October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, making it the perfect time for Joint Base Lewis-McChord to host its first Employment, Volunteer and Education (EVE) Fair. Held Oct. 10 on the lower level of Madigan Army Medical Center, the fair was co-hosted by the Army Community Service Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) and Child and Family Assistance Center (CAFAC).

Several vendors, including JBLM's Employment Readiness and Volunteer Corps, as well as local schools like Saint Martin's University and the Pierce County Skills Coalition supported the event.

The goal was to provide opportunities, both on and off base, for youth and adults with special needs. 

While the EMFP holds several resource fairs throughout the year, a lot of those resources tend to be for younger children. The EVE fair was different.

"We really wanted to reach out to the older population and provide them with the resources and opportunities that they may not know about," said Katrina Boutwell, a Saint Martin's University student intern with EFMP.

Getting the right vendors to come and share their resources was key. Representatives from EMFP reached out to local establishments such as the Pierce County Coalition for Developmental Disabilities (PC2), Partnerships for Action, Voices for Empowerment (PAVE) and Washington Initiative for Supported Employment (WISE) to come and share their resources not only for the transitioning youth, but also for their parents.

"We really hope to bring awareness," said Jackie Kelly, an EMFP specialist. "There is a certain stigma attached to special needs, and we'd like to see that stigma removed."

That awareness is not just for the EFMP community, but also for the community as a whole.

"Being a military family and moving, we see that different installations have different programs," said Michele Gross, whose son Ben, 14, is on the autism spectrum and also has a genetic disorder. "This fair is a wonderful opportunity to engage with our community partners who support our families."

PAVE offers several different programs that provide services to special needs families. One of those programs is the Community Inclusion Program. This program hosts three events a month, each providing parent information and education, youth activities and leadership training.

Its newest program, HUB, is focused on assisting those with high-functioning autism find employment.

"Once adults with autism graduate high school, they seem to kind of fall into a black hole," said Sybille White, PAVE Family Resources coordinator. "It is hard for them to go college or get employment."

HUB was created with the hope of providing support through education and employment.

"A lot of times people don't know where to find or access the resources they want or need," Gross said. "To have them here all in one place is hugely beneficial."