Udac exhibit celebrates access to good jobs for all

DULUTH — In celebration of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, Udac hosted the “Include” exhibit during an open house Tuesday. The theme is “Access to Good Jobs for All.”

Udac

is a Duluth-based nonprofit organization serving individuals with disabilities to advance their self-determination, community living and employment opportunities.

Clients and staff, along with local business leaders, gathered at the Bullyan Center to share the impact community inclusion has on people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Over the past two years, Kim Brody served as a board member and treasurer at Udac. Brody has seen first-hand the changes the organization fosters in individuals with disabilities and the communities they serve.

“Every one of the clients I’ve met, I see growth, more education and their joy is increased by being with other people,” Brody said. “They do a really good job out in the community at their jobs, and it’s a big relief to the families to have help get them out in the community where they are appreciated.”

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The Governor’s Council on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities provides the traveling exhibit for schools, businesses and organizations to increase awareness of the history of Minnesotans with developmental disabilities from the early 1900s to today.

Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce President Matt Baumgartner said there is “still more work that needs to be done” on funding for organizations helping people with disabilities and the speed at which policies are implemented at the legislative level.

Baumgartner highlighted how employing people with disabilities can enrich an organization, including increased job satisfaction throughout a company.

“The work that’s being done here is economic development,” Baumgartner said of Udac. “Let’s make sure that everybody here is included in our employment, especially at a time when we have a workforce shortage.”

Nick Retzlaff is the owner of Easyliving Services, a Duluth-based property maintenance company that was awarded as an “Outstanding Disability Employer” by the Minnesota Organization for Habilitation and Rehabilitation in 2023 and 2022.

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Easyliving partners with Udac to employ 17 people. Retzlaff admitted his initial apprehension about working with people with disabilities.

“I couldn’t have been more wrong,” Retzlaff said to the audience. “In working with Udac, we’ve gained employees that show up, do their work and are incredibly talented. It has done nothing but make our company more money and make our company better.”

Retzlaff encouraged other businesses to consider partnering with Udac to employ people with disabilities as well.

Preparation for employment begins as early as middle school age within the local education system, according to Duluth Public Schools Special Education Director Jason Crane.

“We do partner with Udac on a few things,” Crane said. “The connection for us is they can care for our students, connect with our students, and they could be their next link to work-learning opportunities after they graduate from high school.”

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The exhibit will also appear at the school district’s upcoming Professional Development Day, Crane said.

Udac partners with the Minnesota Inclusive Higher Education Technical Assistance Center, based at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities Institute on Community Integration, to transition students with disabilities into competitive, integrated career choices.

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“There’s 1,000 students with intellectual and developmental disabilities that are completing 12th grade in Minnesota every year,” according to Mary Hauff, who serves as the director of the technical assistance center. “There’s about 5,000 college-age students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and the college options in Minnesota for those students has capacity today for 90, so it’s less than 3%.”

The center works with organizations such as Udac to help fill this gap, Hauff said.

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Udac client Tracy Olson spoke as a self-advocate during the event. Olson attended Central Lakes College in Brainerd, Minnesota, two decades ago, according to her mother, Sandy Roggenkamp.

“The opportunities for people with disabilities to go on to higher education is so important,” Roggenkamp said. “Organizations like Udac are so important to help that transition.”