Best Buddies- Shalonda's Story

I first would like to start off this post with serious sadness and anger that 84% of people with developmental disabilities don't have a paid job in their community. How could we let this happen? The article also has short video describing Shalonda's situation and I would just like to say that when people, not just people with disabilities but people without disabilities have no job we lose sense in purpose and meaning. That is exactly how Shalonda felt, like she had no value. I really want to get over the idea and stereotype that people with disabilities are stupid and cannot do the job that people without disabilities can, it is absolutely wrong and as I read the article I found that this stereotype is completely false. Shalonda described herself as now feeling valued and really getting the job done and that coworkers really rely on her to get the job done. She said that the Best Buddies program really helped her find her job and helped her feel valued, because every human being deserves to feel valued no matter who they are. What I would say to correlate this with my project is that jobs can make you feel valued, but so can friendships, they can go a long way in really making someone feel loved and special. The end of the video shows Shalonda at a birthday party, the last image of the video said "Sometimes a Job is more than just a job." I truly believe that if you can make friends and form relationships through work, it is totally worth it. I always remind myself at the end of life, all that matters is family and friends. I highly encourage you to check out this article as well as the video attached to it, I encourage this article over all the other postings on my blog, because I think it beautifully portrays the goals of my project. Article/Video Link: https://bestbuddiesblog.wordpress.com/2016/01/20/best-buddies-jobs-shalonda/