PROFILES JAMES KESTELOOT (BS ’67)
In a career with the Chicago Lighthouse for People Who are Blind or Visually Im- paired that spanned 40 years, Kesteloot helped transform the agency into one of the nation’s most comprehensive providers of services to people with visual impairments. Under his watch as past president, the Lighthouse grew into a multi-faceted organization that today provides education, training, employ- ment, and both referral and direct ser- vices to more than 70,000 people each year. He worked with legislators, includ- ing then-Senator Obama, to strengthen existing laws to help people with visual impairments gain employment.
James Kesteloot (BS ’67), Karen McCulloh (BS ’94), and James Omvig (JD ’66), all members of the AbilityOne Commission.
PUBLIC SERVICE
LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL
Advocating for employment for people with disabilities
By DOMINIC CALABRESE O
ut of a presidentially ap- pointed federal commission of 15 experts, three are Loyola alumni—a fact they just recently discovered, despite having
worked together for some time. Each is blind or visually impaired, and each is passionate about helping others with disabilities secure quality employment. James Kesteloot (BS ’67), Karen McCulloh (BS
’94), and James Omvig (JD ’66) all serve on the U.S. AbilityOne Commission, which traces its roots back to a 1938 law stating that, when- ever it could, the federal government should purchase products it needed from nonprofit organizations employing people who were blind. The measure has since been amended to add people with severe disabilities and to in- clude services as well as goods. The AbilityOne
Commission manages this program. All three alumni note that the explosion in
the growth of elderly Americans is already pos- ing a public policy challenge, as many of these individuals will experience some form of vision loss and other disabling problems. McCulloh says that with an estimated national unemploy- ment rate ranging between 70 and 75 percent among people who are blind and significantly disabled, the need to create new job oppor- tunities is critical to their self-sufficiency and independence, as well as to the well-being of the national economy. But all three are optimistic about the future
and are hopeful that barriers will continue to fall. Citing its program to assist returning veterans who have experienced vision loss while fighting overseas, Omvig says that the AbilityOne Commission has an almost uncanny ability to come up with an innovative program to address a pressing need. “I think that far too many people still think
that because we may be blind or severely disabled, we can’t be productive,” says Omvig, who himself is totally blind. “We know that this is simply not true. All we ask for is a chance to show what we can do.”
KAREN McCULLOH (BS ’94)
McCulloh pursued a career as a regis- tered nurse, but was unable to secure employment as a healthcare professional upon becoming visually impaired. She returned to Loyola and created her own specialty in nursing, Community Health Disability Education. She co-founded the National Organization of Nurses with Disabilities in 2003. Since that time, the organization has established an alliance with the US Dept. of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy in order to open up healthcare careers and work in the industry to people with disabilities. McCulloh was also the founding execu- tive director of disabilityworks, an initia- tive started by Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley in 2005 to break down the employment barriers that keep people with disabilities from obtaining jobs.
JAMES OMVIG (JD ’66)
Omvig, who was to his knowledge the first totally blind person to be accepted at Loyola’s law school, has held leader- ship posts with blindness organizations, such as the National Federation of the Blind, all over the country. In addition to a distinguished legal career in which he served as the first blind attorney employed by the National Labor Rela- tions Board, Omvig was contracted by the U.S. Department of Education to write a book about how best to train and rehabilitate people who are blind or visually impaired. He has spent his career fighting for the civil rights of individuals who are blind.
WINTER 2012
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COURTESY OF STEPHANIE LESKO, U.S. ABILITYONE COMMISSION
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