Wesley Julian sometimes struggles comprehending everything that is said to him, but that doesn't stop him from ensuring merchandise he shelves is organized and attractive or from assisting customers with his award winning smile. And that's just what he and his supervisors at Home Depot are focusing on as they celebrate National Disability Employment Awareness Month in October. Wesley has a learning disability and mild mental retardation. For the past two years, he's been impressing Home Depot's employees, management and customers. Today, 60 to 70 percent of people with disabilities in the U.S. are unemployed. Locally, 39 percent of people with disabilities are unemployed. Gratefully, Wesley falls into the percentage of people with disabilities who work full- or part-time. Even with his disability, Wesley holds down a full-time job earning money to pay for his home. This active guy is even going to school to become a mechanic someday.

Wesley's supervisors at the Broadmoor Towne Center Home Depot are extremely happy with his performance because he's prompt, has a great rapport with his co-workers and provides fantastic customer service. Customers now ask for him by name when they are ready to load their vehicles! Wesley's supervisors quickly took notice and decided he was ready to be cross trained in other departments and is now called upon to fill in for co-workers. "Wesley is one of our best employees," says Corina Ballard, one of Wesley's supervisors, "he shines at everything he does. He recently was asked to clean up a plugged toilet and he did it enthusiastically even though it wasn't his job. He always has a positive attitude!"

This month, Wesley is one of many success stories celebrated during National Disability Employment Awareness Month, originally created in 1945 by President Harry S. Truman. When people like Wesley are having a hard time finding a job because of a disability, poverty, lack of education or work experience, Goodwill Industries of Colorado Springs is there to help. Through Goodwill, Wesley received job-training from an employment consultant who matched him with his current job. "Wesley is an independent person with a spirited personality. He is proud of his recent achievement of filling in for different departments at Home Depot," comments his Goodwill case manager Trisha Taulbee.

Despite common misconceptions, people with disabilities constitute a more secure and stable work force than what many employers may believe. The Job Accommodation Network, a national consulting service designed to increase the employability of people with disabilities, released a survey that reports 96 percent of surveyed employers said they saved money thanks to hiring or retaining employees with disabilities, making needed job accommodations and, as a result, reducing employee turnover. Another supervisor of Wesley's, Elisha Brick, comments that Wesley's disabilities appear nonexistent, "he is so confident and always finds a way to stay busy."

This October, Goodwill will directly employ or place over 350 individuals with disabilities in the community. Their jobs range from supervising children to rolling silverware. Wesley's success story is unique; for every one employee with a disability, there are many unemployed individuals locally. To learn more about hiring someone with a disability, contact Tina Argus, program coordinator at Goodwill, at 635-4483 or targus@goodwill-colosprings.org.