Kevius Owens wants employers throughout the Tennessee Valley to do one thing for disabled workers.

“Give them a chance, a lot of them are real dependable,” said the 26-year-old Decatur man who is a cashier for Lowe’s in Decatur. The only accommodation his cerebral palsy requires is a stool to sit on so he doesn’t have to stand a full shift. That’s it.

Tiffany Bumpus wants employers throughout the Tennessee Valley to know how much her job at Wal-Mart Super Center has changed her life.

“There are some very nice associates in here, and in management, who I have made friends with,” said Bumpus, a 25-year-old Athens resident who has epilepsy. “It brings a smile to my face every day. I look forward to work every day. When you have that optimism, you try more to do your best.”

Owens and Bumpus are employees worth cloning.

They credit the Tennessee Valley Rehabilitation Center for teaching them job skills as well as coping skills.

The non-profit vocational rehabilitation center – located on the Calhoun Community College campus near Decatur – offers vocational, personal, social and educational services to people with disabilities, age 16 and up. Clientele can have any kind of disability including physical, emotional, learning, orthopedic or a job injury.

Owens and Bumpus said they went there to get jobs, but received a lot more.

“I can communicate with people a lot better. I am making more friends,” Bumpus said. “I am a lot happier. Getting out has made me happier. I thank God for it. Before, I had a more negative attitude. Now, I’m a lot more optimistic. I take those small steps. I am out in the world.”

TVRC is the only facility of its kind in the state to offers a diversity of courses to help jobseekers. TVRC serves as a model statewide for like facilities to emulate.

“There are all kinds of services available to help workers with disabilities, ” said Janet Hill, vocational services director at TVRC.

One service, called job coaching, consists of a staff member assigned to a client who will listen to the client and offer feedback on various worries or problems, usually related to work.

“The job coaching in itself is just awesome,” said Deborah Bumpus, Tiffany’s mother. She has been a volunteer for the TVRC and is a shipping and receiving clerk at Athens-Limestone Hospital, so she is familiar with the services TVRC offers.

Among the others are basic computers and office skills, certified forklift safety, learner’s license preparation, social skills and conflict resolution for work, money management and basic banking, work benefits and income and employment readiness.

“I work at shipping and receiving at Athens-Limestone Hospital, so I run across people all of the time who have a child or grandchild and who don’t know the services are there,” said Ms. Bumpus.



Life changing

Bumpus is a pretty woman — a fair-skinned redhead with long, wavy hair and green eyes.

The 25-year-old Athens woman was diagnosed with epilepsy when she was 10. At 16, doctors implanted a vagus nerve stimulator in her upper chest. This stopwatch-sized device electrically stimulates the vagus nerve leading to the brain in epileptic patients when drugs do not work.

If Bumpus is at work and feels the aura – the sometimes-frightening sign to her that a seizure is imminent – she tells a coworker. Together they get the special magnet and move it across the nerve stimulator in her chest. This blunts the impact of the seizure, slowing it down and making it easier on Bumpus. The small convulsion lasts 3 to 4 minutes and occurs about 10 times a month.

The only accommodation Bumpus needs at work is someone to help her trigger the vagus nerve stimulator.

Since July, Bumpus has been straightening and organizing apparel at Wal-Mart, mainly in the children’s department.

“It gets frustrating at times, but every job is like that,” she said. “From the beginning, it has gotten better and better. It’s been a blessing.”

She credits the TVRC staff with changing her outlook on life.

“TVRC has helped me a lot, not just with training,” she said, specifically crediting Employment Specialist Tammy Moore. “Tammy is not only my counselor, she is my friend. She has inspired me and given me encouragement with this.”

TVRC also acts as a liaison between employer and employee to make sure the job is getting done and that the employee’s needs are being met.

“We try to teach them the point of going the extra mile,” Moore said.

Learning to communicate with the employer is crucial.

“They have to understand the things I go through,” Bumpus said. “I have to give them an explanation – they have to know about it.”

She doubts she would feel like she does today without help from the TVRC.

“Looking for a job can be overwhelming for anyone,” Bumpus said. “It can especially be overwhelming for someone with a disability.”

She had never held a regular job other than volunteer work and she either didn’t know or lacked confidence in her capabilities. Employment specialist Moore stuck with her when she applied for different jobs.

“She helped me choose what job was best for me,” Bumpus said.

The help didn’t end there. Landing the job was only half the battle. Learning the ropes was just as stressful.

“I had anxiety about it,” Bumpus said. “I had always been at home. I had never gotten out much during my teen years because I couldn’t drive. So I had to take small steps,” she said.

Bumpus feels more confident in her job each week.



Sees a future

Like Bumpus, Owens credits the TVRC with opening a path for him. He has been at Lowe’s several months now and works 30 to 32 hours a week.

“I’ve always been on disability, and I was a student before that,” Owens said.

This is his first real trek into the work force and he sees a future at Lowe’s.

“I plan on being there for a while and move up the ladder – possibly to head cashier in the future,” he said.

In the immediate future he hopes to save enough money to buy a car.

“It’s a good learning experience,” he said. “You learn something new every day. I still need to learn customer service and return desk.”

As for his co-workers, he likes them.

“My co-workers are straight, their cool.”

Owens has this advice for others with disabilities who may want to check out the TVRC.

“I recommend it to anyone,” he said. “But you’ve got to be serious about it. You’ve got to want it for yourself.”



Not a free pass

TVRC clients don’t get an automatic free pass to a job.

“We hold the employees whether disabled or not to the same standards – in hiring process as well as in the work environment,” said Martha Smith, human resources manager at Lowe’s in Decatur. “They put in applications and went through the same hiring process as anyone else would do,” she said.

But that is what many disabled people want – to be part of the everyday, working world.

“These people don’t want charity,” said Jerry Puckett, workshop manager for Tri-County Industries. “They have been on disability, they have had people give things to them, but what they want is a regular job.”