Workers with disabilities; Best Buddies Wisconsin helping fill jobs

MILWAUKEE – The most untapped source for talent in the American workforce: that is what industry leaders are calling workers with disabilities.

October is Disability Employment Awareness Month, and there’s a Wisconsin nonprofit harnessing the gifts and many abilities of this group to fill jobs in the area.

Matt Purfuerst is one of the nearly 40 individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities Best Buddies Wisconsin has placed in a job.

He works for Kesslers Diamonds shuttling supplies, packages, and smiles to the jeweler’s southeast Wisconsin locations, along with his colleague and dear friend, Jeff Stieve.

Matt’s favorite part of the gig is the social aspect.

“Talking to the people, they make me smile every day,” says Matt.

“He’s very social, so he enjoys coming out to the stores and seeing all the employees and talking to them, so it was just a natural fit that he rode along with me,” explains Stieve. 

Finding the fit with Kesslers was made possible by Best Buddies Wisconsin.

It’s an organization well known for its school friendship program, but in recent years has put a greater focus on what comes next for individuals IDD after they graduate.

“We aim to make Best Buddies a life cycle program,” says Jaimee Hrabik, the Jobs Program Supervisor for Best Buddies Wisconsin. 

“Our job is to get to know the individual, their skills, their interests,” explains Hrabik. “’What is your dream job?’ That is where I start the conversation.” 

From the first call, to the first day, Jaimee connects talent with demand for it.

Since launching the program in 2020, she’s been successful.  The Wisconsin program boasts 40 total placements so far, at a rate of 10-15 a year.

And they’re not stopping now.

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“I think there’s no limit on what types of jobs we can break into and it’s opening up some doors to broaden what is available to these individuals,” says Hrabik.

For locally based jeweler, Kesslers, Matt was the company’s first employee with IDD.

Three years later, CEO Joe Gehrke has zero regrets.

“Matt can’t come to our store without people immediately seeing him and putting a smile on their face,” says Gehrke.

“Matt is a sponge to learn. He wants to learn about our jewelry, he wants to learn about our people.” 

Purfuerst’s next goal is to learn more about the products so he can work on the floor in sales.

It’s a job that provides a sense of purpose, but also, an opportunity for him to pursue a new passion.

For more information on how to apply, or how to hire someone with IDD through Best Buddies, click here.