UPPER MERION>>When U.S. Senator Bob Casey, D-Pa., needed someone to testify at a hearing on working and aging with disabilities, it came as no surprise to the folks at Judith Creed Horizons for Achieving Independence (JCHAI) that he turned to their organization.

“Sen. Casey’s office got in touch with me because he and Senator (Susan) Collins (R-Maine) are with the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, and they asked if there was any individual near retirement age who had been working all their life and could talk about their experience in working with their disability,” explained Stacy Levitan, executive director of the Bryn Mawr-based nonprofit, which offers a range of independent living support services for adults with disabilities.

“Typically, the national rate for people with disabilities being employed in the community is about 35 percent, but about 75 percent of the people in our program are employed in the community … so it’s something we’ve been very successful at, and I think that’s one of the reasons that Sen. Casey’s office asked if we could have someone that wanted to testify at the hearing.”

Few would be better qualified than longtime JCHAI client Jeff Smith, 63, who accepted Casey’s invitation to testify before the committee on “Working and Aging with Disabilities: From School to Retirement” in Washington, D.C.

Smith, who has an intellectual disability, is a senior mail clerk at Arkema in King of Prussia, where he has worked for 39 years.

“If I didn’t have a job, or pay, or anything good for me I would not be doing well,” Smith said. “Having my own job all these years and support from JCHAI means that my 94-year-old mother doesn’t have to worry about me because she knows that I do great on my own.”

Smith knows that if he needs any kind of help with the daily challenges of living, he can turn to his JCHAI social worker, Dave Mytych, who checks in on him at his Bryn Mawr apartment every week.

“Usually, grocery shopping is the first thing we do, and make a trip to the laundromat. Jeff is really independent so I come by just to help him out with paying bills, cooking, and things like that. Jeff likes to cook and enjoys eating different types of food so we have fun in the kitchen,” Mytych said.

Smith has been depending on JCHAI services for about seven years now, he said.

“On my own I wasn’t too sure about myself, but I’m glad I have Dave and it’s worked out pretty well,” Smith allowed.

Mytych and Levitan both accompanied Smith to the hearing, which included a submitted written testimony from Smith as well as testimony from several other individuals.

“Jeff did a really good job with his testimony, and he answered their questions specifically in regards to being an advocate for getting a fair wage the same as somebody who doesn’t have a disability,” Mytych said. “He offered up some information about his own experience and how having a job and a career helps his self-esteem and overall well-being.”

During the hearing, Casey called for supporting legislation that removes barriers for employment, ensures competitive wages and increases financial security for people with disabilities.

According to the senator’s office, the U.S. Census reported that approximately 56.7 million people in the United States have a disability—including intellectual, physical, sensory (blindness and deafness), and mental health disabilities. In Pennsylvania, only 36 percent of people with disabilities are working. And nearly 28 percent of Pennsylvanians with disabilities live below the federal poverty level.

Casey authored the ABLE Act, a law that created tax-advantaged savings accounts to cover disability-related expenses such as education and transportation. He also sponsored provisions in the Rehabilitation Act to authorize resources to help prepare individuals with disabilities for employment including how to interview for a job and gaining work experience by volunteering and participating in internships.

“Holding a job provides many benefits, including creating social networks, economic self-sufficiency and a sense of self-worth. But, for far too many individuals with disabilities, the dignity of work is still out of reach,” Casey said in a press release. “We must do more to address barriers to employment and ensure people with disabilities have the support needed to succeed in the workforce and can enjoy a healthy retirement. I will continue to champion legislation that helps all Americans find good-paying jobs and achieve financial security.”

As an accomplished employee for decades, Levitan said that Smith demonstrates that people with disabilities don’t need to be segregated.

“They can be working in the community just like the rest of us,” she noted. “We push for competitive integrative employment, which means that they get paid the same rate that anybody without a disability gets paid to do their job. Jeff is an actual person with a disability with his experience working in the community for quite a long time, which was not typical back in the ’70s when he started working, and they now have his testimony on the record.”

In his written testimony, Smith praised JCHAI, “which helps over 130 people with disabilities like me to live independently.”

“I have worked at Arkema for almost 40 years delivering the mail as a Senior Mail Clerk,” he testified. “I have my own apartment, where I live by myself, and I do not need help from my mother or my family. I get help once a week from Dave Mytych, my social worker, who works at JCHAI.

“JCHAI helps me to be independent and has changed my life. JCHAI helps me feel more positive about life because they help me have more friends and I see how happy everyone else is. Everyone I know has changed because of the help they get from JCHAI. JCHAI helps me with hopping, keeping my apartment clean, and cooking. Dave was a cook before and he helped me cook fish.

“Because of JCHAI, it’s a whole new way of life. I am treated better by everyone at work and in my life and it’s because I am so happy. I am very proud that I have been able to work at Arkema for all of these years. Working at Arkema is great because I love delivering the mail. I go to a lot of different places, all over our campus which is one square mile. I get to do a lot of walking, which clears my mind and I can think of different ways that I can help the world.

“I like to meet different people at work and from all over the world, like from Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and China. I also have a lot of friends since I have been working there so long. I even have some friends who have been there almost as long as I have.

“I like that I have my own salary that lets me go to the laundromat, the market, and I can take (fiancée) Phyllis on dates or trips with JCHAI. Sometimes, we even go out of state on some of the trips, like to New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.

“Having my own job and support from JCHAI means that my mother doesn’t have to worry about me anymore. She knows that I do great on my own. And if I need help, I don’t have to get it from her – I know who to call, which is Dave and the people at JCHAI. Getting older is really just part of life – it’s an interesting facet of life.

“When I was 30, I thought, ‘I have so many more years of my life!’ Now I can look back and say that’s gone, but I’m still working hard, making a living, I still have friends, I have help with everything I need, and it’s really a tribute to how good life is.

“In the future, I will retire when I’m 66 because I will have a full pension and I will be able to live on that. When I retire, Phyllis and I will be able to spend a lot of time together. We like to go to the movies, out to dinner, lunch, and breakfast. We go all over Philadelphia. I am looking forward to the next part of my life.”