Client News and Media Recognition

Day-long event honors National Disability History and Awareness month & National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

 

October 12, 2010 (KINSTON, NC) — In celebration of North Carolina Disability History and Awareness Month and National Disability Employment Awareness Month throughout October, RHA Howell, Inc. is teaming up with RADD (Raising Awareness for Developmental Disabilities), and Senior Girl Scout Troop #600 to sponsor a “Disabilities Awareness Fair” at Vernon Park Mall in Kinston, NC, on Friday, October 29, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.

 

The Fair will include informational booths on companies and services related to the support services, education, training, and employment of people with disabilities. RHA Howell’s Bear Creek Center in LaGrange and Walnut Creek Center in Goldsboro – both residential intermediate care facilities for people with disabilities – will sponsor booths, along with RHA Howell’s corporate office in LaGrange.

 

RHA Howell helps people with disabilities find and retain work, and earn enough money to live independently through such programs as “Ticket-To-Work.” The “Ticket To Work” program is designed by the Social Security Administration to offer employment options for people receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Supplemental Security Income, or both.

 

For more information and to participate in the Disabilities Awareness Fair, contact Kitty Hobbs-Proctor, director of regulatory compliance for RHA Howell Corporate Office, 3738 Howell Day Care Road, La Grange, NC 28551, or call RADD and leave a message at 252-522-2814.

 

Vernon Park Mall is located at 834 Hardee Road, Kinston, NC 28503.

 

For more information on RHA Howell, visit www.rhahowell.org.

 

About NC Disability History and Awareness Month:

 

The North Carolina Youth Leadership Network spearheaded an effort to establish the month of October as Disability History and Awareness Month. In March 2007, proposed legislation was filed in the North Carolina House of Representatives (sponsored by Representative Verla Insko) and the Senate (sponsored by Senator William R. Purcell). The bill was passed in the Senate in early May and the House of Representatives in July. The Youth Leadership Network formed a partnership with the Alliance of Disability Advocates Center for Independent Living. With the support of the disability community and other important allies including the North Carolina Parent Teachers Association, they had the necessary political support to pass the bill.Congress expanded the week to a month and changed the name to “National Disability Employment Awareness Month.”  For more information: www.dol.gov/odep/faqs/ndeam.

 

 

About National Disability Employment Awareness Month:

 

Congress designated each October as National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). The effort to educate the American public about issues related to disability and employment actually began in 1945, when Congress enacted a law declaring the first week in October each year “National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week.” In 1962, the word “physically” was removed to acknowledge the employment needs and contributions of individuals with all types of disabilities.

 

 

About RHA Howell, Inc.:

 

RHA Howell, Inc. is a statewide, 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization in North Carolina that has been dedicated to helping people with special needs, and their families, make choices to live more independently for over 35 years. Integrity, high standards for quality and hard work are at the core of every RHA Howell disability assistance program. For more information, visit www.rhahowell.org.