Naomi Burcham wipes tables at Bethel College's cafeteria.

MCKENZIE, Tenn. --- He's tall and soft-spoken, she's short and spunky. His favorite tasks are unloading the truck, taking out the trash and refilling the ice cream machine. Her favorite chores are cleaning tables, sweeping the floor and refilling the containers of plastic utensils. Doyle Garrison and Naomi Burcham are different in many ways, but for the last five years both have found friendship and fulfillment in their work at Bethel College's cafeteria.

Burcham, 63, and Garrison, 38, have something else in common, too: both have cognitive disabilities. Not that one would know it from looking around the cafeteria. Just a brief time after some 500 students and faculty have filed in and out for lunch, the tables sparkle, the floors shine and the supplies are fully stocked.

"Once an overlooked talent pool, people with disabilities are contributing to the American economy in ways never imagined," says Sandy Stevens, director of vocational services for Community Developmental Services in Martin.

Mike Abrams on location at Rural King in McKenzie.

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Congress established NDEAM in 1988 to increase awareness about the contributions and skills of American workers with disabilities.

Garrison and Burcham are excellent examples of people with disabilities making a positive impact in their communities, says Stevens.

"What we try to do every time we match our people with new jobs is to help potential employers see the abilities of our clients, not the disabilities. Bethel College has been very accepting and Doyle and Naomi have had much success in their jobs."

Burcham lives alone in an apartment in McKenzie. Garrison is married and lives with his wife of 15 years, Geraldine, and their 13-year-old son, Dustin, in Lavinia.

They are just two of approximately 45 individuals with developmental disabilities - eight in Carroll County - who are working in competitive employment in the community with the help and support of CDS, a nonprofit organization caring for adults in Weakley, Obion, Henry, Carroll and Lake counties.

Garrison

CDS client Mike Abrams is approaching his three-year anniversary in his job at Rural King in McKenzie. Abrams works between 20 and 30 hours per week and does everything in the store but work the cash register. He loads and unloads the truck, cleans the restrooms, takes care of the plants -- he even helps design the displays.

Abrams, who lives with his mother in McKenzie, is thoughtful and polite and loves his job at Rural King.

"Up here it's like a family," he says. "It's like a family for people with disabilities."

The bubbly Burcham works about 10 hours per week at the cafeteria, and also thinks one of the best parts about her job is the people.

"Sometimes, if I get in here early, I come in here and sit and talk," she says with a laugh. "I just like 'em all," Burcham says about her coworkers. "I'm pretty close with 'em all."

Garrison, who works approximately 25 hours per week, is all business.

"As soon as I get here," he says, "I'll clock in and get busy."

Garrison, Burcham and Abrams work for different reasons and find satisfaction in different tasks, but all three contribute to the community in meaningful ways ' from cleaning tables in the Bethel College cafeteria to coordinating the decorative displays inside the front doors of Rural King.

"Our individuals bring value to the workplace. They don't know it," says Stevens, "but deep down they can sense it."