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Disability Support

Disability Support is an important project that helps people with disabilities to become economically self-reliant with their profession and to become part of the community. We have explored workplaces that hire people with disabilities, and we found that they can provide the necessary information and administrative/legal practices in a series of processes that support the disabled individual. At the same time, we identify companies that hire disabled people, and advise and assist the administrative procedures and practices required to hire and maintain employees with disabilities.

    DDartists: Jobs for artists with developmental disabilities

    DDartists is a project of Give Chances that provides people with developmental disabilities the opportunity for employment and talent development. DDartists hires, pays, and provides educational opportunities for these individuals in a safe and caring environment.

    Work is essential for an independent life as it provides not only financial resources, but also a sense of self-fulfillment as a member of society. As a result, people feel more connected to others and become a contributing member of the community through their work. Currently only 14.7 % of adults with developmental disabilities are employed.

    Everyone is born with unique talents and potentials, so does people with developmental disabilities. DDartists particularly pays attention to those who have interests and talents in art. We found a possibility to use their artistic talents and developed a work-education model for people with developmental disabilities. By providing them with art classes where they develop and express their artistic interest and talent, they will get paid by us for their artwork that they have produced during art classes. The artworks that they produced in the classes are developed to be used within products in collaboration with professional industrial designers.

    DDartists Joyful Work & Learning Model
     

    The Artists

    The artists of the DDartists project are from the "STRIVE" program at Ridgefield High School which provide comprehensive occupational preparation for students with special needs. Within the "STRIVE" program these artists are participating in a job training session with Duogreen, Inc., an organic food/supplement distributors. Both STRIVE program and Duogreen are collaborators of Give Chances and support the DDartists project.

    Austins loves the color red. He wants to be a competitive video game player as well as a professional artists.

    Dongjin has awesome math skills. He is attending Felician Post 21 program.

    Emmanual likes to rap, write poetry and enjoys art. He works at Staples, Duogreen and Shop Rite.

    Eunsong works at Marriott Hotel, Duogreen and Shop Rite during the week. She is a gifted artist who enjoys working and being active at school.

    ​Julian works at Duogreen, Region V office and Sunrise Assited Living. He likes to be up to date on current events and is looking to create more social justice in the world.

    ​Kikky likes to play video games and likes to draw. He enjoys working at Duogreen and Marriott.

    DDartists video

    DDartists Store