First introduced by labor organizations and made into an official national holiday in the late 1800s, Labor Day is a celebration of the working class in America. According to the Department of Labor: “Labor Day is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.”

Across the country, there is one widely unknown and unrecognized group of incredibly dedicated American workers. They are people who typically perform entry level, assembly-line jobs that most people would never want. They are individuals with mental retardation and other severe developmental disabilities. It’s a common misperception that people with severe developmental disabilities cannot and do not want to work. With over 20 years of experience hiring and training hundreds of people with the most severe developmental disabilities, Chesapeake Service Systems (CSS), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Southeastern Virginia has seen people in near vegetative states come alive, stop self-abusive behaviors and thrive both physically and mentally after being given the opportunity to work.

A job for people with severe developmental disabilities is an opportunity to have a normal life. It gives them self-esteem, independence and a mechanism to achieve their goals and dreams. In addition to that, being able to go to work everyday and earn a paycheck becomes the catalyst that sparks major health and developmental strides.

Working not only helps improve quality of life for people with mental retardation and other severe disabilities, it significantly improves our economy. People with developmental disabilities are extremely motivated workers at jobs that have typically high turnover and low morale. Because working provides a means to have a normal life, people with disabilities are prompt, absenteeism is very low and with the proper supports these individuals can achieve well beyond what most people think they can. In Hampton Roads, Virginia, people with the most severe developmental disabilities now produce over two million pounds of laundry a year. They run the galleys at area naval bases, pick up trash along the highway for the City of Chesapeake, package and shrink-wrap thousands of fast connect kits for Cox Communications and work at local restaurants and department stores.

Sitting at home, day after day doing nothing might seem like a dream to most, but to these individuals, it’s a living nightmare. Imagine what it would be like if you were told you would never amount to anything. That you had no talents or abilities and that you would never be able to have the life you deserve. It is no wonder that our clients hate the weekend and holidays! This is probably the only workforce you will find in the country that actually wants to work on Labor Day and would love every minute of it.

While they diligently and proudly go about their work day, savoring the opportunity to go to a job and have a sense of independence and purpose, they are teaching the world a great lesson. It’s not about the work you produce, but what the work produces in you.

As a successful Executive Director and a person with a severe disability (Meniere’s Disease), Tom Swanston brings insight, enthusiasm, and compassion to his work at Chesapeake Service Systems. Tom has a unique perspective in that he is an enthusiastic disability advocate, as well as experiencing a severe disability of his own. With experience as a financial analyst, Tom has increased CSS workshop sales from approximately $15,000.00 to over $4.8 million during the past twelve years. In 2004, Tom lead CSS into a capital campaign to expand client services with the goal to raise $3.7 million. Through superb grant writing techniques and marketing tactics Mr. Swanston single handedly raised over $1.3 million in less than 18 months.

Mr. Swanston currently serves on the Endependence Center Board of Directors. He is a past Board Member of the Chesapeake Economic Development Board and has participated in fundraising activities with the Chesapeake Foundation for the Mentally Disabled. Tom is a dedicated advocate with remarkable vision regarding the employment of people with disabilities

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