Resource fair helps job seekers with disabilities
Published 1:30 am Friday, October 3, 2025
By LUISA LOI
Special to the News-Times
As October 2025 marks the 80th National Disability Employment Awareness Month, disabled folks who are preparing to join the workforce are invited to a resource fair where they can learn the ins and outs of finding employment locally and becoming more independent.
The annual Resource & Transition Fair will take place from 5 to 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 7 at Coupeville High School. This free event is hosted by Island County Parent to Parent in collaboration with Whidbey’s school districts and is open to people of all ages — students, recent graduates and older adults — who have intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as their family members of all abilities.
Families can find over 20 resource booths, with guests from Island Transit, the Opportunity Council, Special Olympics, the Developmental Disabilities Endowment Trust Fund and more, with a free dinner offered from 5:15 to 6 p.m., according to a flyer and information on Island County Parent to Parent’s Facebook page.
Visitors can also meet a panel of employers and disabled employees who will discuss their experience and how they work through challenges from 5:45 to 6:15 p.m.
From 5:15 to 5:35 p.m., Disability Attorney Christy Ibrahim will talk about guardianship and special needs trust funds. The event will end with a talk about the Developmental Disabilities Administration’s resources to support individuals living with their families and about remote assistance technologies from 6:25 to 6:55 p.m., according to the flyer.
Hiring people with disabilities isn’t “charity work,” but an opportunity for employers to bring in workers who have diverse skills and qualities and are excited to show up, said Mike Etzell, who coordinates the county’s Developmental Disabilities Program.
More employers around the county have been participating in this effort, with a total of 74 businesses employing people with disabilities, according to a list shared by Etzell.
Over the past 12 months, Island County’s Employment Support Program has averaged 75 enrollees per month, 60 — or 80% — of which were employed, Etzell wrote in a text. That is a significant improvement from years ago, when the program counted a monthly average of 56 people, with 32 — or 57% — of those finding employment, he wrote.
Island County was part of a minority of counties providing school to work services before Senate Bill 5790 required the Department of Social and Health Services to establish a School to Work Program in all counties in the state in 2022, he said.
Today, Island County remains a leader in helping students with disabilities transition into jobs and mentors other rural counties in providing their services, Etzell said.
