Founded in 1951, U&I is a non-profit organization based in Dallas that has been providing workforce development services for 72 years, becoming one of the largest centers for vocational training, job readiness, and community placement in the DFW area.
U&I is committed to meeting the needs of disabled individuals by offering a comprehensive range of services, including vocational training, paid work opportunities, and job readiness training. In addition, U&I is dedicated to supporting veterans who may be facing difficulties as they transition their military skills to a civilian environment. It provides veterans with training, transportation, and employment support.
The Dallas Express had an opportunity to sit down with U&I’s CEO, Hugh Breland, to discuss his experience since taking the reigns three years ago and what he deems critical to enable those in need to live to their fullest lives.
When asked what is behind Breland’s passion for helping the organization’s clients, his reply was simple: “I wanted to leverage my privilege.”
“I noticed early on how people treated those who looked different, talked differently, were educated differently, didn’t have as much money, didn’t have as much influence, and didn’t have the network. My philosophy in life became: if I started at the 50-yard line and you started at 0, and we ran — I don’t care if you are the fastest man in the world — you probably are not going to get a touchdown before I am. So, for me, I sought out how to help others who were starting at the 0-yard line. What can I do?”
Bringing this philosophy into his workspace, Breland speaks frankly about the challenges of the disabled individuals he serves at U&I. Coupled with the fact that 90% of U&I’s clients are at or below the poverty level, this makes for a challenging cycle of social and economic dissonance to break.
“We’ve been trying to hide this segment for years in this country and the world. Neurodivergence is intimidating — it’s uncomfortable. Divergence or ‘difference’ has always been outside of the system. The system was created for neurotypical individuals. If that system is challenged in any way with ‘difference,’ people often say, ‘no, no, no, we don’t want that,'” said Breland.
However, he and his team at U&I believe in inserting oneself into a relationship and community that demonstrates that “love is being willing to go at someone else’s pace.”
“Only 25% of individuals with disabilities who want to work currently have a job. That number is 80% with neurotypical, able-bodied individuals,” said Breland.
He said the gap results from some employers being unwilling to look at certain populations to fill jobs. For employers who are discouraged because they cannot find reliable workers and are hesitant to hire disabled workers, Breland challenges them to take a hard look at the numbers.
“The turnover rate in a neurotypical environment is 25% right now. At Walmart, it’s 148%. [U&I’s] turnover rate is 6%. So, if you want to talk about the bottom line numbers, how much money, time, and effort are [companies] spending on training employees, the turnovers … ask a veteran what’s ‘on time.’ It’s 15 minutes early. Hire our veterans, and [companies] will realize there will be no one in their organization as committed, as early, as on-time.”
“We don’t ask anyone to do what we are not willing to do ourselves,” said Breland. “We hire veterans ourselves. We hire young people and seniors with disabilities.”
U&I vets each of its candidates to ensure they are a good match for employers, assessing skill levels, looking at skill gaps, and addressing those gaps. The nonprofit has job coaches and case managers who follow the progress of the employees they place for their entire lives.
The organization assists participants with numerous empowering abilities, including computer training, Microsoft certifications, ChatGPT training, forklift training, pick-and-pull training for warehouse labor, food handlers licensing, resume writing, interview skill development, and much more. Impressively, 60-70% of the education and training is done in-house.
In addition to education and training, U&I provides transportation, clothing, employment, and free showers and haircuts for veterans. U&I partners with outside service vendors for some of its offerings, including professional mental health assistance if needed at no cost to participants. This one-stop-shop will also be adding housing to its services ecosystem within the next three years.
“I am proud to say that last fiscal year, our clients earned $5.9 million in the marketplace, which is an average of $40,000 plus per year,” said Breland.
With all the free services it offers, it begs the question of how this nonprofit has been funded over the last 72 years.
“For years, we relied on grants alone,” said Breland. “The market for grants is very competitive, and unfortunately, we don’t really want to compete with other nonprofits for grants — that’s not our desire — but we are.” He said he does not want to be dependent on grants.
“For an organization that is 72 years old, we have one of the smallest private donor lists that I know of. Being based out of West Dallas, we’ve never been the sexy, pretty nonprofit. Yet, our outcomes way outpace others. We’re platinum with GuideStar and a 99 with Charity Navigator. The justification to invest in our mission is there because we are accomplishing our mission. But the reality is we need more awareness. We need more horsepower behind our mission so that more people will recognize and be willing to invest in the need.”
U&I has had to get creative to raise funds and awareness of its mission. It has an in-house screen printing business that employs veterans and disabled individuals who sell goods to the community. They screen print baseball uniforms and t-shirts. Profits go back into advancing the U&I mission.
The nonprofit has also collaborated and partnered with several well-known companies in various ways. These establishments include McDonald’s, Michaels, Kroger, Amazon, Operation Tiny House, the Salvation Army, Veterans Affairs, Union Gospel Mission, Bank of America, multiple independent school districts, hospitals, coffee shops, restaurants, and smaller mom-and-pop shops.
“Our services are 100% crucial to the community,” said Breland. “More companies and donors need to know about us. We have people ready and able to work.”
Mark your calendar for two upcoming events to help U&I with its mission to “empower individuals with disabilities and those with barriers to work to achieve their highest level of employment and independence.”
January 18: U&I’s Mix Meet & Eat free networking luncheon and facility tour to discover upcoming U&I opportunities and programs. You can show up on the day of or register here.
March 23: 30th Annual U&l Dash at Klyde Warren Park. This is a 5K/1 Mile Glow Run/Walk Extravaganza for the whole family with an interactive kids zone, shop, small market, live music, and much more. Register here.