GREENVILLE– The South Carolina Employment First Initiative is thrilled to announce the launch of its social media campaign, #HireMeSC. The #HireMeSC Campaign aims to use social media to engage young adults with disabilities in sharing their career ambitions, success, and barriers to employment in order to raise awareness about the importance of promoting employment as the first and preferred option for students with disabilities. For young adults with disabilities who want to get involved, take a selfie or a photo with a group holding the #HireMeSC sign and/or include the #HireMeSC hashtag in your post. Upload your photo and post a few sentences about your dream job, success you’ve already had with employment, or the barriers you see to employment for people with disabilities with the hashtag #HireMeSC. If you work with youth with disabilities in the classroom or community, encourage them to participate. Be sure to follow the #HireMeSC accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. “The unfortunate truth is that youth with disabilities are commonly met with lower expectations in schools and communities. Working-age adults with disabilities are 2-3 times less likely to be competitively employed. HireMeSC is about empowering young adults to challenge that statistic with their own success, speaking out about what they want for their own lives and advocating for communities that recognize successful careers as the aim for all people,” stated Charlie Walters, Director of Transition Programs.

The #HireMeSC Campaign and the SC Employment First Initiative are both efforts of the South Carolina Disability Employment Coalition. The Coalition is comprised of over 40 stakeholder organizations and individuals working together to eliminate systemic employment barriers for individuals with disabilities in South Carolina. For more information about the Coalition and its projects, please visit www.scdisabilityemploymentcoalition.org.