February 2022
Jewish Disability Awareness & Inclusion Month.
The mission of Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion Month is to unite Jewish communities worldwide to raise awareness and champion the rights of all Jews to be included and to participate in all aspects of Jewish life like anyone else.
Salima’s List endeavors to fulfill a similar mission by bringing businesses and consumers of developmental services together to improve the opportunities for development, interaction, understanding and more so that the gifts and abilities of persons with intellectual differences will be valued and respected.
Less than 1 in 2 adults with intellectual differences are employed according to the National Snapshot of Adults with Intellectual Disabilities in the Labor Force. Our local communities have many efforts to employ adults with intellectual differences, such as One Step Beyond, Fostering Hope, and Spencer’s Place in Arizona and Bitty & Beau’s in several states across the nation. But, they need to be highlighted and publicized.
I also wish to acknowledge the many major employers who commit to the diversity by carving policies and practices, recruiting, and supporting employees with intellectual differences. I had two recent incidents involving persons with intellectual differences in a major grocery chain that reminds me that commitments, policies, and practices are good on paper, but we still need to be intentional until the acceptance and inclusion of persons with cognitive differences is ingrained into the fabric of our systems and the hearts of our community.
Please take a moment to access the link in the photo above and learn more about Jewish Disability Awareness & Inclusion Month and consider to to apply similar values in your world.
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