Livelihood Training Program | CheshireDisability.org

“Dignity, Self-Worth & Meaningful Employment are everyones right. Why should we be any different?”

An Overview

The core program of CDT, the Livelihood Training Program encourages self-reliance among the disabled and helps them counter the stigma associated with their disabilities through meaningful employment. Funded entirely through charitable donations, the program is targeted at individuals between the ages of 19 and 35 with 40% or more disability. Donations made to our NGO go towards candidate identification and assessment, moves on to IT and Soft Skill Training and is followed by Placement and Post-Placement Support.

To achieve its goals both internal and donor specified, CDT leans heavily on its associations with various NGOs, Clubs and Government Offices to reach out to PWDs in and around Bangalore, Kolar, Mysore, Tumkur and other parts of India. As of this year, CDT has successfully placed 2,545 candidates from a total batch of 3,807 through partnerships with companies like IBM, Accenture, Infosys, CapGemini, Concentrix, Coffee Day Enterprises, Aegis, Axa, First American India, and over 700 other companies.

3,807

PWDs Trained

700

Companies

Candidate Identification & Assessment

Through ads in the local newspapers, relations built over time with local Clubs, Government Offices, Village Councils and Rehabilitation Workers, we identify individuals who are worthy candidates for the Livelihood Training Program. We then perform a thorough assessment of the selected individuals wherein we collect and verify their documents, understand their individual training requirements and organize the social and assistive help they would need to attend the training programs through our stakeholders.

Employability Training

The courses covered in the Livelihood Training Program are designed to give candidates the foundation skills that employers are looking for. These include basic communication skills, computer literacy and life skills. Once these are covered, sector-specific training begins, which at the moment covers Information Technology (IT), hospitality training, and advanced need-based training if any. One of our partners is JSS polytechnic, one of two technical institutions in India established exclusively for the disabled. We have trained JSS on technical sign language and extended placement support to them for the past 10 years.

Job Placement

Through recruitment drives held at our various Centers as well as those conducted by Companies, our goal is to place every candidate who passes through the Livelihood Training program. Every recruitment drive is also accompanied by Disability Awareness Sessions for all the corporates who participate. The aim is to sensitize their recruitment teams with the special nature and needs of the candidates applying through our program. We have conducted 25 job fairs successfully. With all our efforts, we have placed 2545 candidates since inception and 700 corporate employers have been sensitized on disability. CDT continues to lead the way in enabling disabled individuals.

“Our Corporate partners allow us to enable the differently abled through employment.”

Post Placement Support

CDT's responsibility to candidates does not end upon their placement with a company. Our placement teams are constantly in touch with them for a period of up to 3 months post recruitment to ensure that they have everything they need to succeed. This covers aspects like joining formality, clothing assistance, sign language interpretation and training of HR personnel and co-employees. Accommodation support, transportation assistance and assistive devices support are also provided where needed. Our endeavor is to ensure candidates remain in their jobs for as long as possible. CDT has also helped in their career growth by helping them to find better-paid jobs.