In honor of the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, President Obama signed an Executive Order on Monday, July 26^th that requires guidelines to be developed for hiring people with disabilities and a series of other measures. The President was quoted as saying "Not dependence, but independence, that's what the (disabilities law) was all about." To read more about this new public policy, please follow the link to The Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/27/AR2010072705699.html

WCCO news ran a story earlier this year about a Special Education teacher who opened a shop for students with disabilities in Andover, MN. With the help of their teachers and Junior Achievement, they sell personally created artwork and refurbished furniture. The students also keep track of sales and help with handling finances. For more information, follow the link below to WCCO News:

http://wcco.com/education/gift.shop.andover.2.1418135.html

The PROACT newsletter, June 2010 edition, has an article entitled “New Intern Program Leads to Permanent Hires at Retailer.” This story features a new internship program that has lead to 3 permanent job hires at an Eagan clothing and retail store. Positions range from the stock room to the show room, and front desk returns. PROACT received federal stimulus funds to help finance over 500 intern hours. For more information, follow the link to the PROACT website:

http://www.proactinc.org/docs/ProAct%20People%20Achieving%20Newsletter%20June%202010.pdf

Opportunity Partners’ newsletter, the Winter 2010 edition, features a brief story of how they partnered up with Midwest Staffing Group to help them with various food packaging opportunities. One of their jobs, a family run candy shop in New Hope, worked with Opportunity Partners to package over 190,000 Valentine’s Day candy boxes. Midwest Staffing Group states that this is mutually beneficial and is a great workforce to use for their clients. The article is entitled “Midwest Staffing and Route 29.” To read the full article, please click on the link below:

http://www.opportunities.org/Files/opportunities%20winter%202010.pdf

East Suburban Resources (ESR) 2010 Annual Report has a story on how their clients have started a partnership with Birders’ Select in Balsam Lake, WI. Birders’ Select was started by Endeavors, an agency that also supports people with disabilities in Balsam Lake. This partnership enables ESR to use the Birders’ Select name, the ESR label, and retain the proceeds from sales. Since this started in 2009, ESR has sold over 3,000 pounds of seed and has employed over 12 clients. The seed is distributed both in MN and WI. The complete story is on page 11 of the 2009 ESR Annual Report, available by following the link below.

http://www.esrworks.org/2009annreponline.pdf

ABC News ran a story in July 2010 about a man with Autism who delivered his high school commencement speech as class salutatorian in Rhode Island. He is also a musician and honor student in addition to being class salutatorian. His parents were told at his birth that Eric would end up in an institution. But his mother did not believe them and began intensely working with him on speech therapy. Not only did he learn English, he also learned Spanish, placing 93^rd in the nation! Please follow the link to ABC News to read more about Eric.