To help with his typing, his hands are stiffened by finger splints. The progress is steady, but laborious. I get to learn new things and meet new people. Rogers is one of 14 employees at the UI who are part of a Goodwill Industries' Supported Employment program, designed to provide disabled people with suitable employment. They achieve this goal not only by creating jobs at the company stores and recycling centers but through their program of supported employment.
All matches are individualized or 'tailor fitted' to the particular job tasks.
Rogers remains an employee of Goodwill Industries, receiving his paycheck and benefits from Goodwill. When John Lundell, coordinator of the Injury Prevention Research Center, was approached by a representative of Goodwill, Lundell immediately recognized the program's advantages. We have a perpetual struggle to get it all entered into computers so that it can be analyzed. What Rob gives us, in a word, is consistency. In April, Rogers began working for the UI Department of Preventive Medicine, where he assists Lundell's center and several other programs within the department.