I had a tour of a local sheltered workshop for developmentally disabled adults because I was thinking of doing a project with them. They were very helpful but I felt very conflicted about how much money people should make in these places.
On the one hand, everyone there seemed engaged and like they wanted to be there but some places may only pay like $1 an hour. It seems too like they have a lot of trouble finding local manufacturers as clients.
It seems like a lot of these workshops are getting shut down and was just wondering if it has affected anyone here.
I really like companies that go out of there way to provide employment opportunities for folks with disabilities.
For example, Safeway (a grocery store chain in the U.S. now owned by Albertsons) is one of these companies. My local Safeway store successfully employs folks with disabilities.
Another is a Finnish company called Aarikka.
“The Key Flag symbol indicates that our products are Finnish. Very many of them are assembled either at home or at centres providing jobs for the disabled. Social employment creation has been part of our mission since the 1970s.”