Honoring the 'Backbone' Of Federal Government: 38 in Program for Blind, Disabled Are Recognized

The Washington Post, USA
Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Honoring the 'Backbone' Of Federal Government: 38 in Program for Blind, 
Disabled Are Recognized

By Delphine Schrank, Staff Writer 

Tuesday, October 30, 2007; Page B03 

They stitch Army combat uniforms and package first-aid kits. They maintain the 
grounds of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. And some of them take out 
the trash for White House employees. 

Yesterday, 38 custodians employed by a federal program for blind and disabled 
workers received certificates of appreciation in the Indian Treaty Room of the 
Eisenhower Executive Office Building, whose bathrooms and hallways, along with 
those at the New Executive Office Building, they have mopped and polished for 
nearly a decade. 

Caption: Matthew Ficaretta of Bowie is among the custodians who were honored at 
a ceremony at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which they clean. (By 
Katherine Frey -- The Washington Post) 

Almost 48,000 disabled people, including injured Army veterans, are employed 
nationwide under the auspices of AbilityOne, a federal program that tries to 
find them jobs providing services to the government. 

"We are the backbone of the federal government," said Andrew D. Houghton, 
chairman of the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely 
Disabled, the federal agency that oversees AbilityOne. 

The unemployment rate of physically or mentally disabled is about 70 percent 
nationwide, Houghton said, but the workers in the AbilityOne program help 
counter the myth that they are incapable of performing well. 

"The employees do a great job. They act as a beacon for many others," said Paul 
Dennett, an administrator with the Office of Management and Budget. 

Among those employees is Brenda Sheaffer, 36, of Oxon Hill. 

Before she found work through Melwood, a nonprofit group that is part of 
AbilityOne, she worked as a cafeteria server and laundered sheets in a nursing 
home. But her employers found her too slow, she said, and she was let go. 

Faced with living with her parents or on government benefits, she joined 
Melwood's training program. She started as a custodian in the National Zoo 
before applying for a security clearance to work in federal offices. Now she 
rises at 5:30 a.m. to vacuum and dust the 10th floor of the New Executive 
Office Building. 

"I have a place to go in the morning," she said in remarks at the ceremony. "I 
have people who need me. I no longer take benefits. I am a taxpayer instead of 
a tax user." 

Her father helps her handle her wages, she said, because she never understood 
money or mathematics. But her newfound independence means she can live on her 
own, pay her bills and care for her cat, Ashley. 

"One day," she said, "I hope to work with cats." 

Best of all, she said, she has been able to buy gifts for her family, including 
nine tickets to "A Christmas Carol" at Ford's Theatre. 

At 1 p.m., after a slice of cake and a photo in the ornate fourth floor room, 
James Hewitt, 61, of Alexandria headed straight for the service elevator and 
down a narrow, pipe-lined corridor to his locker deep in the bowels of the 
building. He tucked his certificate on a shelf, pulled on a pair of orange 
rubber gloves and disappeared through a side door to retrieve a massive trash 
bin. 

Up to the second floor and then down to the first, he wheeled the cart along 
his daily route past rooms labeled "Office of Management and Budget," 
"Presidential Speechwriting" and "White House Counsel," picking up piles of 
newspapers, empty boxes and trash bags stuffed with papers outside each office. 

Was he pleased to receive a certificate? 

"Oh, yeah," said Hewitt, who stutters and has trouble speaking. Cracking a 
smile as he pushed the cart past the National Security Council office, he said: 
"This my first time I had one. Oh, yeah. I'll show it to my friends. The ones 
who helped me get a job." 


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/29/AR2007102901885.html
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