-
(music)
-
So many people are sitting around saying,
"Well, our job isn't quite exactly what
-
I want, I'm here for something else. And
something else, and all of a sudden it's
-
three years later and they still haven't
got a job." Hey, if it means cooking
-
hamburgers at McDonald's, get a job. Get
out there and get some experience and go
-
after it. Now, that was one thing my father
taught me, and just beat it into me from the
-
time I was a little kid, he says: "Nobody ever makes
a great success out of life workin' 40
-
hours a week." When he was 14 and a half
years old, his father sent him to Omaha,
-
Nebraska, with a whole trainload of sheep.
By himself. To sell the sheep.
-
Fourteen-and-a-half years old! Come on, he
had his first pair of long pants when
-
he did that. He went and sold all the
sheep and came home. And he said, you know, "He told
-
me what to do, he never told me
how to do it."
-
(laughter)
-
In 1989, my brother and I and my folks
were trying to decide - my mother and my
-
father had passed away in 1985 - we were
trying to figure out what segment of the
-
population, of the youth population, can
we help out. What can we do? And we sat
-
down and went through everything we could
think of. We said, "You know, young people
-
with disabilities are making a tremendous
contribution to our company. We've been
-
hiring them for years. But most of them
have- they are unemployed! And what we
-
need to do is get in there and try and find
a way of helping these young people get
-
an opportunity for full-time employment.
So over the the past 23 years, Bridges has
-
helped more than 18,000 young people
find meaningful employment.
-
(applause)
-
What Bridges does... We go work with the
special education groups and the voc
-
rehab groups and so forth in the various
cities that we're working with. They
-
identify students who could possibly be possible
Bridges candidates. Our employer representatives
-
work with these young men and women,
and we train them how to make an
-
application for a job, how to interview,
how to perform work, how to have
-
responsibility, how to do day-to-day job
responsibilities. I spoke today about this
-
sweet girl named Maria in Dallas. Hired
by the Bank of America, they'd never
-
anybody out of the program. She has spina
bifida, she could barely walk. But, you
-
know, she said, "People don't think I can
do anything because I can't walk straight."
-
But the Bank of America hired her. She is
a sensation! I mean, she's had three
-
promotions, they've hired 32 people since
from the Bridges program, and- Because
-
she is so darn good. These kids are great
for the team morale. I mean, people who
-
work with them say, "Here is somebody who's
truly excited about their job!"
-
(laughter)
-
I mean, wow! They show up, they work hard,
they're happy, they're just excited to be
-
there and be performing a useful service.
And it's good for everybody!
-
We've dealt with 4,800 different employers
down through the years. I mean, there
-
are a lot of employers out there. And
it's usually- We're educating the kids how
-
to apply for jobs, and we're also educating
the employers how to work with people with
-
disabilities, and how to be comfortable
with them. And the comfort level is the
-
most important single thing. We can get them
comfortable with working with these young
-
people and know how they can best apply
their individual talents, and it's a no-brainer.
-
These kids can really make contributions.
They can help us, they can help with our
-
morale, they can help with our bottom line,
they can help with our participation in
-
the community. You know, it's a terrific
opportunity for them, to really bring
-
these young people into the community and
into the business community.