Communities Come Together to Discuss Barriers to Employment

The Bridges to Employment conference - organized by the World Institute on Disability's National Technical Assistance Center, Proyecto Visión - attracted more than 150 job seekers, employment experts, employers, policymakers and advocates from around the country to Raleigh on June 1-3. It was the first event in the region that joined the Latino, disability and business communities to help connect Latinos with disabilities to employment.

Proyecto Visión project director Kathy Martinez said, "With the fastest growing Latino population in the United States and a bustling industrial/agricultural economy in need of laborers, North Carolina was an excellent location for the conference." Pleased with the support from local community organizers Martinez remarked, "The conference presented a space for advocates and leaders in the Latino and disability communities - both well-established and well-connected to state legislators - to discuss issues relevant to both groups and overlap in their constituencies."

Matty Lazo-Chadderton, Director, Hispanic/Latino Affairs, Office of the President Pro Tempore, North Carolina Senate participated as a presenter and attendee. "The Bridges to Employment Conference planted much needed seeds to increase employment opportunities for Latinos with different abilities in the Southeast," said Lazo-Chadderton. "At the event, professionals and self-advocates made new acquaintances and started to build relationships that will grow over time."

Conference highlights include presentations made by human resource professionals and employees with disabilities from leading employers such as American Express and Wachovia Corporation, and by national representatives from the Latino advocacy groups National Council of La Raza and the North Carolina Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

The annual conference is one of the main activities of Proyecto Visión, based in Oakland, CA, at the World Institute on Disability and funded by the Rehabilitation Services Administration. It serves as a forum for information exchange and coalition building among the growing number of projects, government agencies and groups addressing the needs of disabled Latinos. Similar events have been held in the mid-West and on the East and West Coasts. The event was greatly enriched by the collaboration of the Committee for the Integration of Latinos with Disabilities, Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago and Rehabilitation International. A full report on the conference will be published on the project's website, www.proyectovision.net.

Other project activities include a bilingual toll-free hotline [(866) 367-5361], website, newsletter and listserv for information, referrals and news about Latinos with disabilities and employment. Proyecto Visión has partners located around the country including Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago, the Central Coast Center for Independent Living in Salinas, CA, Rehabilitation International in New York City, NY and the Westside Center for Independent Living (WCIL) in Los Angeles, CA. Contact Project Director Kathy Martinez for additional details at (510) 251-4326 or kathy@wid.org.

This year the Bridges to Employment conference was co-sponsored by the American Express Foundation and was organized with the assistance of the North Carolina Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and AgrAbility Program in conjunction with: El Centro Hispano; El Pueblo, Inc.; Cooperativa Latina; Partnerships in Assistive Technology, and the Pathways for the Future and Alliance of Disability Advocates Centers for Independent Living.

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