Friday, June 10, 2005 | 5:15 a.m.
WEEKEND EDITION
June 11 - 12, 2005
Their employers say they are valuable assets to the company. They are loyal, enthusiastic and helpful workers.
But for Luis "Eddie" Valenzuela and Julio Cortes, finding employment was not an easy task.
"I'll be honest with you, it was a little difficult," said Valenzuela, 32, now a patient advocate with Nevada Veteran Affairs. "But I can't use my disability as an excuse not to have gotten those jobs."
More than 10 years ago Valenzuela had a tumor on his lower spine, which severely limited his movement and left him paralyzed for nine months. Through physical therapy and chemotherapy he was able to walk again. Now he serves others in his position at the VA.
For Cortes, 57, becoming visually impaired was a slow slide that also began almost a decade ago. Cortes suffers from macular degeneration, which impairs his ability to see detail and color. Cortes said while he was getting interviews four years ago he was not finding employment.
Then they both turned to the Nevada Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation, which eventually led them to Work Enhancement Employment Team or WEET. The team acts as a bridge between potential employers and disabled employees.
WEET began in 1997 as a collaboration between the Nevada Veterans Affairs and the Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation. At the time Dave White worked in human resources at Veterans Affairs and De Salazar was a rehabilitation technician working for the Bureau Vocational Rehabilitation. Together they started the program.
It grew "out of my responsibility to attempt to hire people with disabilities for the federal government and out of her responsibility to find jobs for people with disabilities," White said. "We got together to collaborate an effort to come up with the program to enhance that possibility."
Eight years later the program has helped employ 80 disabled people at Veterans Affairs alone. The partnership between Veterans Affairs and Vocational Rehabilitation has grown to include other federal and local government agencies as well as the private sector.
WEET is a nonprofit group run by volunteers, who typically are in human resources or have jobs working with people with disabilities. It acts as a bridge between disabled people and potential employers.
Part of the goal is to educate businesses in the community about the benefits of hiring disabled people.
"Some of the resorts said they could not believe how they (the disabled employees) are so dependable and so reliable," Salazar said. "They just glow because they're so appreciative of having that job."
Janice John, who works in the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, said WEET helps employers find people like Valenzuela and Cortes who might otherwise be overlooked.
"Nationally, disabled individuals are really under employed," John said. "It (WEET) tries to break the myths, for folks to understand that these are people who are very capable and that they can do the job given the opportunity."
For Cortes, part of working in technical service for high speed data at Cox Communications means using special equipment to magnify paper and electronic documents so he can read them. Julie Cline, a senior recruiter at Cox Communications who helped hire Cortes, said WEET helped her prepare his workstation.
"There was a lot of pre-work done," Cline said. "We had them come look at what Julio would need to work with and we were able to comply by using the enhancements."
Now Cortes is the only bilingual technical service employee at Cox. Cline said he is a welcome addition. After Cortes, Cline worked to hire another visually impaired person.
Each October WEET holds a luncheon during National Disability Awareness Month. Last year about 300 people from different businesses in the community gathered together. Part of the goal of the luncheon is to show employers some of the technologies available that can help disabled employees.
At the luncheon WEET also honors disabled employees who work for the government and for local businesses. Valenzuela was one of the first recipients of the award.
"It was an honor to have received something of this caliber," he said. "It not only reinforced my ability to explore more avenues within my job, but it also gave me that extra boost and more of a determination to go to a higher limit. And that's what I'm planning on doing."
Texas Station has hosted the luncheon each year at no cost to WEET. Valerie Murzl, corporate vice president of human resources and training for Station Casinos, said the company is proud to contribute to WEET's mission.
"I think companies like ours have a responsibility in the community," Murzl said. "If they're going to be at Texas Station enjoying a lunch, then they better get on the bandwagon. They show up and they listen and they finally get it."
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