Waiting for Devision of Vocational Rehabilitation: Scott's Story

Waiting for Devision of Vocational Rehabilitation:  Scott's Story

By:  Nate Trela

Scott Seder: 'I want to provide for my family again. It's a pride thing.'

Scott Seder says he has applied for more than 400 jobs in the past
year, desperate to come anywhere near what he used to make before
losing a full-time warehouse job in May.

But time and again, prospective employers tell Seder that his legal
blindness leaves them skeptical that he can do the job,  and they are
unwilling to give him a chance to interview, let alone prove
otherwise.

"When you have DVR (the Colorado  Division of Vocational
Rehabilitation) backing you, they seem less likely to push you down
the pipeline,"Seder, 46 of Colorado Springs said. "There are small
companies that could not afford the equipment I may need and I can't
afford it. Others just won't try. If you have DVR on your side, they
can help with that, offer you support."

Seder is among more than 6,000 Coloradans on a waiting list for
services through the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, a state
agency that provides training, equipment and support for people with
disabilities seeking to enter or return to the workforce. It is the
largest such wait list of any agency of its type in the country.

"In the long run, you're not saving the state any money. You have
people wanting to be in the workforce, paying taxes and providing
revenue, and they are absolutely not providing services," Seder said.

There is no doubt in Seder's mind that he can work. He spent 2.5 years
with EnvisionXpress in Ft. Carson, handling everything from sales to
warehouse duties. He was laid off after the federal spending cuts
known s sequestration forced the company to cut its staffing. Seder
said he understood that as the last person hired, he would be the
first to go and figured he would be able to find work quickly with the
help of DVR.

He applied for services in May at the Colorado Springs office of DVR
but knows it could be a long time before he could get services. While
the DVR announced last week that  it would take 500 people off the
wait list, his counselor said he likely would not be among them. The
counselor has been incredibly supportive and genuinely frustrated that
she cannot do more for him, but "they have tied her hands on this,"
Seder said.

For now, he is working less than three hours a day in a central food
preparation kitchen for Colorado Springs School District No. 11, where
in a given day he could be chopping and dicing the veggies for 40
gallons of salsa or shredding head after head of cabbage for cole slaw
or chopping veggies for thousands of salads.
He's glad to have any work at this point, but he made more in two days
at his old job than  he does in an entire week with the school
district. He'd take more hours if he could get them, even though he is
making minimum wage now,  to take care of his wife and three sons.

"I don't want to be on public assistance," Seder said."I want to
provide for my family again. It is a pride thing."

Seder said he is interested in administrative work and feels he is
already qualified for it, but would also be interested in training for
a career in culinary arts or tech support if he can access training
for it with DVR's support.
"Really, I'll do any kind of work," Seder said.