CONTACT: Beth Moss, 608-266-5038 office, 608-215-0466 cell, Beth.Moss@Wisconsin.gov
Sheboygan, WI – Katie Williams is a person with a disability who works at Caan’s Floral and Greenhouses as a Part-time Green House Assistant. Her duties include assembling boxes and caring for the plants.
Rep Vorpagel’s visit is part of the Take Your Legislator to Work Campaign, organized each year by the Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities (BPDD). The statewide campaign coordinates visits between legislators and their constituents with disabilities. During visits, legislators learn more about the economic and societal impacts of inclusion on their local communities. The visit is also a celebration of National Disability Awareness Month, October.
For Katie the best part of having the job at Caan’s Floral and Greenhouses is getting a paycheck and making a lot of friends at work. She loves to smile and is always happy to be at work.
Katie is supported at work by RCS Empowers, an organization that provides job coaching. RCS Empowers received an Employment First grant from the Board for People with Developmental Disabilities.
When people with disabilities work in the community and earn market wages, they are less likely to rely on publicly funded programs. Furthermore, 87 percent of customers say they would prefer to patronize businesses that employ people with disabilities. Learn more at www.WI-BPDD.org.
