the culture at American Express, she said, that allowed her to thrive as both a woman of Latino descent and the caregiver for an elderly parent. And it was her care giving experience that opened her eyes to the issues faced by people with disabilities both in her company and in the community.

In order to take advantage of opportunities that may lead to employment, however, Latino families and people with disabilities must learn to reframe their cultural attitudes regarding 'la verguenza.' Matty Lazo-Chadderton, Director of Hispanic/Latino Affairs for the Office of the President Pro Tempore of the North Carolina Senate said after having a child with autism, she learned that there is no shame in disability. Instead, she has learned the importance of respect, dignity and employment for people with disabilities.

Linda Harrington, the Director of the North Carolina Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services admits that the agency isn't doing enough to reach out to Latinos with disabilities, yet sees the beginnings of positive change coming. Creating mechanisms for that change through addressing barriers like 'la verguenza' was the focus of this year's Bridges to Employment Conference, held in Raleigh, North Carolina, the state with the fastest growing Latino population in the country today.

Population Boom

According to H. Nolo Martinez, Assistant Director for Research and Outreach, Center for New North Carolinians at UNC-Greensboro, North Carolina has experienced a 65% growth in its Mexican population, many of whom came to the state to work in the meat processing industry. Department of Labor statistics show that in the last two decades, Latinos have accounted for one third of the total US labor force increase. In 2004, more than 18 million Latinos were working in the US, over 13% of the total population.

Lack of education, limited English skills and immigration status, however, have led 77% of the Latinos in the state to work in blue collar jobs such as manufacturing, construction and agriculture as compared to 32.3% of all North Carolinians (with or without disabilities) who work in those industries.

Migrant Work - the Base for Latino Leadership

As the Director of the Office of Hispanic/Latino Affairs under two previous governors and the major force behind the growth of the AgrAbility program in North Carolina, H. Nolo Martinez is well aware of the issues faced by Latinos with disabilities in North Carolina and nationwide. Farmwork in North Carolina, he said, is one part of the answer. According to Mr. Martinez, North Carolina is unique in that migrant work is available year-round, since there are 80 different commodities produced there, ranging from tobacco to poultry, vegetables to Christmas trees. Thus, instead of moving state to state to find jobs, the migrant farm worker has a steady flow of work available within the confines of just one state.

The high dependence on agriculture for work, however, brings along with it a correspondingly high incidence of injury and disability to farm workers. Over 200,000 farmers and other agricultural workers lost work time due to injury with 5% of those injuries considered serious and permanent said Martinez. Lack of health care and the ineligibility of migrant workers for worker's compensation are just some of the reasons Martinez believes are responsible for the high incidence of work related injury and disability among that group.

Efforts to get those injured back to work and to self-support led to the creation of AgrAbility in North Carolina, said Martinez, which started in 1993 with a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant of approximately $400,000. Since that time it has helped countless numbers of farmers and farm workers with disabilities to learn about and gain access to programs and funding to keep them farming, no matter what their injury or disability. Employing rehabilitated farm workers to go out into the fields, meet with the workers and educate them on programs and services available has gone a long way toward eradicating that wall of shame that previously kept Latino farm workers from seeking services.

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