HGG Community Forums

As some of you may be aware of, disabled people tend to have odd working histories. Mostly due to health issues, and to lack of employment opportunities. Sadly, not every company wants to hire disabled people who are seen as hurting their bottom lines due to accommodation needs. It's hard to prove discrimination when they simply don't call you for interviews.

Anyway, I am deaf and has had a very irregular working history due to health issues and being in the wrong places for employment purposes. I had some side jobs in high school, and a custodian job for 4 years when I was in my late 20s. I had to quit that job because that job wasn't going to accommodate putting me on light duty due to injuries even with a doctor's note because of their work "requirements".

I also lived in places where it just wasn't feasible to even bother looking for jobs. Small towns, or having to know Spanish where my grandma lived and so on. She lived in a town one hour's drive from the US/Mexico border in New Mexico. Services for disabled people were all but nonexistent due to funding in the small towns. When I lived in Massena, NY (upstate), the nearest interpreting agency was over 2 hours away in Watertown and they were short staffed. You get the idea.

So my resume is pretty much what an employer doesn't want to see. Too many years of unemployment. Heh.

I even went to community college some years ago and got myself an associate's degree in database technology. Voc Rehab set me up with a job coach, and all she kept getting was "I don't have work experience, they want 1 year of work experience." Volunteering was not an option because it would not cover the basic transportation expenses. It was either a full time job or bust. Well it was a bust, and then I had to take care of my mom (she passed away last year due to pneumonia), so I had to stop looking for jobs. I was the only child so I didn't have any siblings to help out with that.

Now that Ellie has started school, I restarted the job hunt, and my job coach got me a job that I wouldn't have considered under normal circumstances, but I felt it was too good to pass up. I was originally going to hunt for computer desk jobs so I could get a foot into the IT field and put my associate's degree to use, but after a discussion with my job coach, that didn't seem feasible due to several reasons.

1) Weird hours
2) Unreliable work schedule
3) Having to be on call
3) Lack of childcare options for Ellie

Lack of childcare? Well there's a dearth of options for families that don't work traditional hours. Night shift, and weekend work. If I had to go into work at night or on the weekend, who was gonna watch Ellie? Charlie would have been at work. Both of Ellie's grandmas have passed away within the last two years.

So it means that both Charlie and I need work schedules that dovetail together. Especially when I have to be home by 4 pm so Ellie is covered at home.

This new job is custodian work again, but my job coach has told me this one is far far better than my old job was. For one thing, every floor has an elevator and has its own supply closets with carts. Plus I won't be lifting more than 20 lbs max, if even that. At my old job, I had to be able to lift up to 50 lbs. I won't be driving a cleaning route and constantly going in and out of AC, and I won't have to carry my cleaning supplies up and down the stairs because the buildings didn't have elevators or supply closets. That was why I was having problems with my knee and shoulder, but that won't be the case at this new job.

I'll be working at a federal courthouse, and the pay is 15 bucks an hour plus an extra 4.something because the company doesn't provide health plans. So they pay extra so their employees can afford to get their own. So I'll make nearly 20 bucks an hour. I get 2 weeks of paid vacation after a year, and 6 days of sick leave that is separate from vacation days (no PTO) plus all federal holidays off with pay. Plus I get to use the federal navy credit union. Plus the job comes with a fixed work schedule and no overtime. I'll be working from 6 am to 2:30 pm.

I've already got the job bagged, I've already passed the background check and been approved by the GSA and company. I just need to wait for the formal job offer then we will begin training on site for a few days then I'll be on my own.

In a way I'm looking forward to it, because it means I get off the damn SSI, but at the same time, I'm mourning the loss of the free time I had.

I just gotta keep reminding myself: FINANCIAL FREEDOM!

I'm gonna be pulling in about 3 grand a month.

Now, I do have a question. Anyone got advice about picking a good health plan on the marketplace? Obviously, I wouldn't have any experience since I'm used to Medicaid.

What about a good financial advisor? Anyone got advice?