0:00:00.201,0:00:06.352
(music)

0:00:06.352,0:00:09.770
So many people are sitting around saying,[br]"Well, our job isn't quite exactly what

0:00:09.770,0:00:13.486
I want, I'm here for something else. And[br]something else, and all of a sudden it's

0:00:13.486,0:00:18.191
three years later and they still haven't[br]got a job." Hey, if it means cooking

0:00:18.191,0:00:22.610
hamburgers at McDonald's, get a job. Get[br]out there and get some experience and go

0:00:22.610,0:00:29.003
after it. Now, that was one thing my father[br]taught me, and just beat it into me from the

0:00:29.003,0:00:33.689
time I was a little kid, he says: "Nobody ever makes[br]a great success out of life workin' 40

0:00:33.689,0:00:39.455
hours a week." When he was 14 and a half[br]years old, his father sent him to Omaha,

0:00:39.455,0:00:44.067
Nebraska, with a whole trainload of sheep.[br]By himself. To sell the sheep.

0:00:44.067,0:00:49.383
Fourteen-and-a-half years old! Come on, he[br]had his first pair of long pants when

0:00:49.383,0:00:57.306
he did that. He went and sold all the[br]sheep and came home. And he said, you know, "He told

0:00:57.306,0:00:59.252
me what to do, he never told me[br]how to do it."

0:00:59.252,0:01:02.368
(laughter)

0:01:02.368,0:01:08.726
In 1989, my brother and I and my folks[br]were trying to decide - my mother and my

0:01:08.726,0:01:14.458
father had passed away in 1985 - we were[br]trying to figure out what segment of the

0:01:14.458,0:01:21.755
population, of the youth population, can[br]we help out. What can we do? And we sat

0:01:21.755,0:01:27.087
down and went through everything we could[br]think of. We said, "You know, young people

0:01:27.087,0:01:30.454
with disabilities are making a tremendous[br]contribution to our company. We've been

0:01:30.454,0:01:37.131
hiring them for years. But most of them[br]have- they are unemployed! And what we

0:01:37.131,0:01:40.964
need to do is get in there and try and find[br]a way of helping these young people get

0:01:40.964,0:01:46.687
an opportunity for full-time employment.[br]So over the the past 23 years, Bridges has

0:01:46.687,0:01:51.573
helped more than 18,000 young people[br]find meaningful employment.

0:01:51.573,0:01:55.730
(applause)

0:01:55.730,0:01:59.817
What Bridges does... We go work with the[br]special education groups and the voc

0:01:59.817,0:02:03.163
rehab groups and so forth in the various[br]cities that we're working with. They

0:02:03.163,0:02:09.059
identify students who could possibly be possible[br]Bridges candidates. Our employer representatives

0:02:09.059,0:02:14.236
work with these young men and women,[br]and we train them how to make an

0:02:14.236,0:02:18.664
application for a job, how to interview,[br]how to perform work, how to have

0:02:18.664,0:02:24.223
responsibility, how to do day-to-day job[br]responsibilities. I spoke today about this

0:02:24.223,0:02:29.039
sweet girl named Maria in Dallas. Hired[br]by the Bank of America, they'd never

0:02:29.039,0:02:34.464
anybody out of the program. She has spina[br]bifida, she could barely walk. But, you

0:02:34.464,0:02:38.365
know, she said, "People don't think I can[br]do anything because I can't walk straight."

0:02:38.365,0:02:44.641
But the Bank of America hired her. She is[br]a sensation! I mean, she's had three

0:02:44.641,0:02:50.996
promotions, they've hired 32 people since[br]from the Bridges program, and- Because

0:02:50.996,0:02:58.047
she is so darn good. These kids are great[br]for the team morale. I mean, people who

0:02:58.047,0:03:02.416
work with them say, "Here is somebody who's[br]truly excited about their job!"

0:03:02.416,0:03:03.449
(laughter)

0:03:03.449,0:03:10.301
I mean, wow! They show up, they work hard,[br]they're happy, they're just excited to be

0:03:10.301,0:03:16.222
there and be performing a useful service.[br]And it's good for everybody!

0:03:16.222,0:03:23.486
We've dealt with 4,800 different employers[br]down through the years. I mean, there

0:03:23.486,0:03:29.277
are a lot of employers out there. And[br]it's usually- We're educating the kids how

0:03:29.277,0:03:32.418
to apply for jobs, and we're also educating[br]the employers how to work with people with

0:03:32.418,0:03:36.262
disabilities, and how to be comfortable[br]with them. And the comfort level is the

0:03:36.262,0:03:39.495
most important single thing. We can get them[br]comfortable with working with these young

0:03:39.495,0:03:46.251
people and know how they can best apply[br]their individual talents, and it's a no-brainer.

0:03:46.251,0:03:50.603
These kids can really make contributions.[br]They can help us, they can help with our

0:03:50.603,0:03:56.013
morale, they can help with our bottom line,[br]they can help with our participation in

0:03:56.013,0:04:01.332
the community. You know, it's a terrific[br]opportunity for them, to really bring

0:04:01.332,0:04:07.417
these young people into the community and[br]into the business community.