The Mighty Logo

How Labor Day Makes Me Feel as a Job Seeker With Cerebral Palsy

The most helpful emails in health
Browse our free newsletters

For many people, Labor Day is a reason to relax and enjoy the long weekend. They don’t have to think about getting up early Monday morning to go to work. Unfortunately as a person with cerebral palsy, I see Labor Day like any other Monday. I am sure there are a lot of individuals like myself who are feeling the same way, or perhaps worse. Here is the reason why.

Back in July 2016, I wrote a story for The Mighty about people with disabilities who struggle with unemployment. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (July 20, 2015):

“People who have completed higher levels of education were more likely to be employed than were those with less education. At all levels of education, however, people with a disability were much less likely to work than were people with no disability. For example, 26.1 percent of people with a disability who had completed at least a bachelor’s degree were employed in 2014; among college graduates with no disability, 75.9 percent were employed.” *

When I wrote the story, I was searching for a job, and was very optimistic about finding employment. Now I must admit I am part of those statistics, something I was hoping not to experience. Despite having a Bachelor’s degree, I have been unable to get a job. One of my major dreams was to run my own nonprofit, Rainbow of Talent. I was looking for a job where I could use my skills as a writer and advocate for people with disabilities. That didn’t happen.

Each day it’s becoming harder to support myself. My bills are piling up, and I don’t know what to do. I  submitted my resume to GoodTemp. They help people with disabilities to find jobs. Their response was that my resume wasn’t strong enough.

I searched for work locally and spread the word among contacts. So far I haven’t be able to find any job. It has been hard for me to stay home and become aware of my sad reality, especially after all the struggles I went through to earn a degree. I didn’t want to stay home all day long. That was not what I went to college for. My major goal is to someday be able to say on Labor Day I will be off from work like the rest of the population.

Juana Ortiz’s book “I Made It” is available at www.juanamortiz.com and on Amazon.  

We want to hear your story. Become a Mighty contributor here.

Photo by contributor.

Originally published: September 2, 2017
Want more of The Mighty?
You can find even more stories on our Home page. There, you’ll also find thoughts and questions by our community.
Take Me Home