Jeff Hughes has no time for stupid reporters.

My first mistake was asking him where I might be able to interview an employer who had taken advantage of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit program.

"We're not looking for charity," he said. "We're looking for employers who hire people because they're qualified -- not because there's a tax incentive.

"We're tired of charity programs," he said.

Unemployment rates for people with disabilities typically run anywhere from 75 to 85 percent, Hughes said.

"Most people, for many reasons, cannot find decent, gainful employment and people want it. That's what we do is hook up people with opportunities."

Hughes suggests looking at the situation from another perspective: "Let's take the issue another way and get out of the charity realm," he said. "It's up to those companies to respect the rights of their employees and provide them with accommodations.

"That's the kind of company that should be showcased. The kind of company that asks: 'How can we accommodate you?'" he said.

Hughes has been executive director of the Progressive Independence Living Center, 121 N. Porter Ave., for eight years.

Progressive Independence is one of five independent living centers in Oklahoma and more than 200 across the country. The office, established in 1981, bustles with activity.

"What we're about is helping people go back to work and advocating for the rights of people with disabilities to live and work in the community," Hughes said.

Progressive Independence has "four core services," Hughes said: Counseling, peer support, independent living skills training and advocacy.

"All designed around helping people with disabilities to remain independent in the community. We also advocate for full participation and integration in all aspects of society," he said.

Hughes said PI's "priority over many years has been to assist people with disabilities who -- for whatever reason -- have been institutionalized, to move back into the community."

That reintegration assistance eventually will be added to the core services, he said.

When asked to elaborate, Hughes says people oftentimes acquire disabilities and become hospitalized. "It's all too convenient for hospital discharge planners to stick them in nursing homes and for them to get lost without any support system," he said.

The placement in a nursing home of an individual who can lead an independent life in the community is both inappropriate and costly, according to independent living center officials.

The cost of keeping a person with quadriplegia who requires 24 hour live-in provider care in a nursing home is about $87,000 annually, while the cost for the same individual living in an apartment in the community is about $33,000.

The institutional lifestyle creates various undue limitations on residents, who experience a deterioration in health, resulting in an increase in hospitalizations and deaths.

"Everybody wants out," Hughes said. "We have waves of people calling us," after finding out about Progressive Independence, usually by word of mouth, he said.

PI handles 3,000 to 3,500 calls a year seeking services information, according to Helen Kutz, assistant director of PI.

"That's when our services and programs come into play," Kutz said.

PI works with housing authorities in Oklahoma City and Norman, using rental assistance vouchers, Kutz said.

Other programs include Continuum of Care, Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy, Community Development Block Grant, Emergency Shelter Grant, Shelter Plus Care, HOPE, HOME Investment Partnership programs and other federally funded housing programs. PI recently was awarded a Living Choices grant, assisting people with disabilities in making the transition from nursing homes back into the community.

"We serve Cleveland, Oklahoma, McClain, Pottawatomie and Canadian Counties," Kutz said.

Counselors help consumers access Norman's Section 8 program, Kutz said. The PI program uses a housing program for up to 11 people a year in Norman. Another 25 vouchers are available in Oklahoma City, she said.

Additionally, PI has taken over the United Way equipment loan closet, distributing canes, crutches, walkers, "portapotties," transfer shower benches, portable ramps and other items.

According to Lew Blockcolski, PI research and development specialist, the equipment loans have doubled in a year's time.

PI also assists about 400 people with disabilities who work and receive Social Security benefits.

Community Work Incentive Coordinator Janice Oak said she helps beneficiaries on Social Security Disabilities Insurance and Supplemental Security Income.

"I try to counsel them on how work will affect their benefits," she said.

Oak said getting Social Security beneficiaries to work is an important project of the Social Security Administration this year.

Oak offers counseling so beneficiaries won't lose benefits or medical.

"I tell them how they'll be affected, and give them all the Social Security rules. I also talk to Social Security about their case, and how to keep medical and different types of work incentives available to them," she said.

PI has the "capacity to work with legislation nationally and statewide, all designed to create more service opportunities and programs for people with disabilities," she said.

Hughes, who serves on the National Council for Independent Living, was in Washington, D.C., in July, working with disability rights advocates from each of the 50 states, advocating for the ADA Amendments Act to correct narrow court interpretations that have restricted the Americans with Disabilities Act coverage in the workplace for people with diabetes, epilepsy, serious heart conditions, mental disabilities and cancer.??

The advocates participated in NCIL's annual conference, a week-long event that coincides with the 18th anniversary of the ADA.?Founded in 1982, NCIL is the longest-running national cross-disability, grassroots organization run by and for people with disabilities.

PI is a private nonprofit organization, staffed and governed by a majority of people with disabilities.

"We're controlled, run and operated by people with disabilities. Because we are people with disabilities, we never forget the rights and needs of those we serve," Kutz said.

Centers for Independent Living place the greatest emphasis on consumer self-determination. Workers do not make decisions for consumers, but provide information and resources to allow consumers to make independent decisions.

"We also work to increase inclusion in our community whether it is in housing, transportation, voting rights, employment or other areas," Hughes said.

And educating stupid reporters.

Tom Blakey 366-3540 tblakey@normantranscript.com