Oklahoma City residents, church receive commendations from Governor

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Four Oklahoma City residents and a church received commendations from Governor Brad Henry and Lt. Governor Jari Askins Oct. 22 during the Governor’s Disability Employment Awards at the Governor’s Mansion in Oklahoma City.
Margaret Carlile, Paula London, Brigette Sandoval and Toni Uvalic were recognized for overcoming personal challenges to find and maintain employment and for their outstanding work.

Carlile has worked as a kitchen assistant at a south-side McDonald’s restaurant for 17 years. London has worked for the past year performing janitorial work through a Government Services Administration contract. Sandoval works for Crest Foods in Moore in the housekeeping department and Uvalic works at Tinker Air Force Base through the custodial project.

St. Lukes United Methodist Church was recognized for hiring several persons with disabilities to fill some of their staff janitorial positions. St. Lukes also adapted the job requirements to fit each employee’s skill level and abilities.

“It is employees and businesses like these that have put Oklahoma ahead of every state in the nation at employing people with disabilities,” said Howard Hendrick, Director of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.

“For the past three years, Oklahoma has led the nation in assisting people with developmental disabilities to find competitive jobs and become working taxpayers, “said Hendrick. “Today, 60 percent of individuals with developmental disabilities served by the OKDHS Developmental Disabilities Services Division participate in supported employment services.”

The Governor’s Disability Employment Awards are co sponsored by Governor Brad Henry and Lt. Governor Jari Askins, along with OKDHS/DDSD, the Department of Rehabilitation Services, and the Oklahoma Association of Persons in Supported Employment.

Editors Note: To see Oklahoma’s ranking as compared to other states in regard to the numbers of persons with developmental disabilities in competitive jobs (supported employment) go to, www.statedata.info/ (Link opens in new window). This Web site is a project of the Institute for Community Inclusion at UMass Boston, supported in part by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under cooperative agreement with additional support from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of Education.

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