Once in a while, in the beginning, Robert Ramos would quit his job.
“I quit,” he would announce, and walk out the door of Josh Early Candies, the shop in South Whitehall where daily commerce is conducted among the alluring aromas of chocolates and caramels.
Those occasional resignations, prompted by nothing in particular, might have made his bosses reconsider their decision to hire a worker with developmental disabilities — something they had never done — but time and patience were the key. Ramos, 34, has held the job for 11 years, and is a favorite among his colleagues as they labor away in their Willy Wonka world.
“It’s been years since you quit, right?” said Barry Dobil Jr., vice president of Josh Early, as he sat with Ramos in the break room one recent morning.
Ramos nodded. Those days were a long time ago. He is solidly reliable now. He cleans the shop before opening — sweeping, vacuuming, wiping counters. He makes the coffee, helps out on the chocolate line, mans the grill at the employee picnic and other get-togethers, collects money for charity.
“Mostly everything,” he said, when he was asked to name a favorite task.
Ramos’ story is an example of how people with mental or physical disabilities can succeed in mainstream jobs — something the federal and state governments have increasingly encouraged.
In the past, many people with disabilities remained unemployed or labored at low-paying piecework jobs — packing boxes with items, for example — even though they were capable of more complex and demanding work.
The disparity in employment for people with disabilities and people without is stark, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate in the disabilities community was 9.2 percent in 2017, more than double the 4.2 percent rate outside of it.
In addition, 32 percent of workers with a disability worked only part time, compared with 17 percent for those with no disability.
Fighting that disparity is the task of advocacy organizations such as Via of the Lehigh Valley, which serves about 1,000 adults and children a year in seven counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Carbon, Monroe, Pike, Bucks and Berks.
The nonprofit began in 1952 as a parent-driven effort to give people with disabilities more opportunities for job training and socialization.
Two years later it was incorporated as the Lehigh Association of Retarded Children, or LARC. The name changed to the Lehigh Valley Association of Rehabilitation Centers in 1989. In 1997, the agency merged with United Cerebral Palsy of the Lehigh Valley to form Via.
Cortney Lakis, who oversees Via’s employment programs, said persuading employers to hire from the disabled community is easier these days than it once was thanks to greater public awareness, but it’s still a challenge in some respects.
“One of our biggest hurdles is overcoming stereotypes,” she said. “People with disabilities can do almost everything everyone else can do. Not everyone can be an IT programmer — I know I couldn’t — and it’s the same with people with disabilities. They have interests and strengths.”
Via’s primary jobs program is called Community Employment. Two job coaches and 10 employment specialists help clients train for jobs and find the ones that match their skills.
“People do a better job when they enjoy what they’re doing,” Lakis said. “Part of it is carving out a position for them that fits their strengths and their interests.”
Many area employers — C.F. Martin & Co., Yocco’s, Weis Markets, the PPL Center and dozens more — have hired through Via, pleased to find a talent pool of people not only able to work, but eager to.
“We have some really great go-to companies here,” Lakis said. “They see the value of supporting the community, whether disabled or not.”
Another Via program, Student Work Experience, finds paid internships for young people that are integrated with the school day. The program lasts nine weeks, during which the students make $10.35 an hour — five hours a day, two days a week — working at supermarkets, child care centers, Dorney Park, Great Wolf Lodge and other sites.
The benefits go both ways. Employers see what people with disabilities can do, which may encourage them to explore the adult work program. And the students — in addition to learning how to job hunt, prepare a resume and perform in interviews — get their first taste of working life and its advantages.
“It was a great experience for me to be able to work with kids and get paid for it,” said Jason Jones of Hellertown, a Keystone College freshman studying special education and early childhood education who interned at a daycare during his senior year at Saucon Valley High School.
“They had me working with the kids — reading stories to them, learning about the weather and the days of the week, handing out snacks,” he said. “I loved it so much I eventually got hired by them for the summer and worked five days a week.”
Jones, 19, was eligible for Student Work Experience because he has a learning disability that affects his reading ability. He said this long made him a target for teasing in the classroom.
“It was tough,” he said, “but I battled through it and ignored them. Being in the work experience really helped me overlook that and helped me shine.”
Jones said the experience also eased his fear that his disability would limit his opportunities in the job market.
“I think I shocked a lot of people” by doing so well, he said.
Getting paid was a bonus. For participants, earning money bestows a level of seriousness and dignity on working.
“Having that first paycheck is a huge game changer for these kids,” Lakis said.
So, of course, are all the succeeding paychecks as Via clients enter the working world.
Barry Dobil Sr., Josh Early’s president, said Via approached him 11 years ago about hiring someone through the Community Employment program.
“We never did anything like it before, but we put our heads together and figured out what kinds of things we could delegate to him,” he said.
The routine and responsibility of his job at the candymaker helped Ramos develop life skills and a higher level of independence.
“When he first came here, he couldn’t cross the street by himself. Now he knows the bus schedule like the back of his hand and has a bank account,” Dobil said.
Some time back, Ramos won a fire company raffle — $120. The next day he showed up with a big pile of Slim Jim beef sticks, sodas and Kit Kat bars for his co-workers — “about $119 worth,” Dobil Sr. said.
Those gestures — and his habit of hugging co-workers and occasionally singing with them — have endeared him to everyone.
“He does more around here for morale than we ever expected,” Dobil Sr. said.
Via is funded in large part by grants and donations. It’s a good investment, said Jones, the Keystone College student who’s building a foundation of confidence through his experience with the agency.
“I think more people should look into what Via does for the Lehigh Valley,” he said.
