If the pandemic did one good thing for us it was highlight blatantly and unabashedly the weak points and ills of our society. If one paid close enough attention one could watch the system slowly unravel at the weakest spots under the strain; from our unprepared and undermanned healthcare system to our inability to come together in crisis as a country or the breakdown of the supply chain and large manufacturing and our inability to handle mass waves of unemployment and large strains on our social services system just to name a few.

Most of us suffered financial hardships isolation stress fear and major adjustments since 2020 but none more than the marginalized communities. And how telling it is that the most vulnerable of our population the ones that the social service system was originally put in place for suffered the most and have recovered the slowest. In 2019 the unemployment rate for persons with a disability was 7.3% overall compared to 3.6% for the population at whole. However, if you put aside the flaws of how they calculate unemployment (you don't count as "unemployed" if you are underemployed or if you've been unemployed for longer than 6 months) and flip the coin you'll see that a small number of people with a disability are able to reach full employment. In 2019 only 19.3% of persons with a disability were employed compared to 66.3% of those without a disability being employed. (Cited links below) When the pandemic hit the disabled population was hit hardest and recovered the slowest due to the types of jobs held and the failure of the systems in place that provided those jobs.

It took almost 2 years (the end until 2021) for unemployment rates to reach back to 10.1% for persons with a disability 5.1% for overall employment however those rates rise exponentially if you're Black a woman or over 65 and identify as disabled. So, what does all this mean? It means that even at the best of economic times in the United States less than 20% of people with a disability are fully employed and that those workers are the most vulnerable to be laid off first in times of economic stress and be hired last during a recovery. Even if you are disabled and employed because of the way our system is built most of the times you are paid sub-minimum wage (legal in most states and will be illegal in California in 2025) fill positions without chance for advancement and are employed 20 hours or less a week. And sub-minimum wage is allowed in all but 11 states and allowed for the first 90 days (about 3 months) of employment if you're under 20 regardless if you lack disability but that's a whole other discussion.

What is the point of all this discourse and of opening this discussion? It's to highlight the lack of opportunity for those with disabilities especially if they require extra time or training on the job and to state the need for change. Forget about sub-minimum wage, minimum wage isn't enough anywhere, and it definitely is not enough if you're working less that 20 hours a week have special medical needs and need to keep your health insurance. If you happen to be on disability AND you work? Well better watch out because if you work too much you will lose your healthcare and any monetary support you were getting. Where can you find an employer who understands weekly doctor visits over-stimulation more training hours or any other type of accommodation that isn't covered by the ADA? Even though there are laws in place it is ultimately up to each employer to make room for neuro diverse and physically diverse employees. It is amazingly easy to sweep it under the rug and say someone else is more qualified as other marginalized groups will attest. (I'm dating myself as I'm reminded of Bruce Hornsby blaring on the radio in my childhood "Well they passed a law in '64 to give those who ain't got a little more, but it only goes so far, 'cause the law don't change another's mind when all it sees at the hiring time, is the line on the color bar no, that's just the way it is some things will never change.)

Here we are now mid-to-late pandemic maybe but who really knows. I've experienced the hardship firsthand through my 31-year-old son who is autistic. He lost his unpaid daily "job" with United Cerebral Palsy in 2020 and there isn't room for him yet anywhere, not even unpaid. He's suffering socially and he is not thriving. He's isolated and depressed. (Who wants to spend 2 years alone with their mother?) We've tapped all the resources available, and I've even gone with him to fast food companies cleaning companies and anywhere I could get in the door to talk to someone to get him hired even ONE day a week. Nothing. Nada zip zilch. Nothing is available even though I've offered my free time to stand with him as he trains and finds a space. Nothing is there.

So here we are carving out a company from the ground up that will employ him but not just him. We want more. We want to make room for neuro and physically diverse employees, all that we can handle. I want us to grow. We want to pay them a living wage not sub-minimum not minimum but a real living wage. We want to be able to provide them security flexibility and patience. We want them to have relevant transferrable careers. We want to show employers that room can be made, and we want to see these people leave our company for a better company. We want to see them thrive. We want to build this community slowly on solid foundations, and we will do it. When it's done, we want to supply that playbook to others who want to do the same.

We must make right what is ill, we must repair the tears at their weakest points. To stand as a nation or just to stand as people we need to make repairs. The test by which we are gauged on our humanity will be how we can step up and protect our most vulnerable.

-Annette Blair, Founder, Owner and Co-CEO of [3C]