Agency helps Pennsylvanians with disabilities secure employment
Work placements for the disabled, like the one for Scott Coligan of Dunbar, are funded by Pennsylvania Industries for the Blind and Handicapped (PIBH), a non-profit agency founded in 1956 that’s made up of 86 member agencies, including Goodwill, Easter Seals and the Association for the Blind. “In 1948, the state government passed legislation that mandated priority treatment for the employment of blind individuals who could produce goods at a fair market price,” said PIBH CEO Al Baker. “In 1956, the state expanded the law to include all disabled persons.”
To help them find gainful employment, PIBH has signed close to 170 contracts with various agencies like the state Department of Transportation (PennDOT). It also markets nearly 500 different disabled-made products. The blind and handicapped, for instance, produce ballpoint pens, brooms, mops, cleaning chemicals and safety products, such as vests used by road workers, safety signs and safety T-shirts, helmets and sweat shirts that PIBH helps market.
“Because of the current state budget deficit, our numbers are down this year for both products and services,” said Baker. “Although the products are sold to many governmental agencies, the public is also able to purchase them.”
For a complete list of PIBH-produced items, visit the Web site www.pibh.org.
According to Baker, Pennsylvania ranks 11th from the bottom on the list of state financial support for products and services produced by the disabled. State per capita spending to support disabled goods and services in Oregon, for instance, is $11.95 per person. In Pennsylvania, the amount dwindles to $2.86 per person.
Starting in the mid-50s, PIBH has presented an annual Disabled Person of the Year Award to a nominee recognized for their outstanding achievements. In 1996, the name of the award was changed to honor Nettie Mann, a mentally challenged individual who worked as an attendant at the Mercer County Welcome Center on Interstate 80. She died in an auto accident in 1993, just one week prior to the award ceremony in which she was to be named The Disabled Person of the Year.
“People passing through the state who stopped at the Welcome Center were so impressed with Mann that they wrote letters to then Governor Casey, commending her for being such a great state ambassador,” said Baker. “In return, the governor sent her a letter of commendation, thanking her for her outstanding efforts. After her death, PIBH thought it would be fitting to name the award after her.”
Each year, PIBH’s 22-member board of directors chooses the award winner. The last person from western Pennsylvania to win the award was Ed Caldwell of Sharon, who accepted the prize at the annual ceremony in Harrisburg in 2002.
Each winner receives an all-expense paid trip to Harrisburg, a $500 cash gift and a personalized plaque inscribed with the details of the award. Runners-up are also honored during the ceremony with a plaque and a $100 cash gift. All the nominees are also profiled in the PIBH newsletter.
This year’s Nettie Mann Award will be presented to Betty Ann Sullivan, 52, of Johnstown, who, despite being mentally retarded and a victim of Mitral Stenosis, a serious heart condition that limits blood flow through her body, has worked tirelessly for 25 years on an assembly line, packaging and heat sealing food service kits used in hospitals and other facilities.
As runner-up, Coligan is looking forward to this year’s award ceremony that will be held on Tuesday, June 8, at the Radisson Penn Harris Hotel and Convention Center in Harrisburg.
At the ceremony, actress Geri Jewell, who played Cousin Geri on the hit sitcom “The Facts of Life” and can be seen in the upcoming series “Deadwood” on HBO, will be the special guest of honor. Jewell will discuss overcoming her cerebral palsy to have a successful acting career.
“I’m honored to get the Nettie Mann Award nomination and am looking forward to going to Harrisburg for the award ceremony this June,” Coligan said.
“Although my father passed away before my accident, I have to thank my family, including my mom, 11 siblings and nieces and nephews for their overwhelming support of my efforts to recover and get back on my feet,’ he added.