What is Hire Me SC?

People with disabilities can work, want to work, and should be afforded every opportunity to work. Powered by Able SC and the South Carolina Disability Employment Coalition (“SCDEC:” a coalition formed to eliminate employment barriers for individuals with disabilities), Hire Me SC is a campaign that promotes a culture of inclusion across the state of South Carolina, one in which employment for every individual, disability or not, is the norm rather than the exception.

Although Hire Me SC focuses its message on and extends its reach to all individuals in South Carolina with disabilities, funding secured by Able SC and the SCDEC for the South Carolina Employment First Initiative (SCEFI) places a current focus on young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD).

The SCEFI is a multi-faceted “systems change” enterprise to increase employment outcomes for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD), specifically.

Led by 14 project partners within the SCDEC, the SCEFI is made possible through funding by the Administration for Community Living and aims to ignite change, ensuring all young adults with ID/DD receive minimum wage or higher, at a comparable rate to co-workers in a job based on individual talent.

Learn more about national Employment First principles.

Read the Employment First Study Committee Report

As a Center for Independent Living that is grounded in the disability rights movement and run and operated by a majority of individuals with disabilities, we are united in the belief that community-based, integrated employment for individuals with all types of disabilities should be the only option when it comes to employment. Individuals with disabilities CAN work and should have the freedom, support, and opportunity to achieve competitive, integrated employment.

We advocate for systems where funding for employment programs shifts away from sheltered workshops and other non-competitive employment and moves towards a system that promotes equal employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities, regardless of the significance of the disability.

Visit Able South Carolina's website.

The SC Disability Employment Coalition (SCDEC) formed in the fall of 2014, through funding from the SC Developmental Disabilities Council, to address employment barriers for individuals with disabilities in South Carolina. SCDEC stakeholders represent South Carolina employers, state and private agencies, and individuals with disabilities.

The Coalition meets quarterly as a whole and has project-focused workgroups.

To get involved in the SCDEC and learn more about the workgroups, email us at hiremesc@able-sc.org.