953 Decatur Street, Suite C
Denver, CO 80204
(303) 534-1667
Locations in Boulder and Colorado Springs, CO and Chicagoland (Buffalo Grove), IL
Founder: Bill Morris
http://bluestarrecyclers.org/

“Recycling Electronics to Create Jobs for People with disAbilities. Blue Star Recyclers is an e-Steward certified, nonprofit social enterprise based in various sites in Colorado and Illinois. Blue Star’s mission is recycling electronics and other materials to create local jobs for people with autism and other disAbilities. The fulfillment of its mission to date has produced significant triple bottom line results, including 40 jobs in Colorado for people with disAbilities, 22 million lbs. of electronics ethically recycled, and $2.5 million in SROI (Social Return on Investment) from taxpayer savings and earned income reinvested back into our communities”

From the Website:

Recently celebrated 10-year anniversary and currently recycling the following:

Residential and business electronics including laptop and desktop computers, monitors, TVs, household electronics (Printers, keyboards, DVD and VCR players, stereos, video game players, cell phones, printers, fax machines, AV equipment), and small appliances (Microwaves, hair dryers, vacuum cleaners, fans).

From the 2019 Annual Report, Social, Environmental and Economic Impact is noted as follows:

Social:

50 total permanent employees (40 for people with disAbilities)
6 supervisory and program leadership positions filled by people with disabilities
Vocational training for 32 special education/transitions program students

Environmental:

3,421,104 lbs. of electronics ethically recycled
98,369 lbs. of hazardous waste diverted
4,768,644 lbs. of greenhouse gas emission reductions

Economic:

$2,410,642 in earned income from Colorado recycling operations program
$389,770 in grants, individual donations and corporate sponsorships
$272,001 in taxpayer savings.

In addition, 4th consecutive year set new records for total jobs, income, and material volume, and is 100% financially self-sustainable for first time since founding.

The Visit:

I visited Blue Star Recyclers in Denver, CO at the suggestion of Laurie Sperry, a highly respected colleague in the autism field. Bill Morris, founder, was kind enough to spend several hours with me in July, 2019, giving me a very detailed tour of their Denver plant and explaining in great detail the philosophy and practical aspects of the operation.

I arrived at Blue Star and saw various sized trucks (with the Blue Star logo) at loading bays. I also saw signs on the front door clearly explaining the mission of Blue Star. They are located in industrial area of downtown Denver, just west of I-25. On our tour, in the first two rooms, we observed workers shredding hard drives, disassembling computers, and testing old computer components (i.e. RAM) to be used in rebuilt computers. Most of this work is performed by people on the autism spectrum. We then proceeded to a large warehouse where other workers were organizing and sorting other types of electronics (home appliances, etc) in to large bins. Most of the work this room, which involves lifting and hauling, is done by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Morris points out the lack of women working at Blue Star and notes that it has been difficult to recruit women. He is not sure why.

Morris started Blue Star after being laid off from his job of 30 years in the telecom field. He has created a business and a model which simultaneously “solves” three “problems”: employment for people with disabilities, recycling of generally hard to recycle electronic and computer products, and retention of workers in an industry with very high turnover.
Many of the lessons Bill Morris shared during our walk through are shared below. I was very impressed by his ability to identify and tune in to the unique interests and needs of each worker—and to match them to a “good fitting” job. He asks them what they enjoy and lets then try it out. “They light up like a Christmas tree—we start them there!” Each worker has a realistic target number of computers to disassemble per day, and this number increases as they master it and feel comfortable.

Morris captures the magnitude of the issue of waste—50 million tons each year (TVs, coffee pots, electric toothbrushes, etc). He observes that not recycling “deprives the manufacturing sector of base materials, and they have to mine more.” Consumers who wish to bring TVs and appliances to Blue Star for recycling pay $.59 per pound. Computer recycling is free as there are local incentives for recycling computers.

Blue Star recently opened a plant in Chicago. Morris continues to consult (by phone and online, and in person) across the United States and in such countries as Chile and Israel.

Lessons Learned/Challenges/Advice:

  • It is important to draw on your own past experiences (if you have had them) of being unemployed. “when you have something to offer and nobody wants you, it destroys you.”
  • In assembling a labor force, it is important to match the right worker, with the right work (ask what they would like to do, what they enjoy the most—we start them there!).
  • don’t have a file of each worker as they mostly tell their limitations, what they struggle with and what they can’t do.
  • do not have a “tyranny of low expectation;” set high expectations and work towards it.
  • Invest in finding the right partners—for example, a school district’s transition program. Teach their staff what to teach their students in order to get a job with Blue Star.
  • “get them right after high school”—if they have a period of settling back home (i.e. to the sofa) between high school graduation and work, you will lose them.
  • “the worst part of not having a job is not having a gang to be part of”—we often make the incorrect assumption that this population doesn’t like to be with others. Being part of a team is a big deal for most people.
  • “we define success by numbers” (but each person has a different goal, and it changes as they master it—in disassembling computers, doing 16 per shift is the break even point. Some do 12, some do 20; all are working to improve).
  • It is important to know going in that there are seasonal variations when it comes to recycling. March to June is very busy as Americans are big on recycling in the spring.
  • It is hard to get females interested in this field (“not sure why”)
  • parents are often over-invested in their child’s disability and don’t have faith in them, that they can do the work.
  • Transportation of workers to the job site is sometimes a problem (options include public transportation, para transit, getting ride and driving themselves).

Updated 23/2/2021

Meet Bill Morris of Blue Star Recyclers!

https://www.facebook.com/FAISR.ORG/videos/1140434643139945/

Bill co-founded Blue Star Recyclers in 2009 after discovering people with autism and other disabilities possess innate skills for tasks involved in the recycling of electronics. Today Blue Star is an internationally recognized social enterprise with a mission of recycling electronics to create jobs for people with disabilities.

Bill has been named Colorado Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Small Businessperson of the Year, ARC Employer of the Year, and Recycler of the Year. Blue Star was named Colorado Top Business of the Year, Social Enterprise of the Year, Social Venture of the Year, and has twice been awarded Colorado’s highest environmental honor: The 24-Karat Challenge Award.

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155 W Simpson Ave, Jackson, WY 83001
(307) 201-4452
https://www.verticalharvestjackson.com/our-mission
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder: Nona Yehia
Director of Diversity and Inclusion: Caroline Croft Estay

“Cultivate Ability partnered with Vertical Harvest to create an integrated, naturally supported workplace that includes 23 individuals with a form of disability. The 13,5000 square foot greenhouse produces and sells locally grown, fresh vegetables year round. It utilizes a 1/10 acre site to grow an annual amount of produce equivalent to 10 acres of traditional farming”

From the Website:
https://www.verticalharvestjackson.com/our-mission
https://www.cultivateability.org/

Vertical Harvest of Jackson Hole responds to two significant needs in the community:

  • Jackson has a 4 month growing season and imports the majority of its produce from outside Wyoming.
  • There is a 78% unemployment rate for people with different abilities in Wyoming. This population deserves the opportunity to participate in the workforce, earn a competitive wage and contribute to their community in a meaningful way.
  • Vertical Harvest of Jackson Hole sells locally grown, fresh vegetables year round–including tomatoes, lettuce, specialty greens, and microgreens– to Jackson area restaurants, grocery stores and directly to consumers through on-site sales. Vertical Harvest replaces 100,000 lbs of produce that is trucked or walked into the community each year.
  • In collaboration with nonprofit organization Cultivate Ability Vertical Harvest produces jobs, internships and educational opportunities for people with different abilities. Wyoming suffers a 78% unemployment rate for people with disabilities (ages 18-64).
  • This is even more of a challenge for people in rural communities searching for consistent, meaningful employment. In 2019, 74% of employees in Vertical Harvest’s Grow Well employment model advanced in their positions and 42% were cross trained in multiple departments! Vertical Harvest employees are proving that different abilities are an asset, and that an integrated workplace is good for business and good for our community.
  • Vertical Harvest provides meaningful employment in a fully integrated workplace for over 20 local Wyoming residents with different abilities. This program is based on the tenets of Customized Employment and is designed to personalize the employment relationship between employee and an employer in a way that meets the needs of both.

The Visit:

I visited Vertical Harvest in Jackson, Wyoming in July, 2019. I stopped by on a Friday afternoon to admire the sleek corner building in downtown Jackson Hole, with the attractive colorful lights in the window. Other passersby stopped as well to watch the greens rotating and moving from low to high on a belt.

I returned with great excitement at the appointed time on Saturday afternoon for the free group tour which I had signed up for in advance on their website. The diverse tour group consisted of an architect from Brazil, a man from Texas and several interested families. The tour met in the gift shop, and began with intros by our guide– a gentleman spoke openly about his disabilities, and about how he always felt isolated in previous jobs. While he had a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, he also had social skills challenges and was always given “backroom, evening” bookkeeping jobs.

The tour began on the ground floor with an explanation of the carousel, a very large vertical piece of machinery which allows the various greens to rotate “vertically.” The environment—including temperature, CO2, and light are carefully controlled. There are window shades and an extensive exhaust system noticeable from where we stood at the start of the tour.

During the visit, I learned about the founding of the program and about some of the technical aspects involved in hydroponic farming. Caroline Croft Estay, the co-founder and current Director of Diversity and Inclusion, and Nona Yehia, co-founder and current Chief Executive Officer, founded the company with 2 focuses–growing year round food and providing jobs for people with different abilities. Nona had the idea and met Caroline in the early phase and as such, Caroline became a founder. The Greenhouse, developed a “sliver” of space at the corner of a parking garage in downtown Jackson, opened with the intended employment model.

Growing microgreens, tomatoes and other vegetables indoors is profitable. It is also a fairly new technology and process, and equipment purchased early on required servicing by technicians from Europe. At the present time, some machines are maintained by people with disabilities who have learned to operate and service the equipment.

Vertical Harvest has succeeded in addressing two challenges—finding jobs for people with disabilities, and growing produce locally (cutting down on transportation costs and environmental impact).

The tour ended in the gift shop, where a gregarious employee with disabilities thanked people for coming and offered samples of various flavorful microgreens.

Lessons Learned/Challenges/Advice:

  • Sometimes it is possible to what at first seems impossible—find space to develop in Jackson, WY, grow lettuce indoors, create jobs for people with disabilities.
  • Providing a person with a “good fitting job” can drastically improve self-esteem and even change the course of their life.
  • Some people with disabilities are capable of performing jobs which would be considered difficult even for people without disabilities (i.e. maintenance and repair of the “vertical” lettuce rotating machines).
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Address: 2733 W 8th Ave, Denver, CO 80204
Phone: (303) 295-0163
Danny Combs, President & Founder
danny@buildwithtact.org
https://www.buildwithtact.org/

“TACT is the first and only program of its kind in the country. Its immersive, hands-on vocational training effectively prepares young people with ASD — who now represent one in 59 children between the ages of three through 17, for skilled trade careers that are the fastest growing and most difficult-to-fill professions in the country. Over its short history, TACT has made a tremendous difference in the Denver autism community, more than doubling its program offerings, supporting and training 400 participants in skilled trades, and connecting 80% of its working-age students to their first employment opportunities. Currently, TACT provides career training in: AUTO MECHANICS, CARPENTRY, WELDING, COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ELECTRICAL. These trainings take place over a minimum of one semester (17-18 weeks long).”

From the Website:

TACT was founded in 2016 by parents very much like many of you reading this – parents inspired by both the strengths and challenges unique to their child.

In 2009, Claire and Danny were blessed with a beautiful son. The first few years his progress was “on track,” however around the age of three they began noticing his speech was behind, he was toe walking and few other “differences.” They visited a few doctors and he started speech and occupational therapy to work on his sensory developments. Fast forward to 2015: Their son is in the first grade and growing into a remarkable young man. He’s becoming an extremely creative and innovative thinker, however, there are clearly some continued difficulties. After years of working with doctors and teachers he is placed on the Autism Spectrum. He’s not alone. In 2014 the CDC reported that 1 in 68 children (1 in 42 boys and 1 in 168 girls) are diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum.
As parents, Danny and Claire started looking into programs to build upon their son’s strengths to help him build confidence and social and emotional awareness. They couldn’t find anything outside of the doctor’s office. So, they founded T.A.C.T.

TACT offers a variety of year round programs and workshops for children, teens and young adults. Executive functioning, gross motor/fine motor skills, and social skills are increased through organic, hands-on learning in these project-based learning workshops. Workshops/classes include Makerspace, Fiber Arts, Instrument Building, Carpentry, Photography, Electronics, Auto Mechanics, Welding/Metal Arts. TACT also offers camps during multiple school breaks.

The Visit:

TACT is located in Denver, a five-minute walk from another very impressive program serving people with disabilities—Blue Star Recyclers employs many people with disabilities in the computer recycling industry.
I visited TACT on a summer afternoon when there were no classes in session. Danny Combs was kind enough to give me a tour of the building and the automotive shop and to explain the mission and goals of TACT. Participants ages 5-21 are “exposed to working with their hands to see if they like it.” As above, there are many options including computer science, auto mechanics, carpentry, welding, etc. We toured the computer room (which included audio engineering and electronics), the weaving, knitting and sewing area, and woodworking, carpentry and instrument making. Danny shared that his participants has worked with such businesses as Dirt Coffee (a Littleton, CO coffee shop training and employing people with disabilities), and the Jefferson County School district; they have restored 168 tables as of the date of my visit.

A highlight of the visit was meeting and observing Jake at work as he restored a 1967 Ford LTD car. Danny offered in interesting insight. “You think you need to make accommodations for people on the spectrum—you think they won’t like grease, or loud music It has never been an issue!”

Lessons Learned/Challenges/Advice:

  • It is important to expose people with disabilities at a young age to a range of hands-on activities. They and the adults in their lives can begin to get a sense of what they like and are good at.
  • People on the autism spectrum—both verbal and non-verbal—often have talents and skills which may not seem obvious at first.
  • Don’t make assumptions. For example, we often think loud music and grease would provide sensory challenges; in our experience, this has not been an issue.
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5767 S. Rapp St.
Littleton, CO 80120
303-635-6674
https://www.dirtcoffee.org/

“Located in Downtown Littleton, Dirt is on a mission to bring you quality crafted coffee, food & drink while employing & empowering individuals with autism.”

From the Website:

Did you know that 90% of individuals with autism are either unemployed or underemployed? Founded with the idea that people with differences deserve better, Dirt’s mobile coffee truck hit the ground in 2013 on a mission to change minds and change lives one cup at a time. Since its inception, Dirt has trained and employed over 100 individuals with neurodiversities while providing over $40,000 in scholarships to families in need and their caregivers.

From the ground up, our shop goes further to cultivate a culture of acceptance, inclusion, and opportunity while empowering others to do the same. Are you in love yet? Dirt breaks the expectation that a good cause comes with a lack of quality. Our baristas are socially conscious and craft a damn good cup of coffee. What’s in the cup is great, but what’s beyond the cup is life changing.

The Visit:

I drove the 20 minutes south from Denver to Littleton and arrived at Dirt Coffee Bar, located in a quaint old house on a main street with the South Platte River out back. There is a lawn out front as well as a porch with very inviting chairs and some games– for customers to have a cup of coffee and a snack, to read or socialize, or to play a game. Inside, customers find good air-conditioning, an inclusive bathroom, souvenirs (hats, shirts, coffee cups, etc) for purchase, and friendly staff greeting customers. “Welcome to Dirt Coffee—I hope you enjoy whatever you order,” says an employee. “Can you set a timer—you may need to drain the hibiscus,” a job coach instructs an intern. “Iced latté—enjoy!” an employee tells a customer.

Dirt was founded six years ago by Lauren Burgess, the current Chair. Emily Wallace was kind enough to sit with me and share the history, mission and operation of Dirt. She explained that, six years ago, she and Lauren had identified a “huge need for employment for people with autism.” She noted that 90% of people with autism are either unemployed or underemployed. They had worked together at Garden, a Colorado based program “on a mission to cultivate inclusive opportunities for those with autism and neurodiversities to share, learn, grow and shine in this world just as they are.” According the website [https://gardenautism.org], “Garden provides exceptional services & programs for individuals of all ages and abilities. We offer a wide variety of one-to-one & group based programming for children, adolescents & adults year around. All of our programs are guided by the foundations of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) & are cultivated to meet the unique needs of each individual we serve.”

Wallace adds, “We needed a bigger space—and it was hard to convince people—we showed them!” In 2013, Dirt began as a coffee truck. “The community was so accepting and supportive!” In 2018, they took the “next step.” “Lauren found this place 2 or 3 blocks from the Light Rail Station,” which made it accessible for the employees. Dirt opened in May, 2018 and “has had neurodiverse employees from the start.”

Neurodiverse participants sample positions over a three-month paid internship period. They may learn to work the register, serve as barista, stock and unpack merchandise, or work as a bar back (bussing dishes, cleaning tables). During the internship period, the 10 interns have a fairly well-defined schedule broken down by month: in month one, their job coach is with them as they are set up for success. In month two, the interns pick an area of focus (of the four above) and choose goals. In month three, the coach steps back and observes from a more distant position, and the worker receives natural supports. Interns also learn such soft skills as hygiene and the importance of arriving on time for work. For most, Dirt is their first internship/training, and they go on to paid employment elsewhere. Thirty interns had completed the training program as of my July, 2019 visit. Currently, 100% of interns are neurodiverse and 30% of employees are neurodiverse.

The program is supported by sales, grants and fundraising. In addition, interns are funded through Voc rehab and Medicaid waivers. There is also a private pay option.

One very nice success story is Robby. His parents report, “We thought he’d live in our basement forever. He then started working full time at Goodwill and got his own apartment. He wasn’t happy with that job. He is now at Dirt and was recently Employee of the Year!

Lessons Learned/Challenges/Advice:

  • Start small and expand (coffee truck was the first step; 5 years later, expansion to coffee shop).
  • location, location, location!-by being close to the light rail, employees can get to work more easily, there is steady foot traffic along the main street location, and there is easy on street parking in front of the shop.
  • Community support is essential
  • Job skills and soft skills of the job are very important (arriving on time, being courteous to customers, etc).
  • It is important to expose people to different jobs as “people often get stuck in a particular job”.
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