Revision: October is National Disability Employment Aware...( SALEM Ore. Oct. 10 /- To visit a ...),Health

SALEM, Ore., Oct. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- To visit a worksite in your community, contact Tim Kral, director of the Oregon Rehabilitation Association (ORA), tkral@oregonrehabilitation.org, 503-585-3337. For current photos, contact Susan Hereford at susan@susanhereford.com.

The Oregon Rehabilitation Association (ORA), http://www.oregonrehabilitation.org, wants to shine the spotlight on Oregon's workers with disabilities this October with National Disability Employment Awareness Month. In 1945, Congress designated the first week of each October to help increase the public's awareness of American workers with disabilities. Congress expanded the week to the entire month of October in 1988.

This year also marks the 30th anniversary of passage of Oregon's "Products of Disabled Individuals Law," which promotes the employment of individuals with disabilities. The law establishes a process so that certain agencies serving the disabled qualify for contracts with public agencies for goods or services. The law benefits all involved -- the contracts employ more than 4,000 people with disabilities across the state who are able to work at meaningful jobs, agencies get the goods and services they need, and taxpayers spend less on support for the disabled.

Tim Kral, director of the ORA, said, "People who have disabilities are a valued and important part of the workforce. They contribute to our communities and we want to pay tribute to them. We also want to commend our business partners who hire and help accommodate individuals with disabilities."

Kral added that the law establishing the Products of Disabled Individuals has been crucial in providing employment opportunities for workers with disabilities. "Before passage of the law, the majority of these individuals were unemployed, and living in state
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