BUFFALO, N.Y. — In honor of Disability Employment Awareness Month, three organizations are celebrating a partnership that brought an investment to one employer that hires people with disabilities.

Through a matched grant of $22,000 totaling nearly $44,000, People Inc., Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) and New York State Industries for the Disabled (NYSID) purchased a new van for a janitorial service contracted by People, Inc.

Employee James Kuzon said having a workplace that supports people of different abilities is life-changing.

"It helps me to be a bit more individual," Kuzon said. "It also helps me out with my family at the same time…to try to make sure my wife is taken care of, as well as my daughter."

Kuzon has worked for the company for eight years and specializes in cleaning the carpets overnight at the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport. He is one of many employed persons with a disability, but advocates said they hope to see that number grow, as the disabled unemployment rate is twice as high as the non-disabled unemployment rate.

"Individuals with disabilities are unemployed in New York state at a rate of 67%. It's a crime and we want people who are disabled to be able to go to work every day just like everybody else does," said Maureen O’Brien, president and CEO at NYSID.

Anyone interested in learning more about employing people with disabilities can contact NYSID or People Inc.