The South Carolina Employment First Initiative announces #HireMeSC social media launch at annual transition conference
March 7, 2017
The South Carolina Employment First Initiative is thrilled to announce the launch of its social media campaign, #HireMeSC, at the annual Empowering a Future and Mapping Your Future 2017 conferences. The #HireMeSC Campaign aims to use social media to engage young adults with disabilities in sharing their career ambitions, success, and barriers to employment in order to raise awareness about the importance of promoting employment as the first and preferred option for students with disabilities.
Empowering a Future is an annual transition conference for professionals working with young adults with disabilities and Mapping Your Future is the free companion event for young adults with disabilities in transition and their family members. At both the conferences, there will be a #HireMeSC photo booth set up to encourage attendees to participant in the campaign. For young adults with disabilities who want to get involved, take a selfie or a photo with a group holding the #HireMeSC sign and/or include the #HireMeSC hashtag in your post. Upload your photo and post a few sentences about your dream job, success you’ve already had with employment, or the barriers you see to employment for people with disabilities with the hashtag #HireMeSC.
These conferences are intended to raise expectations, foster awareness of best practices, and build critical skills. Both conferences will be held at Furman University. Empowering a Future will run for a full day on Friday, March 10, 2017. Mapping Your Future will run for a full day on Saturday, March 11, 2017. For more information on either conference, please contact Charlie Walters by phone at 803-779-5121, ext. 133 or email at [email protected].
“The unfortunate truth is that youth with disabilities are commonly met with lower expectations in schools and communities. Working-age adults with disabilities are 2-3 times less likely to be competitively employed. HireMeSC is about empowering young adults to challenge that statistic with their own success, speaking out about what they want for their own lives and advocating for communities that recognize successful careers as the aim for all people”, stated Charlie Walters, Director of Transition Programs.
Empowering a Future and Mapping Your Future 2017 are made possible through support from Able South Carolina, Transition Alliance of South Carolina, SC Department of Education, Family Connection of SC, and Protection & Advocacy for People with Disabilities, Inc. Empowering a Future includes lunch and is $50, and Mapping Your Future is Free. To register for these conferences, please click here- http://www.able-sc.org/mapping-your-future-empowering-a-future-2017/
The purpose of the South Carolina Employment First Initiative is to increase competitive, integrated employment outcomes for young adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. The South Carolina Employment First Initiative is accomplishing this goal through the work of the South Carolina Disability Employment Coalition and collaboration with thirteen Project Partners. The South Carolina Disability Employment Coalition is made possible by funding from the SC Developmental Disabilities Council and the Administration for Community Living at the US Department of Health and Human Services.
