Kent Sussex Industries, or KSI’s sole purpose is to assist people with disabilities in the pursuit of employment.
Chief Executive Officer of KSI, Craig Crouch, tells us about what KSI does, who they serve, how they are changing lives and what the community can do to help.
KSI is celebrating its 55th year of service this year. Craig says employment is very important to all people.
“Studies have shown that between 30-50% higher unemployment amongst people with disabilities compared to a ‘normal person,'” Craig says. “There’s greater challenges with folks living with disabilities getting into the employment world.”
Craig says their organization tries to create opportunities for people to become engaged in their community. KSI believes that everybody can contribute at some level and they try to provide those opportunities.
Craig says they are looking for employers that want to engage employees. He said if you want to learn more about how to employ people with disabilities, they can come in and help.
“We also have programs where if we place someone there or you hire them, we will bring a job coach with us that will work side-by-side that person, so if it takes them three months to get up to speed, that job coach is doing the other part of that job they are not able to do,” Craig says. “They become successful there and we fade out of that environment. We stay in contact with the employer to make sure there are no issues and if things are going okay, we are not there.”
Craig also says if you need that employee to pick up new responsibilities at work, KSI will step in to help train them at no cost to the employer.
