From the outbox of Meyer’s inbox

There aren’t many of us out there in the cold parts of the country that actually enjoy shoveling snow. Sure, if you’ve got one of those handy snow blower machines it could make clearing the walkways a bit more fun. The truth of the matter is that if its your job to clear the driveway, don’t you hold out until the last moment possible in the hopes that the sun will do its thing and melt away the mess? That wasn’t the case for the crew of custodians working at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. When “snow-mageddon” hit D.C. this special team hit the sidewalks and didn’t stop until the job was done. An inspiration for all of us!

UNSUNG HEROES WHO HELPED DIG OUT WASHINGTON AFTER SNOWSTORMS by Nicole Norfleet writing for the Washington Post

Custodial workers at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development were back to their routine of clearing trash cans this week. But just a few weeks ago, this same group of men, dubbed the “HUD heroes,” battled the blizzard, clearing snow and keeping the department accessible to essential personnel for five straight days.

As he stood with his friends between shifts Monday, Ricardo Stewart, 50, recalled the whiteout conditions. While shoveling on one shift, he said, he couldn’t see the Department of Homeland Security building across the street. “And we were on the sidewalk.”

The 19 workers and managers are employees of Melwood, a nonprofit that provides jobs for the intellectually and developmentally disabled. Starting Feb. 5, the Melwood workers went to work digging and blowing snow, day and night. Read More...

From the outbox of Meyer’s inbox

Around the job site, we all need a boost every now and then. For some folks extra accommodation can make all the difference between working with dignity when you have a disability as opposed to being kept in the shadows or worse: out of work. Some disabilities are obvious but others need special attention. The first stop when you have questions about this issue should be the American’s With Disabilities Act information site. Here’s a good article about a recent workshop conducting over in Michigan addressing this very issue.

Telling the Boss ‘I Have A Disability’ by Julie Swidwa writing for the Herald-Palladium

BENTON HARBOR – People who are disabled are under no legal obligation to tell their employers. In the case of some hidden disabilities, the “don’t tell” policy can be best. But a worker who will need accommodations should disclose his or her disability, a community educator told a group of disabled workers at a workshop titled “How, When & Why to Disclose a Disability to an Employer.”

Michele McGowen, of the Disability Network of Southwest Michigan, said, “If you think you’re having performance problems, it’s best for you to go in to the boss rather than ignore it.”

McGowen presented the workshop at Michigan Works in Benton Harbor with Paul Ecklund, disability rights advocate, and Ebony Douglas, independent living specialist. They all work for the Disability Network, based in Kalamazoo and with offices in Battle Creek and St. Joseph. About 10 people attended the workshop.

Americans With Disabilities Act, particularly as it relates to employment. Douglas worked with participants in considering examples of when to and not to disclose a disability.

“If you think about the life span, having a disability will be a part of life for almost everyone,” she said. “Some people develop one earlier, and some people have more than one, but almost everyone will have a disability at some point.”

Ecklund said the Americans With Disabilities Act is intended to protect disabled people from discrimination and retaliation, but sometimes the law and real life conflict. He said the ADA also protects businesses from having to over-accommodate or go broke.

The law offers no set definition of disability, but states that it limits a person’s capacity to do a job without special accommodations.

Read the rest of the piece here: