Success Stories

Tallahassee Woman is Long-Term Success

Mary Ann Bell has quite a track record of successful employment. She has worked in the cafeteria at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital for more than 17 years. Bell is diagnosed with a disability.

Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) celebrates the stories of Floridians like Bell who are working and contributing members of their communities.

"Employment is an integral part of Mary Ann's Life," according to Ardieth Davis, a supported employment coach at the Leon Advocacy and Resource Center, which provides services to Bell that are funded by APD. "She's a very dedicated employee."

Bell works in the dining room, cleaning the tables, keeping the floor clean, and maintaining a neat, clean, and well-stocked condiment station. She has done it all to the best of her ability ever since Ken Martin, the hospital's food service director, hired her in 1991. Martin is employed by the contracting firm Sodexo.

"Her work ethic is better than most people's," Martin said. "She's very dependable. The job is really important to her. And you can tell because she works hard and she's happy."

Martin considers Bell's employment to be a very positive experience. He values her as an employee who is friendly with customers and doesn't have to be closely supervised.

"She's not that different from anyone else that works for me," said Martin. "She has her own unique flair about her. She's a part of our family. More people know who she is than know who the president of the hospital is!"

Her popularity with people goes both ways. When Bell was asked what she liked about her job, she replied, "The whole thing! The work and the people!"

Martin ranks Bell as being in the top 20 percent as far as job performance is concerned, and in the top two percent for dependability.

"As her employer, the only accommodation we have to make is taking a little bit longer to teach her new tasks," Martin observed. "Maybe things would go better if we did that with everybody!"

Martin advises other employers to not be afraid of the concept of hiring someone with a disability.

"The people that I've been involved with have a great work ethic," said Martin. "Their job is something that they really love, and you'll get a lot more out of it than you'd expect."

APD supports people with developmental disabilities to live, learn, and work in their communities. For more information about the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, visit www.apdcares.org or call toll-free 1- 866-APD-CARES (1-866-273-2273).