Job Solutions Since 1963

Abilities Center of Southern New Jersey, Inc.

Disability: Who is Vulnerable?

"Disability" is a random event that cuts across age, gender, racial and socioeconomic lines. It can happen to anyone, at any time, at any place. Everyone is vulnerable. One in four Americans will become disabled at some point in their lives, as reported by the US Social Security Administration.

Whatever the cause, duration, or different the impacts of a disability, it often means changing jobs, finding a new job and possibly facing long-term unemployment.

People with Disabilities and Without Disabilities
US Department of Labor, Nov. 2011

ODEP - Office of Disability Employment Policy

ODEP - Office of Disability Employment Policy

ODEP - Office of Disability Employment Policy

Labor Force Participation:

People with disabilities: 20.8%

People without disabilities: 69.5%

Unemployment Rate:
People with disabilities: 13%
People without disabilities:8%

Compounding this dire situation, the poverty rate, increasing for all Americans, is more than twice as high for people with disabilities as it is for those without disabilities. The US Census reported that 28 percent of people with disabilities were living in poverty, in contrast to 12 percent of the general population, in 2010.

People with disabilities need solutions. They want to work.

Abilities Center: Job Solutions Since 1963

Abilities Center of Southern New Jersey, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has solutions - job solutions. Since 1963, Abilities Center has been providing vocational rehabilitation services for its consumers, people with disabilities and other barriers to entering or re-entering the workforce. Barriers to employment may be an employer's lack of information about what it means to hire a person with a disability and that a "reasonable accommodation" may be simple and easy to implement. Abilities Center's Community-Based Employment, facilitated by an employment specialist, is one way in which employers and employees are better informed and supported. Abilities Center, as an advocate for people with disabilities in employment, is also able to raise awareness about other barriers, such as transportation-related challenges.

Vocational rehabilitation provides proven solutions for people with disabilities, preparing them for re-entry into workplace and job retention. Abilities Center's services are "job solutions" that ultimately create opportunities for people with disabilities to start or get back to work:

Vocational Evaluation
School-To-Career
Community-Based Employment
Transitional On-Site Work Experience

The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), the "gold standard" in the field, accredits Abilities Center's key services. All services are delivered by experienced, credentialed staff in a team environment.

Abilities Center is also an AbilityOne affiliate. The AbilityOne Program is a Federal initiative to help people who are blind or have other significant disabilities find employment by working within a national network of over 600 Nonprofit Agencies that sell products and services to the U.S. government. .

Abilities Center is active in the local community as a member of United Way of Gloucester County and Camden County, Southern New Jersey Chamber of Commerce and the Woodbury Chamber of Commerce.

These are difficult times for people with disabilities and their families - high unemployment, too few jobs and growing poverty.

Abilities Center cannot change the economy. A nonprofit community leader for nearly 50 years, what Abilities Center will do is fulfill its mission to deliver employment services for people with disabilities and other disadvantages. Its services - job solutions - will prepare its consumers to maximize their potential.

National Council on Disability, 2010. Chart depicts employment rates of people with disabilities and people without disabilities, before and after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Fundraising Abilities Center of Southern New Jersey, Inc. operates with a mix of public and private funding sources.
Your donations are important to Abilities Center as we face reduced public funding, decreased contributions from foundations that rely on investment income - and a constant demand for our services. Our Transitional Services have a waiting list of approximately 75 individuals at any given time.

To learn how your gift makes a difference, turn to our Donations page or give now, through PayPal.

Other ways you can contribute is by participating in our community fundraisers, which are held throughout the year. "Like" us on Facebook and stay in touch with our events and other activities. Online, consider these options:

Shop using Goodsearch at Goodsearch.com, where Abilities Center is a registered charity
Shop with Igive, at Igive.com, where Abilities Center is a registered charity

Sell your stuff and donate a portion to Abilities through Ebay's Mission Fish program