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Stories From Main Street: Group Gives Special-Needs Workers A Chance To Prove Themselves

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A nonprofit in Rockland County is looking for employers willing to hire people with special needs.

Esta Baitler doesn't let her intellectual disability stand in her way.

She's outgoing, she has a big personality, she loves people, and she's proud to be a dining room attendant at Five Guys Burgers & Fries in Nanuet.

"I love what I do," Baitler told WCBS 880's Sean Adams. "I love just being there -- coming in, jumping in and working."

She has worked there for more than two years.

"I love the idea, the whole concept of what Five Guys means," Baitler said. "It just gives people who are able with intellectual disabilities every opportunity."

"I don't look at them as special needs people; I look at them as employees," said her boss, Ken Nicastro.

Baitler found employment with help from nonprofit service provider Jawonio.

The organization looks to match its clients with just the right job and Chief Program Officer Matt Shelley said more employers are needed.

"People with behavioral health issues, people with cognitive issues, they're fully able bodied and they're fully motivated in the right job to do things like commercial cleaning, working in the fast food industry, working in hospitality," Shelley said.

"People with disabilities are incredibly hard, focused workers. In certain cases, their disability plays into their ability. If you take somebody with Aspergers or autism, their ability to focus in a kind of insulated way is paramount to other people who get distracted," he added.

At the DoubleTree Hotel in Tarrytown, David Ribbens hires from Jawonio for food services.

"If we didn't do something for these people, they'd be sitting at the home doing nothing," Ribbens said, adding that he tries to make them feel like part of the family. "It's a second family away from home where they have friends, they talk about what they do. It's more than just a place to come and do some work."

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