Guest Author
By this point of Florida’s Legislative Session, many issues are either making their way through the process or they have come to a halt. However, either circumstance shouldn’t dictate the importance of any one issue.
I can speak from experience, as The Able Trust hangs in the balance. If Senate Bill 172, by Sen. Aaron Bean, and House Bill 6001, by Rep. Sam Killebrew, don’t pass this year, The Able Trust will cease to exist.
Neither legislation has a fiscal impact, and unfortunately, right now, both bills have made little to no progress.
The Able Trust is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and our mission is to be a key leader in providing Floridians with disabilities opportunities for successful employment. We’re passionate about helping Floridians with disabilities succeed, and it’s something we’ve been committed to for nearly 30 years.
Our passion for our mission shows. Our staff and many community partners work day in and day out to provide successful employment opportunities for Floridians with disabilities in just about every community in the state.
We’re also one of the few organizations in Florida that addresses all disabilities, physical and mental.
We have programs that help youth with disabilities pursue postsecondary education or enter the workforce, like The Able Trust’s High School High Tech (HSHT) program, which operates in 43 sites across Florida. Some of the special activities that happen in various HSHT sites is the creation of microenterprises, where students with disabilities can learn all aspects of a business — marketing, product creation, accounting, selling — and some of these microenterprises include a printing press, food truck, and baked goods shop.
We also partner to provide strategic grants that create major employment programs in fields, such as manufacturing, administrative, hospitality, and others, all with a technology aspect.
Another program is our Disability Employment Awareness program (DEAM), a statewide group of activities organized and supported by The Able Trust, which highlights careers and businesses to participants with disabilities. DEAM activities include hands-on career exploration, on-site job shadowing and other experiences.
In 2018, the DEAM program worked with over 240 business and organization partners to provide such opportunities to more than 1,600 Floridians with disabilities employed statewide is approximately 387,000, an increase of nearly 40,000 since 2013.
This is excellent news and shows we’re trending in the right direction. We must continue those efforts.
While the data doesn’t attribute this increase to any one organization or program, we know The Able Trust has played a role in this. We’re transparent about what we do and know our programs and partnerships are working. In fact, we have data on every person that comes through our programs, and we monitor and track success. We also track all of our community partnerships to ensure they’re in compliance and meeting benchmarks.
The outcome of us shutting down is more than just closing our doors. There’s also a local impact.
All of our programs across the state will end, all of our community partnerships we’ve provided technical and financial support to will conclude, and many who run these programs may lose their jobs. Worst of all, those with disabilities that are currently benefiting from the work The Able Trust is doing will be affected the most, along with their families.
It’s not pretty, and I certainly don’t like writing these words, but it’s a reality we might have to face.
As the end of Session grows closer by the day, I ask that Florida lawmakers consider the ramifications of what not passing SB 172 and HB 6001 will have on the state, Floridians with disabilities and their families.
Please don’t let this important legislation get lost amid the high-profile issues and don’t let The Able Trust become collateral damage this Session.
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Dr. Susanne Homant is the president and CEO of The Able Trust.
