Located in the heart of downtown Clemson, South Carolina, the Shepherd Hotel is a community center bustling with locals and visitors. As with most hotels, the staff makes the difference. But here the staff also makes it unique.
About 30% of the workforce has one intellectual disability. Workers earn between $13 and $18 per hour, including tips – well above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Nationally, according to a ThinkWork survey, 16% of people with intellectual disabilities have a job.
The Shepherd’s co-founder, Rick Hayduk, brought his vision of employing the mentally disabled to life, in part because two of his four children have Down syndrome.
“If we do our job right, someone will leave here inspired,” Hayduk said.
The hotel partnered with a program at nearby Clemson University called ClemsonLIFE. Students, including Hayduk’s daughter Jamison, not only take university courses, they also learn skills that can help them along the way live and work independently.
According to program director Erica Walters, program participants learn everything from time management and hygiene to banking and budgeting. Almost all graduates who have completed the program are employed. There are plans to open two similar hotels in South Carolina next year.
“We want to grow for the sake of inspiration and change,” Hayduk said.
The program changes lives.
Alex Eveland, a recent graduate of ClemsonLIFE, now works as a server at the Shepherd Hotel. Eveland has a developmental disability and as a child doctors thought he would never walk or talk. Now he is working on a catering certification and dreams of one day opening his own restaurant.
“I don’t have time to have a bad day in life because I want to tell people that people can do anything in life,” Eveland said.
Meg Oliver
