Students with Developmental Disabilities want to work when High School Ends...

The unemployment rate for people with disabilities is over 70%, and yet when asked people with developmental disabilities want to work. made that that case today. Laura Diamond's "Students STRIVE to join workforce" in the AJC today made that case...

But Bonita Phillips, the cafeteria manager at Radloff Middle, said she was worried at first that students wouldn't work out. "I wondered if they would really be able to do this job and whether I would have to spend too much time supervising them," Phillips said. "But then after watching them work, I realized how ridiculous my worries were..."They can do the job. They are dependable, hard-working and they want to do the job. They're everything an employer wants in an employee."

There are over 700 students graduating each year that need the kind of help that Chip Underwood has offered these ladies so that they can be as successful. Without this help, many young adults with developmental disabilities will sit at home watching television instead of living out their dreams to contribute.

Go to the Unlock the Waiting Lists website to see what you can do to help.