In Celebration of Disability Pride Month, Beacon Group Partners with KeHE Distributors to Create Jobs for People with Disabilities

PHOENIX, June 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As we come together to celebrate Disability Pride Month this July, local nonprofit Beacon Group is building a valuable employment partnership with KeHE Distributors, a leading national distributor for grocery stores, supermarkets, and online vendors. KeHE Distributors has hired a Beacon Group Customized Work Team to support operations at their fulfillment center in Goodyear, aimed at fostering workplace inclusivity while developing innovative hiring solutions in a challenging environment.

Disability Pride Month, celebrated every July, is an opportunity to honor the history, achievements, experiences, and struggles of the disability community. Celebrate Disability Pride Month with Beacon Group, KeHE Distributors, and the many other businesses across the country who proudly employ people with disabilities.

Beacon Group's Customized Work Teams have successfully created jobs for people with disabilities in Arizona for decades. A Customized Work Team is a form of Group Supported Employment, where a job coach works with and supports three to four people with significant developmental disabilities in their employment.

"This program is very important to the Beacon mission as it offers employment opportunities to an underserved and overlooked population of people with the most significant disabilities," says Natalya Brown, President/CEO of Beacon Group. "Our partnership with KeHE is proof of the successful outcomes that can be achieved by both employers and workers with disabilities."

Creating a successful Group Supported Employment opportunity requires a willingness from businesses to move past traditional hiring standards and place trust in organizations like Beacon Group to support the work program and the workers. However, when it happens, the value is undeniable.

This collaboration constantly underscores the positive benefits of disability inclusion in the workplace. According to Zach Baker, Senior Director of Operations at KeHE Distributors, "At KeHE we're all about spreading goodness. This partnership is very important to us for in our mission to be the employer of choice in our community. Having a diversified workforce is critical to innovation and growing our brand; we're grateful to have our Beacon Group partners."

At KeHE, the Beacon Customized Work Team spends their days processing totes, aisle cleaning, and building boxes along with additional tasks that vary each month depending on business needs.

SOURCE Beacon Group