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Local organization helps Hoosiers with disabilities work

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Posted at 8:24 AM, Jan 14, 2020
and last updated 2021-10-01 09:42:40-04

INDIANAPOLIS — Hiring Hoosiers is our initiative here at RTV6 to connect you to employment opportunities.

And since 1976, the organization Ability Indiana has been working to help Hoosiers living with disabilities find a job that will connect them to new opportunities-independence and friendships.

Katy Stafford-Cunningham, the COO of Ability Indiana, said the national average unemployment rate for individuals with disabilities is about 80 percent, and that's why they partnered with 29 different businesses around the area to combat it and allow all adults to grow.

Max Gilyan spends most days at Postmasters, sorting mail and taking it on his route.

He is just one of the millions of Americans living with a disability that, to some, makes him unemployable.

"I have a lot of good people that I have worked with, and I've gotten along with pretty much everybody here," said Gilyan.

"We're very proud of the people that work here we're proud of the Ability Indiana program, and we are willing to open up our doors and show people what great employees' people with disabilities can be," said Joe McKinney, director of operations at Postmasters. Postmasters is one of the many companies partnering with Ability Indiana.

"They are all hardworking; they are very dedicated, and they are so happy to have the dignity of work and the opportunity to work just like you and I do," said McKinney.

Having worked at postmasters for three years now, Gilyan is ready to find more freedom.

"Someday I would like to maybe get out on my own maybe get a one-bedroom apartment or whatnot or whatever I can get to," said Gilyan.

Leaders with Ability Indiana told RTV6, on average they employed 220 Hoosiers a month in 2019.

For a list of other certified businesses Ability Indiana works with and how you can get involved in the organization, click here.

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