Lift is Celebrating a 25th Anniversary

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A Note from Donna Walters Kozberg

Twenty-five years ago, there was no World Wide Web, and a "computer" was a jumble of highly elaborate equipment that filled a huge room and demanded lots of cable and plenty of air conditioning. Twenty-five years ago, "telecommuting" and "ADA" weren't part of the employment lexicon. Twenty-five years ago, ambitious men and women often discovered that physical disabilities were keeping them off the first rungs of the high-tech career ladders they dreamed of climbing. Those ladders were too frequently inaccessible for reasons that had nothing to do with the job-seekers' potential ability to do the work -- inadequate transportation, clumsy assistive technology, unreliable attendant care, lack of ramps or elevators or parking spaces, or, worst of all, compromised educational opportunity.

Twenty-five years ago, two visionaries imagined a world in which physical disability would not get between computers and the people who had the logic and creativity to program them, and the Lift program was born. Since 1975, Lift, Inc., a small nonprofit organization with an unequaled record of success, has recruited, trained, hired, and placed IT professionals for more than eighty of the country's largest corporations. Lift introduced much of the world to telecommuting at a time when the technology for systems telework barely existed -- a full decade before the personal computer began to make its way into homes and offices. Lift graduates (programmer-analysts, systems specialists, CBT training developers, database managers, web designers, and team leaders) came into the program with a wide range of vocational backgrounds and disabilities, but they all had a few key characteristics in common: they had exceptional analytical abilities, they had big dreams for their futures, and they wanted their intellects to be put to work.

Unfortunately, twenty-five years later many career ladders are still difficult to reach, and even harder to climb. Only thirty percent of people with disabilities who are between the ages of eighteen and sixty-four are employed in this country, compared with eighty percent of people without disabilities in the same age range. Fortunately, Lift is busier than ever, with a client list that is expanding rapidly as Lift's expertise in recruiting, training, and managing IT professionals with special needs and extraordinary talents is more and more in demand.

Because Lift, Inc. is celebrating such an important anniversary this year, we encourage all of the people who have participated over the quarter century -- programmers, mentors, managers, CIO's, CEO's, human resources executives, rehabilitation counselors, training experts, and all the amazing individuals who have been a part of our history -- to take a moment to look back at what you have accomplished, not just for yourselves, and not only for your coworkers, families, and friends, but for the future that we are all only beginning to glimpse. Better yet, share your memories and your visions for the future with us -- via e-mail, letter, or telephone. And visit this page from time to time: we'll be keeping it updated with news, observations, and perhaps just a bit of nostalgia.

A Note from Bill Woerner, Chair and Co-Founder

Portsmouth, NH
September 29, 2000

After 25 years I vividly remember the long lunch in Chicago when Charlie Schmidt and I began cooking up the idea that would eventually become Lift, Inc. We had met at a Bible Study class and shared a desire to shift from careers in business to some kind of non-profit venture with a caring bottom line. Charlie's new idea that day was that we could start a company to identify and train physically disabled people as computer programmers to work in their homes for major corporations whom we could persuade to hire them.

We weren't through with the soup before we shook on it and became brothers as well as partners in a lifetime undertaking which is now unbelievably 25 years old. Never mind that we first called it something like "Organization for Hiring and Training Disabled Computer Programmers" and couldn't pronounce much less sell an acronym like "OHTDCP". It was six months before our friend Rick Hughes came up with "Lift" and our logo which we still use.

There were many firsts for Charlie and me; finding our first disabled candidate (Tony Auer), selling our first client corporation (Standard Oil), setting up the first interactive remote terminal (a 15 character per second Teletype 43 on a 300 baud dial-up telephone line), designing the first VCR Cobol training program (based on courses donated by Deltak), writing the first corporate programming contract (Montgomery Ward), negotiating the first Voc Rehab contract (Illinois Dept of Rehab), opening our first and only office (Northbrook,IL), our first breakfast board meeting with Dean Griffith, starting up the Eastern Region (Donna Walters Kozberg), starting up our Western Region (Janna Butterbaugh Caulkins), expanding our board (Bill Johnson and Bill Ellis),Charlie's retirement and untimely death, Donna's promotion to CEO and my retirement.

There are so many memories, wonderful and sorrowful, and so many people who have contributed so much to Lift in these 25 years. I'm wishing that we could create an honor roll to somehow recognize all of them.  At the top would of course be Charlie. The older I get the more I miss him.

In the meantime, congratulations to you, Donna and the current Lift team. Happy birthday to Lift and I'll see you at the luncheon.

Bill Woerner

A Note from Lift's First Programmer: Tony Auer

Photograph of Tony Auer

There's Life After Programming!

I would really like to congratulate Lift on its 25th anniversary. If you'll allow a little nostalgia, I was Lift's first programmer, and started work, I think in March of 1976, for Standard Oil of Indiana Company. Standard Oil changed its name to Amoco, and two years ago, it got bought up by British Petroleum. As a result of the purchase, I and half the other people in my group got hit by the 'corporate weedwhacker', and I wound up on early retirement, but I've had a very eventful career. I've worked on equipment like IBM 1130s, with 8k of memory and disk packs the size of sewer covers that could hold a little over a megabyte of data. I worked on huge mainframe systems that could spit out coredumps that filled a whole box of printer paper, and finally had the opportunity to work on SUN systems, supporting sophisticated order entry and accounting packages. Little did I know that when I first met Charlie Schmidt and Bill Woerner I would be happily retired at 52, after a wonderful career. Thank you, Lift, for the jump-start!

A Note from Joe Misciascio

I think it is really great for Lift to be celebrating their 25 year anniversary! My experience with Lift has been a very positive one. After being hit with a disabling virus in late 1988, I tried in vain to resume my career in computer programming once I was able to work again. Being unsuccessful in my attempts to gain employment on my own, I turned to Lift . Lift took the time to re-train me in my field, coordinate my interviews, and get me a position at Bell Atlantic (now Verizon). At the time I had big dreams for the future and wanted to put my skills to work and earn a living. Now, eight years later, I am still with Verizon, and have a wonderful home, wife, and family of six, which includes a son and triplet daughters, and I will shortly be completing a master's degree in computer science. Again, I would like to thank Lift for giving me that 'start' that I needed to re-establish my career.

 

A Note from Carrie Ann Schmidt

I remember so vividly when Charlie came home from the office one day, very excited about the concept that people who had severe disabilities could do programming work from their homes just as effectively as if they were at the office, maybe even more so. Shortly afterward, Charlie met Bill Woerner at Bible Study class and they both discussed the possibility of this becoming a reality. The rest is history.

Congratulations to Lift on twenty-five successful years!

A Note from Al Sten-Clanton

In 1989, Lift was my path to a new year. With funding from the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, I made the journey from occasionally practicing attorney to computer programmer with regular work and a steady paycheck. There were some big rocks along the path, but at its end, I was in a line of work where I could be the kind of full-fledged craftsperson I'd long thought I should be. Though I sometimes miss my old calling, I'm very grateful that I had the opportunity to set a new course. Sometimes, there's nothing like licking a programming problem to make my day.

A Note from Laura Burger

I'm sorry I didn't get back to you about this on Friday, but, as I said last week, work has been pretty busy, so the week was over before I realized that I hadn't gotten back to you with an answer.

Unfortunately, I will need to decline your invitation. Please extend a most sincere apology to Donna for me. I feel particularly badly about this because, risking sounding melodramatic, Lift changed my life.

When I first found out about Lift, I had just found out that my progressive (over the preceding year) muscle weakness was due to a neurological condition. While a surgical procedure halted this progression, I had become so weakened as to prevent me from driving in the future.

Losing such a means of independence was a tremendous emotional adjustment. It was a very difficult time for me. I first learned about Lift from someone who was trying to start a support group for people with disabilties at St. Lawrence Rehabilitation Center. I had never considered a career in computers, but the Lift program sounded interesting.

I have been a full-time, home-based employee of the Dun & Bradstreet Corporation for the past thirteen years and I am ever- grateful to Lift for making this a life-changing opportunity. Lift provided me with a more than adequate foundation of encouragement and technical knowledge for assuming my initial responsibilities at D&B.

I hope the luncheon is enjoyable. Again, I'm sorry not to be able to join you.

Laura

A Note from Kathleen Boehm

I really owe Lift a great deal. When I started with Lift in 1980 it was a new beginning for me. I worked for The Northern Trust bank from 1981 until October, 1999. Last October I "retired" from the bank with a nice retirement package and went to work for Fiserv, to whom the bank outsourced their check operations. Lift has enabled me to put three daughters through private schools. One is a doctor and one is working on her PhD in psychology. My husband was able to retire early from teaching. And the best thing is that I really enjoy this work.

Thanks Lift!

A Note from Tim Lipinski

October 23, 2000

Dear Adrienne,

Since I will not be able to attend Lift's 25th Anniversary luncheon, I'd like to share my thoughts on how Lift has helped me. Back in July of 1987, I went into respiratory failure which resulted in a three month stay in the hospital and required that I have a tracheotomy and be ventilator dependent at night. Then in January 1988, I felt good enough to return to work but due to having a trach, I needed to be able to work at home but my former employer told me that my job could not be done from home, so I was forced to go on long term disability. Then I began to search for a new job, one that I could work from home, but I was not having any luck. Later that year, I learned of the Lift organization from a neighbor. When I contacted Lift, I spoke to Donna and she described to me that the Lift program enabled the disabled to find a job which could be done from home. Since this was exactly what I was in search of, an interview was set up. After an interview with Donna and evaluation testing, I was selected to the Lift program, so a search began to match me up with a company that needed someone with my skills. In June of 1989, Lift set up an interview with New York Life. And a couple weeks later, while in the hospital with pneumonia, I was contacted by New York Life and was offered the Lift programmer position, it was good to know that a job was waiting for me as soon as I recovered. Finally after being out of work for two years, there was a company that believed in my abilities that allowed me to prove that I was able to do my job from home just as effectively as those that work in the office. After completing the one year contract, New York Life offered me a full time position with benefits starting immediately, so for the last ten years, I've been a New York Life employee. I enjoy working for New York Life, they understood and accommodated any special needs and given me the opportunity to advance my career. Lift has given me the opportunity to return to the work force and become productive again, and if it wasn't for Lift, I would still be stuck on disability. I appreciate all the hard work that everyone at Lift is doing to allow me and many other disabled people to be able to work.

Sincerely, Tim Lipinski

A Note from Richard Hughes

November 2, 2000

Dear Bill,

I have thought about you and Lift, Inc. often over the years.

You may recall that we had lunch together at one of those motel eateries on Mannheim, when you told me you were going to start a company with Charlie Schmidt. The name you were thinking about was Computer Programming for the Physically Disabled. You indicated you would need marketing communications materials.

The name Lift came to my mind based upon our discussion plus additional ideas such as:

· Giving a "lift" to capable and talented men and women

· Psalms talks about lifting up your eyes to the hills from whence comes your help

The name was fresh, concise, and expressed a fundamental strategic objective upon which we all agreed. Making it clear and consistent is what came after in the form of business cards, stationery, several brochures, a certificate, a seal, and other promotional materials. Another thing I recall was the photographic shoot at a businesses in Glenview, using their computer to project the Lift logo on the screen so we could photograph it with a realistic look for use on a brochure cover.

Congratulations on Lift's 25th anniversary and to the people who have been given a "lift" in careers that they might not otherwise have been able to experience. It is still a great concept. It was a nice opportunity for me, a fond memory to be a part of and one in which I feel proud of what we accomplished.

Looking forward to our next opportunity to refresh an old lasting friendship.

Richard Hughes
Hughes Design Associates

Congratulations From….

Mrs. Carrie Ann Schmidt - You are all to be congratulated for the fine work you have done these past 25 years. I know Charlie would be pleased if he were here.

John Bateman-Ferry, Senior Vice President, Lee Hecht Harrison - Congratulations to Lift, Inc. and all involved. Please give Donna Walters-Kozberg my best wishes overall and my good thoughts for a very successful day for your celebration. Again, congratulations to one and all at Lift, Inc.

Dale Brown, President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities - Congratulations!

Judy Matthews, Director, The BOC Group - Continued success!

Mandy Phillips - Congratulations and enjoy the celebration!