April 12, 2023

When Business Resource Network’s staff and board members walked into a half-day evaluation session a little over a year ago, they likely didn’t realize they were beginning the journey to a new identity.

But, as of this week, the nonprofit is identifying itself by a name that better reflects its mission: Employment Disability Resources.

The new name will immediately let businesses and employees know where to turn for education, awareness and resources to promote the successful employment of people with disabilities.

“I really hope they know now we’re all about disability, that we are really striving for full inclusion of people with disabilities and employment, and really in all aspects of our community,” said Vicki Stewart, executive director of Employment Disability Resources since 2016. “We would be top of mind when people hear Employment Disability Resources: ‘They’re the people we need to call.’ And if we don’t have the answer, we can connect them with right resources.”

As a result of the strategic planning session with the Sioux Falls company Maximizing Excellence in March 2022, the staff and board decided to tweak its mission a bit, adding one more work to its goal of education, awareness and resources: inclusion.

“We want an increased number of people with disabilities being employed, but it’s also more about having them feel included in the workplace as well,” Stewart said. “If they feel included, they’re more likely to succeed and more likely to stay if they’re respected and valued.”

People with disabilities are the nation’s largest minority group, and it is a group that anyone can join at any time because of disease, accident or aging, Stewart said. One in four American adults has a disability.

In the past five years, particularly since the pandemic, some employer perspectives have changed, Stewart said. They realized remote work is a feasible option for employees with disabilities and the importance of flexibility for all employees.

“For example, if a person needs to start his or her workday a little later because of the side effects of medication they take for their mental health, it can be arranged to have them end their workday later too,” Stewart said. “Fifty-six percent of accommodations provided on the job do not cost anything.”

Canton native Hannah Hernes, now 24, moved to Sioux Falls with her family while attending the University of South Dakota. She graduated in May 2021 and started at Five Star Call Center within days of her graduation. In less than two years, Hernes has been promoted to account relationship supervisor. She describes her job as being “the middleman for the call center and the client we’re taking calls for.”

Photo courtesy of the South Dakota Department of Human Services

Hernes, who was born with cerebral palsy, uses forearm crutches at work and has a wheelchair for longer distances. During the cold-weather months, she worked for Five Star from home.

“It’s for safety reasons, for the weather and convenience,” Hernes said. “I like having the option, especially during winter months. A couple times when I’ve been in the office and it started snowing in the middle of the afternoon, I didn’t want to wait for public transportation.”

When Hernes first interviewed with Five Star over the telephone, she debated whether to disclose that she uses crutches. She doesn’t remember what she finally decided to do. When she applied for the supervisor position, however, she didn’t bring it up until about a month after she’d gotten the promotion.

“I didn’t want that to be a part of it,” Hernes said. “When I did finally tell my supervisor, she was very appreciative. And I was nominated by the supervisor, the director of client services, for the South Dakota Governor’s Award for Outstanding Employee with Disabilities. I was humbled and honored to be nominated.”

Joel Sylvester, one of Five Star’s owners and its chief client officer, has served on EDR’s board of directors for five years. He participated in the updating of the mission and vision, working with Lemonly on the new name and logo.

Hiring people with disabilities is one of Sylvester’s passions. His father was an electrician, but after he was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s disease, he could no longer climb ladders or crawl under foundations. The Sylvester family relocated to Sioux Falls, and the former electrician became an instructor at Southeast Technical College, as it’s now called. Even as he progressed from cane to walker to wheelchair, he continued to teach, Sylvester said.

“Thank goodness, he had that opportunity,” he said. The physical disability had an impact on his father, but a greater impact would have been felt on his father’s mental health if he could not continue to support his family, Sylvester said.

The name Business Resource Network didn’t convey the nonprofit’s actual work, Sylvester said.

“Business Resource Network could be anything: a telephone provider, technology, a provider of desks,” he said. “We work with employers, those who are hiring those with disabilities so they can continue, join or thrive in the workforce.”

Employment Disability Resource’s team members are amazing problem-solvers with an incredible work ethic, he said. That’s true of employees with disabilities too, Sylvester said. Having employers and clients look beyond a disability can make an impact that goes beyond the workplace.

“We had a team member in a motorized wheelchair working for an outdoor account,” Sylvester said. “The client asked him, ‘Do you hunt?’ This individual does, and he said, ‘No one’s ever asked me that before.’ They would see him in a wheelchair and think, oh, you don’t do that.”

Photo courtesy of the South Dakota Department of Human Services

Often, the accommodations that a business needs to make for a person with disabilities are minimal, Sylvester said. EDR can steer the employer toward programs that offer grants and funding.

“Ninety percent of the resources we’ve utilized have been free to the business,” Sylvester said. “The ones that do impact a business are fewer individual things, like remote entries on doors and restroom accommodations. The majority of resources that are individuals based are very low or no cost.”

Stewart has seen an increase in businesses wanting more education about people with disabilities in the workplace, in areas such as disability etiquette, reasonable accommodations, technology and other things. Her agency offers training called “Windmills: Harnessing the Power of Inclusion.” It is beneficial in breaking down some of the attitudinal barriers that exist. The interactive training offers several modules covering different topics based on the business’ needs.

Photo courtesy of the South Dakota Department of Human Services

“Sometimes, I run across a business that feels like it’s a charity to employ people with disabilities,” said Stewart, who uses a wheelchair. “We don’t want them to feel that way. This is maybe an untapped pool of employees that people haven’t thought of before.”

What her nonprofit doesn’t do is place people with disabilities into jobs.

“We don’t do that,” Stewart said. “We can provide job-seekers with resources and connect them, but lots of places help with that. We are a resource to businesses because they are not aware of challenges for people with disabilities and what they can bring to the workplace.”

“It’s the mindset of inclusion,” said Sylvester, who has been in the contact industry for 25 years, the past five of which have been at Five Star. “Fifteen years ago, I ran a golf tournament, and it never occurred to me to include people with disabilities. We had a participant with a visual impairment. He got to drive the golf cart and putt with the team. Going forward, with events like that, it just took a little planning or awareness.”

The advice Hernes offers to people with disabilities: “You have to find a job that works for you.” She has followed her own advice with her employment at Five Star.

Photo courtesy of the South Dakota Department of Human Services

An employer has the responsibility to make any employee with a disability feel welcome, she said. Hernes has felt singled out before, and that’s an uncomfortable position to be put in.

“Offer help rather than assume they need help,” Hernes advised. “Be open with that person. Definitely approach that person like any other person because we’re all people.”

Stewart has seen how workplaces have expanded the number of people with disabilities they have hired.

“Our unemployment rate for people with disabilities is increasing,” she said. “I get repeated calls from businesses: ‘We’re looking for more people. Can you get the word out we’re hiring?’ They are turning to us for recruitment needs.”

Employment Disability Resources will have a ribbon-cutting at the Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce office April 19.