Putting Faith To Work:

A model congregations and communities can use to connect job seekers with disabilities to meaningful employment

The Putting Faith to Work (PFTW) project empowers faith communities to support people with disabilities as they find and maintain employment aligned with their gifts, passions, and skills. This pathway to work is forged by tapping into the personal network, creativity, and commitment existing within any congregation. Faith communities have a wonderful opportunity to enhance the lives of many people with disabilities, their families, and their communities by helping people find meaningful jobs, assume valued roles, and share their talents with others. Through a two-year project piloted in four states, we developed a model that congregations can use to connect job seekers with disabilities to employment.

What does the PFTW model look like? A small group of people comes alongside and gets to know a member with a disability—or someone in the community—who wants to find meaningful work. They listen and look for the gifts, passions, and skills a person possesses. And then they reach out through the members of their congregations and beyond to find an employer in the community who needs exactly those gifts and skills in their workplace. After all, faith communities are filled with employers, employees, and others who are connected to businesses and work opportunities all throughout a community.

“It is important for people in the congregation to help people find jobs.  because everybody deserves to work if they want to whether they have special needs or not. Everybody has strengths and things they are good at; even individuals with special needs.”

-PFTW Job Seeker

 

“I think congregations need to be part of helping people with disabilities find jobs because faith community networks are often extensive and build on relationships of trust. People with disabilities often don’t have wide networks and most of us find our jobs through networking. I also believe that faith communities play a role in helping vulnerable populations and too often people with disabilities are overlooked.”

-PFTW Team Member

 

To learn more about the steps in the Putting Faith to Work Model, CLICK HERE

To read about a congregation in Nashville, Tennessee that piloted the project, CLICK HERE.