You Get Someone a Job, You Get Them a Life
Heather Weldon has spent nearly three decades advocating for inclusive employment, breaking barriers, and creating meaningful job opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities. At the core of her work is a simple yet powerful philosophy: “You get someone a job, you get them a life.”
As the founder and manager of the City of Seattle’s Supported Employment Program for the last 27 years, Weldon has led monumental efforts in reshaping hiring practices and ensuring that public sector jobs are accessible to all. Through her long-standing partnership with Mainstay, housed at Seattle Central College, they have collectively employed over 150 individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, demonstrating the powerful impact of collaboration in building a more equitable workforce.
History of the program
Weldon started the Supported Employee Program in 1998, at a time when Seattle — and much of the country — was riddled with countless unintended barriers to employment for people with developmental disabilities. At the time, there was no structured process for hiring individuals with disabilities, making it extremely difficult for them to secure jobs, Weldon explained.
Originally brought in under a special Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) grant, Weldon was tasked with proving that individuals with developmental disabilities could thrive in public sector roles. “It was just supposed to be a demonstration grant to get a few people jobs and prove that people with developmental disabilities can indeed work in the public sector,” she said. “Fast forward, we now have almost 100 supported employees. And we work with various providers or employment vendors, as we call them, like Mainstay.”
Before joining the City of Seattle, Weldon worked in the nonprofit sector, helping individuals transition from sheltered workshops — isolated work environments for disabled individuals that often eschew labor and wage standards — into integrated community jobs. “Washington is probably the number one state that has closed that service down,” she explained, “We have a few [sheltered workshops] still operating, but for the most part, that is considered a very old-fashioned way to provide services to people with developmental disabilities.”
Historically, employment opportunities for disabled individuals have been limited to these sheltered workshops as well as janitorial and fast-food work. At the City of Seattle, Weldon sought to change that narrative and shift away from segregated employment models.
“I specifically targeted office settings when I started up the program at the City of Seattle because I wanted to do some myth-busting and break the stereotype,” she said. “No more hiding people away, putting them in graveyard jobs where they're working by themselves in difficult, isolating conditions.” Weldon stressed the importance of working with and learning from others in an office setting, for both disabled and non-disabled individuals alike.
Today, approximately 85 percent of the supported employment positions within the City of Seattle are in office environments, with only about 15 percent in labor-oriented roles such as custodial work or landscaping, Weldon said. Weldon’s advocacy with the City of Seattle has also helped Washington state achieve the highest employment outcomes for individuals with developmental disabilities in the nation.
Innovating the hiring process
While at the City of Seattle, Weldon has also sought to reshape the stringent, traditional hiring process — which often inadvertently excludes qualified candidates — to be more inclusive and accessible.
Instead of a conventional interview, job candidates participate in a “meet and greet,” allowing them to tour the office and interact with potential colleagues. “There’s still enough of an interview feel for the supervisor to feel like it’s meeting their needs, but it’s not something that’s going to inadvertently exclude a candidate with a developmental disability,” Weldon explained. “I’m trying to parallel the typical processes around employment and bend them as much as possible so that they’'re customized to showcase people’s strengths rather than catch them in their weaknesses.”
The Supported Employee Program also champions the practice of Universal Design, the implementation of practices and accommodations that benefit both disabled and non-disabled individuals. “There’s a lot of things that we design differently to support people with developmental disabilities, but then a supervisor will say, ‘Hey, you know what? That’ll work really well for my English as a Second Language speaker or my other employees,’” she said.
Building the foundation
When Weldon first kicked off the program, she recalls entering a kind of “machine mode” of designing and developing jobs from the ground up and subsequently marketing those positions. “It wasn't until the sixth or seventh month that we had about eight jobs start up,” she said. “People needed to have time to process and get through all their hesitations, their perceived barriers, before they could say, ‘Yeah, I could see how this might work here.’”
There is one supported employee that I though of as almost nonverbal...Now, she is someone who comes out with me and gives talks and tells stories about herself. She's a different person now.
As the program grew, Weldon’s role shifted from job creation to career development. “I started thinking about if people want to have a different kind of job, or if they’re doing more than was expected, and now it's time for promotion,” she said. She then established leadership development initiatives, public speaking training, and mentorship programs to support employees’ career progression. “Instead of me doing the job development, I started helping some of our supported employees learn how to talk about getting jobs and getting departments excited about hiring other people with developmental disabilities.”
Transforming lives through employment
Through the increased focus on job development, Weldon has witnessed firsthand the profound impact supported employment can have on individuals. “There is one supported employee that I thought of as almost nonverbal when she started working because she was so quiet,” she recalled. “Now, she is someone who comes out with me and gives talks and tells stories about herself. She’s a different person now."
Weldon also reports profound transformation in the parents — and what they believe their adult children are capable of. “People would change on the job and become this fully bloomed human being. I would be talking to their mom later after the job, and she would just be in denial, saying, ‘That can't be my son,’” she said. “There's just a million stories like that, because we all are lifted up and changed in the best ways when we are in an environment with others who care about us and have expectations.”
Weldon also emphasizes the importance of equipping supported employees not just with confidence, but with the freedom and grace to fail — recognizing that true inclusion means allowing room for mistakes and growth. “They’re missed when they’re not there. They’re counted on. They fail just like anybody else and then figure it out and have what I call productive struggle, [while still] giving them enough support that they can find their way out of it.”
Partnerships with employment vendors
Weldon attributes much of the program’s success to strong partnerships with employment vendors like Mainstay, who has amongst the top number of supported employees placed within City of Seattle departments.
She highlights Mainstay’s proactive approach, recalling how they immediately reached out when the City of Seattle launched its initiative in 1998. “One of their vocational counselors introduced herself and started bringing in candidates and advocating, advocating, marketing, marketing.” Mainstay’s commitment to long-term job support is another factor that sets them apart; Weldon praised the agency’s stable populations of job coaches and vocational counselors, some of whom stay in the same position for decades.
For Weldon, the most rewarding aspect of her work is the relationships she has built over the years, with both individual employees and with organizations like Mainstay. “There is a real commitment on [Mainstay’s] side, because of the longevity of their staffing and the philosophy they embrace around how to support people in the workplace without really getting in the way.” she said. “They’re as hands off — as invisible — as possible while supporting the individual as well as supporting the supervisor and coworkers if they have questions.
Hey, you want to reduce turnover of entry-level positions? Hire a supported employee.
The future of supported employment
As the program continues to evolve, Weldon remains focused on sustainability and long-term impact. “We do have a supported employee who's been here almost 30 years — actually, we have a couple,” she said. “I kind of wonder if they will ever retire because their life is so full because of their work here.”
Over the years, Weldon estimates she has seen approximately 150 to 180 supported employees come through the City of Seattle’s program, a work population she describes as incredibly stable — a major selling point to potential employers. “I'll say, ‘Hey, you want to reduce turnover of entry-level positions? Hire a supported employee.’”
With partners like Mainstay, now celebrating 40 years of impact, Weldon has shown that inclusive hiring isn’t just possible — it’s essential.
