Governor Stein Proclaims Disability Employment Awareness Month

Disability Employment Awareness Month

2025

By The Governor Of The State Of North Carolina

A Proclamation

Whereas, October marks the 80^th anniversary of the enactment of National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week, which, in 1988, Congress expanded from a week to a month and renamed National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), with “Celebrating Value and Talent” designated this year’s theme to highlight skills, value, and contributions of people with disabilities; and

Whereas, to increase opportunities for fair wages, career employment, and economic self-sufficiency for people with disabilities, Executive Order No. 92 declares North Carolina an Employment First State and directs the Office of State Human Resources to consult with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) to make state government a model employer of people with disabilities; and

Whereas, the NCDHHS Division of Employment and Independence for People with Disabilities and Division of Services for the Blind and the Department’s Inclusion Works Program provide counseling; transition services, post-secondary education, job training, development and placement, and other support services to help people with disabilities achieve their goals for employment and independence; and

Whereas, North Carolina recognizes NDEAM to raise awareness about disability employment issues and celebrate the contributions of people with disabilities, with activities that highlight the value and talent of people with disabilities that add to our workplaces and communities and affirm our state’s commitment to making all of North Carolina’s people feel welcome and at home; and

Whereas, the North Carolina General Assembly has expanded opportunities and supports for people with disabilities in the University of North Carolina System and the North Carolina Community College System workforce, including through starting Inclusive Postsecondary Education Programs at North Carolina State University, North Carolina Central University, and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, as well as expanding the Access to Achievement workforce training program to 15 community colleges;

Now, Therefore, I, Josh Stein, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim October 2025 as “Disability Employment Awareness Month” in North Carolina and commend its observance to all citizens.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this twenty-third day of September in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-fifth and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fiftieth.