1 min read

Season 6, Episode 41

Melwood's efforts to empower workers with disabilities

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Guest Name:


Reagan Chaney

Guest Website:


Melwood, Inc. 

Guest Social Media:


Facebook

YouTube

LinkedIn

Supportive Documents:


Reagan Chaney, Director of Community Impact at Melwood, joined America's Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the organization's mission of employing people with disabilities, the role of direct support professionals and the importance of workplace accommodations.

Melwood is one of the nation’s leading advocates, employers and service providers for people with disabilities and their caregivers. Their work focuses on helping people with disabilities work, live and thrive in their communities. Chaney emphasized that Melwood offers not just good jobs, but great jobs with competitive pay, benefits and opportunities for growth. The organization employs people with and without disabilities, providing full-time and part-time positions that allow individuals to learn, develop and advance their careers.

Direct Support Professionals (DSP) play a crucial role at Melwood, assisting individuals with disabilities in accessing employment and community resources. DSPs build strong relationships with employees and managers, offering support with health benefits, security clearance paperwork and union information. Their ultimate goal is to help employees with disabilities retain their jobs by addressing workplace difficulties and fostering self-advocacy skills.

Workplace accommodations are essential for creating an inclusive environment. Chaney shared examples of simple, yet effective accommodations, such as flexible work schedules, assistive technology and equipment modifications. She urged employers to view accommodations as adjustments that enable talented individuals to perform their jobs effectively, rather than as obstacles. Chaney added that hiring workers with disabilities can lead to a more diverse, innovative and productive workforce.

Listen to the full episode above to learn more about Melwood's impact on workers with disabilities.


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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