Disability Resource Center
Employment Services
Competitive Employment & Job Seekers Services:
Success Stories l
Employment Day & Mini Job Fair l
Customized Work Experience Program l
Job Postings l
First Impression Men's Suit
Program
Business Services & Workforce Solutions:
Testimonials l
The Business Case l
Business Services l
Business Advisory Council l
Training Events Calendar l
ADA Facts
If you want to Contact the Center's employment program, please call (502) 589-6620 for Louisville and surrounding areas, or (270) 753-7676 for Murray & West Kentucky. You may also email khosey at Calky dot org.
A Name you Can Trust
The Center for Accessible Living has nineteen years experience helping individuals with all types of disabilities, including Office for Vocational Rehabilitation clients find and keep quality careers. Experienced staff will help gather the tools and resources needed to find, get, and keep that dream job.
We have assisted individuals with GEDs to doctorates, high school to retirement and cross-disability. We’ll help create a professional resume, fine tune interviewing skills, teach ADA rights and self-advocacy, and give all the skills needed to find a job.
From high school students with Autism to seasoned workers with newly developed disabilities, CAL knows the accommodations, and can build the job supports needed to be successful in any job.
Persons with disabilities seeking competitive jobs and career opportunities can seek assistance offered at both Center for Accessible Living sites, located in Louisville and Murray, KY.
CAL employment programs create and expand job and career opportunities for individuals with disabilities in the competitive labor market by engaging the participation of business and industry in the rehabilitation process. The Center promotes the involvement of business and private industry through the Business Advisory Council (BAC), that identifies jobs and careers available in the community and provides advice on appropriate skills and training. Private industry partners help identify competitive job and career opportunities and the skills needed to perform these jobs to create practical job and career readiness and training programs and to provide job placement and career advancement.
The Center provides job development, job placement, career advancement, and training services, such as job readiness training or job skills training for program participants. The Program also provide supportive services and assistance for individuals with disabilities in work settings.
Kentucky Office for Vocational Rehabilitation Clients
Community Rehabilitation Program (CRP)
The Center for Accessible Living’s staff will utilize their extensive experience to provide services with an outcome of competitive employment. Job placement specialists will fit each individual with the position and company that fits best. CAL also offers Skills Training and SSA job retention. Individuals need a referral from their Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor for this program to receive intensive employment assistance, including the services listed below.
Employment Network (EN)
The Center for Accessible Living is certified as an Employment Network. After successful placement into a career, individuals receiving SSI & SSDI can be referred to the Center for Accessible Living for follow-up and on-the-job support.
Our dedicated staff will ensure that your dream job stays a reality with services and supports to make it a successful endeavor after a Vocational Rehabilitation case is closed.
Social Security Beneficiaries
If you have one of these:
Then you can earn on of these:
The Center for Accessible Living is certified as an Employment Network. Individuals
receiving SSI & SSDI can assign their
"Ticket to Work"
to the Center and receive
intensive employment assistance, including the services listed below.
After successful placement into a career, individuals continue to receive follow-up and on-the-job support. Our dedicated staff will ensure that your dream job stays a reality with services and supports to make it a successful endeavor.
Job Seekers Services
If you are a person with a disability and are searching for employment, you may qualify for assistance.
The Employment staff is ready to assist you with:
- Resume Preparation
- Interviewing Skills
- Internet Access
- Job Seeking
- Weekly Job Hunt Club, Thursdays 9:00 - 11:00 A.M.
- Job Search Peer Support Group Thursdays 11:00 A.M. - Noon
- Skills Training
- Career Development
- Customized Work Experience Program
- Job Leads
- Access to Employers with an Interest in Hiring People with Disabilities
- Job Development & Placement
- Professional clothing for low-income participants
- Employment Day
What is a Disability?
A person with a disability is defined as: A person with physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; or a person with a record of such a physical or mental impairment; or a person who is regarded as having such an impairment.
Examples of disabilities are:
Visible Disabilities include:
Paraplegia/Quadriplegia, Cerebral Palsy, Hard of Hearing/Deafness, Muscular Dystrophy, Blind or Visually Impaired, Amputation, Spinal Bifida, and more...
Hidden Disabilities include:
Learning Disability (such as ADD, Dyslexia), Arthritis, Heart Disease, Mental or Emotional Illness, Epilepsy/Stroke, Back Injury, Diabetes, Cancer, HIV, Head Injury, Autism, and more...
Customized Work Experience Program (CWE)
Any individual wishing to volunteer here to get work experience can call Beverly Alford at (502) 589-6620.
Testimonials - A Rich History of Success
How CAL Helped me Find a Job
By Ian Mooney
My name is Ian Mooney. I am 16 years old. I have never had a job before, and did not have any idea how to look for one or what to say about my disability. I started working with an employment specialist at the Center last year to learn how to look for a job. He gave me some job applications and had me practice completing them. I am glad he did. I thought all applications were the same, but they are not. It would have been hard for me to look for a job for real if I had not understood this. He taught me how to keep my ID and Social Security information and reference information in a notebook so I would have it for job applications. He also helped me learned how to tie a tie for a job interview. He also helped me understand how to handle issues about my disability, how to act while waiting for an interview, and how to shake hands with an interviewer.
I went to the Employment Day for Youth last spring. There I learned how to write a resume using the skills I gained in Scouts, volunteering and cooking at home. I also listened to a lady talk about how to dress for a job interview. Another lady talked about the best ways to get a job when you have never had one before. She helped me a lot. I continued to come to the Center after that to work with my employment specialist.
At this last Employment Day, I came after school and went to a mock interview. The man told me the things I did right and gave me some ideas on things I could do better. Soon after that, I turned 16 and started to look for a job. I put in a lot of applications and talked to everybody I knew about what I was looking for. One waitress at a restaurant gave me a job lead which generated an interview, but I didn’t get the job. Then, after nearly a month of looking, I put an application in online to Kroger. This was Friday night at home. Saturday afternoon the manager called me and asked could I come in Sunday for an interview. I did, and I got the job. I am working now as a bagger and utility clerk, which means bringing in the grocery carts. I really like it.
Thanks to the Center and my employment specialist for helping me.
My Success Story
By Peggy Bassford
After moving here from Tennessee to be with my mother, I saw a flyer for a peer support group for people with disabilities at the Center for Accessible Living. I asked about when the next meeting was going to be an attended that meeting. During the meeting I met with staff and including, my Employment Specialist, to help me get a job, and someone I was able to discuss benefits with, since I had been trying to apply for SSI. I was grateful for this meeting because I had no other source of income at this time.
My Employment Specialist listened to me. We were able to talk about my past job experience. She was able to help remember all the jobs that have held in the past, including dates and supervisors, in order to determine what jobs I should on applications. Together we developed a resume and put together a list of good references and filled out several employment applications. My Employment Specialist was also able to help me talk to some employers to determine what types of places be the best fit for me. She also sent me to vocational rehabilitation. At VR I was able to get help purchasing clothes for an interview and job coach after I started a job to help me train.
I glad that I am able to work. I have been working at Ryan’s Steakhouse for almost a year now, washing dishes and cleaning for them. I started out part-time but have recently found out that I may start working full time now. The staff at the center still are there for me. My Employment Specialist is still here whenever I have time to work to listen and help me figure out how to handle it. I have also recently decided to move out. The Independent Living Specialist at the center and is helping me look a place to stay, and with questions I have about housing applications. Staff at the center have really been able to help me out a lot and I am glad they are here.
SUCCESS STORY: HOW CAL HELPED ME FIND A JOB
By John Monaghan
How I came to need the aid of the Center for Accessible Living is inconsequential to my story. Suffice it to say that I made some bad choices in my life regarding my education and the way I've dealt with family and friends in the past. Fortunately, I've never had to deal with addictions of any kind but because of my attitude toward the world alone, I still had to hit rock bottom to see that I needed to change the way I was living and interacting with people. I was angry at the world for having been disabled at birth and believed I could just throw my life away and somebody would always bail me out when I got into trouble. I never thought that I would actually ever be homeless and penniless until I found myself trying to get some sleep in the bushes alongside a hotel just off interstate 64 under a flattened cardboard box in the rain. And yet there I was!
With the help of some good Samaritans, I made my way to the Wayside Christian Mission where I found many people like myself. Unlike me, they had given up on life altogether and were content to waste away there, eventually to end up back up on the street and most likely dead. I had heard many of them say Wayside was the Cadillac of men's shelters compared to others they had stayed in but I can assure you it was in no way a healthy, safe or pleasant place to stay. I had to find a way back to a life of my own but I didn't have any of the means to do so. I needed a job but to get the job, I needed interview worthy clothing and lots of access to an Internet capable computer.
After many miles of footwork, I found the Center for Accessible living and an employment specialist who is a real gentleman.
He didn't judge me or dismiss me. Instead, he put all his efforts into helping me as much as he could. He fitted me with a "like new"
suit from
the Center’s First Impressions job interview suit closet, helped me with my resume and gave me access to the center’s computers.
Thank You Letter
To Whom It May Concern:
Before I found the program Career Choices, I was in a position of being unable to work and being placed on disability. I had no time or reason to wake up or go to bed, I was in a very depressed state in my life.
Career Choices slowly helped me find the right position for me to work my way back into the workforce without taking away my disability money. Instead, I traded my disability check for a paycheck. I will admit the steps were not easy, but today I look back and have a job and a future. I have more today because of Career Choices than I had when I was only on disability, I have opportunities and freedom; I thank God for Carissa Johnson and her team of dedicated workers that help people like me live a normal life.
Most Sincerely,
A Client (Consumer has asked to remain anonymous).
First Impression Men's Suit Program
Because first impressions last a lifetime!
To make a great first impression on their potential employers…
The Center For Accessible Living has a collection of men's professional clothing for job seekers in Louisville and surrounding areas that need Interview attire.
Individuals do not need to have a disability to receive a suit.
To Get a Suit
Men must be actively seeking employment and referred by an approved agency. To become an approved agency,
call Keith Hosey at (502) 589-6620 or email Keith Hosey for more information.
WALK-INS WILL NOT BE SUITED.
For more information or to get the referral form, please call or email.
To Donate Clothing
The Center is always accepting donations.
Please keep us in mind when talking to family, friends, at church and when going through your own closet.
Donation Guidelines
First Impression Suit Closet is very appreciative to the community for it’s generous donations to our Program. As you plan to bring your items, please consider the following guidelines:
** Please note that any clothing we determine to be not appropriate for our mission may be given to another worthy community agency serving disadvantaged individuals.
We ARE currently accepting new or nearly new, cleaned contemporary interview-appropriate:
Please bring all items cleaned and on hangers. NO BAGS OR BOXES PLEASE.
We are NOT currently accepting:
Donations are currently accepted:
Mondays - Fridays by appointment only between 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Volunteering:
We are always accepting volunteers at the Center for Accessible Living and First Impression Suit Program. There are many ways you can be a part of our programs, no matter your availability.
Please contact our office for more information about donations or volunteering. You may call at (502) 589-6620, email Keith Hosey to donate or email Beverly Alford to volunteer.
Center for Accessible Living
305 W. Broadway, Suite 200
Louisville, KY 40202
(502) 589-6620 PHONE
(502) 589-3980 FAX
(502) 589-6690 TTY
All donations are tax deductible.
To donate Women's professional clothing, please contact Dress For Success at (502) 584-8050.
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