Published June 2002

Diversified: Connecting disabled with community

By Kimberly Hilden
Herald Business Journal Assistant Editor

“A community of mutual respect for all individuals” — that’s the vision of Diversified, a not-for-profit company that integrates people with disabilities into the workplace through on-the-job training and ongoing support.

“There’s a dignity, a self-esteem, that comes out of learning a skill,” said Sandy McDonald, Chief Executive Officer. “People (are enabled to) make life choices.”

And those life choices begin as soon as a client contacts Diversified.

Using a person-centered plan, an employment consultant talks with the client and the client’s family and friends to discover the type of job the client wants and can excel at. Then the consultant locates a position and provides on-the-job training, helps develop a workplace support system and provides long-term support as needed.

Sometimes, the jobs are out in the community. Everett Chevrolet, Safeway, Interstate Batteries and Rite Aid are among the companies that have hired Diversified clients.

Other times, the jobs are in Diversified’s own facilities, which include a manufacturing center for electronic and mechanical assembly tasks, plus adhesives and bonding work in Mukilteo, and a recycling center and woodworking shop in Everett.

At these sites, Diversified clients with disabilities work alongside Diversified employees — and all are expected to meet the highest standards of quality, McDonald said.

“We pride ourselves on our quality of work, and any work that people with disabilities do, they meet the same standards as everybody else does,” said McDonald, adding that Diversified has been certified in the ISO 9001-2000 quality system and Boeing’s own quality control system.

The revenue generated through the quality work of Diversified employees and clients — for the likes of Boeing, Zooka Sports of Bellevue and the Kairos Institute of Sound Healing — helps to fund the company’s placement services.

“We’re almost solely funded through the manufacturing, woodworking and recycling ventures,” McDonald said, with some funds coming from the state through the county and from the state Department of Vocational Rehabilitation for the people that we serve.”

And those people give a lot back — to their employers and co-workers — both in work and in spirit, McDonald said.

“They end up raising the spirit of the people around them,” she said. “And you don’t have to leave your heart at the door when you come to work.”

For more information, call 425-355-1253 or toll free at 866-884-3822. The company’s Web site, www.GoDiversified.com, is currently being revised to provide more information.

Back to the top/June 2002 Main Menu