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Mary, Niki, Dillon, LouAnn and Shari at protest
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Tyson in wheelchair holding sign that reads Covid Funds for Medicaid Expansion protest
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IMPORTANT NOTICES:

Due to the potential spread of the Corona Virus, all SKIL Offices will be closed to visitors and the general public until further notice.

SKIL staff will continue providing services while the offices are closed. Communication during this time will take place through phone, email or fax. If needing to turn in or receive a hire packet and/or other paperwork, we encourage you to send your information by email to your local SKIL office.

When bringing paperwork to SKIL offices during regular business hours, call that office, and someone will come to the door to assist you.  DSW Essential Worker – Proof Form

ALL Exception forms are due by the 5th & the 20th of the Month. Exception forms received late will be paid on the Late Batch, which is called in ON paydays. Any time sheet received past 10:00 am on Paydays WILL pay the FOLLOWING pay date.

This change is in accordance with The Federal Reserve requirements of our Financial Institution. Please be sure to use the Authenticare Call system for prompt payment.

Hello From Shari
April 9, 2021

Many people don’t realize that hate, intolerance and discrimination are not based only upon color of the skin today. Historically; however, there was much more focus on skin color involving these evils than there is currently. We have made some progress, thankfully. Now we have Federal Protected Classes: Race, Color, Religion or Creed, National Origin or Ancestry, Gender, Pregnancy, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Age, Disability – Physical or Mental, Veteran Status, Genetic Information, Citizenship and Familial Status. These Protected Classes are supposed to ameliorate the evils of discrimination, intolerance and hatred.

Theoretically, anyway.

But even government-legislated protection doesn’t seem to stop society from developing these evils against people because they are different. For many, it sadly seems far easier to hate than to try to understand and accept others’ differences.

The answer may lie in education. If citizens would just take time to educate themselves about the differences and try to take into consideration how others feel based on their own experience, maybe we could discover a place where people could truly love and accept one another for who they are. We, as advocates with disabilities, certainly know about the discrimination and the ignorance society often has toward us. Hate can be fueled because of ignorance and a lack of willingness to change.

We hear the patronizing in people’s voices. We feel the stares behind our backs. We know that society often has pity rather than empathy for us. And we know, down deep in our hearts, that some have a total disregard for us and just wish we would go away.

If people would take the time to educate themselves about our disability and empathize with our styles, they would understand why we have disability pride. We’re proud of who we are! We’re proud of our disability. We’re proud of our accomplishments. The disability movement focuses on removing barriers for those with disabilities wherever and whenever we can.

If we could only remove the hate, intolerance and discrimination, what a wonderful world this would be.

Love, Shari

After today, our Hello From Shari columns will be featured monthly instead of weekly. Columns will be posted by the first Friday of each month. We appreciate all of you who read the column and hope you will continue to enjoy it!

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