Florida Wal-Mart honored for hiring disabled workers

From the Jackson County Floridan:

Robert Williams (pictured) clocks in at the Wal-Mart Super Center in Marianna around 10 p.m. and labors until 7 a.m. each work day, buffing floors and doing other things to keep the store clean for customers.

He’s worked there six years, and will celebrate his 7th Wal-Mart anniversary next June.

For Williams, employment opportunities might not have been as plentiful as for others. He has a slight learning disability.

“I just learn a little slower, is all,” Williams explained. “I always think positive, I don’t let anything like that stop me. You can’t think negative. I’m the type that believes anybody can accomplish anything if they put their minds to it. If you have a disability or not, you can always do better. There’s always someone worse off than you are, that’s how I see it. I’ve been living that motto from day one.”

Wal-Mart in Marianna currently employs 10 people with various disabilities. Manager Mickey Gilmore said he didn’t even know that number until the Agency for Persons With Disabilities called his store and told him it had won an Employer of the Year award. It was one of only eight businesses so honored across the state.

“I was very honored and proud, and it was a real big deal, but to tell you the truth, I didn’t know (how many) because we don’t keep a record like that. I never thought about it that way; we just look at anyone that comes across, if they can do the job,” Gilmore said.

He had high praise for Williams.

“Robert has a good personality and he’s a good worker. Most of the time, people just want to be treated like people, and maybe some people work harder and are more conscientious because, when they finally get a job, they feel more indebted to be here on time and on task,” Gilmore said. “I know we have a good person in Robert and in the rest of our workforce, including the disabled among them.”

Gilmore went to pick up the award in person at a ceremony held recently at the Tallahassee City Hall. The store was nominated for the award by Jackson County Association for Retarded Persons.

JCARC, through its Personnel of Northwest Florida division, provides employment support for Robert Williams and many others in the community.

Williams’ work ethic caught the attention of the agency, and he will be featured soon in one of a series of articles being published for the agency to highlight the achievements of various disabled people in the Big Bend region.

Williams’ job at Wal-Mart not only sustains him financially, it also led to romance, marriage and the start of a family.

He met his wife there after she started working in the produce department. He teasingly called her the “banana lady” when they exchanged greetings in the mornings, and eventually they began dating.

They married more than a year ago, and have a daughter who will celebrate her first birthday next month. The couple owns their home, another goal Williams’ Wal-Mart job helped them reach.