For new hire, job is a clean sweep

The handrails and door frames at the Best Western Pheasant Hill might be the cleanest in the Northwest.

At least that’s what housekeeper Verdia Davis’ co-workers think. After struggling for months to find employment, the 54-year-old disabled woman is working about five hours a day, three days a week at the Spokane Valley hotel, cleaning hallways and bathrooms – and laughing while she does it.

“I love it every bit,” Davis said. “They take care of me every bit.”

Davis was hired in spring after searching for jobs with the assistance of Skils’kin, a Spokane organization that helps people with disabilities find work.

Her difficulty getting work is common among people with disabilities, and she was featured in a Spokesman-Review article about the problem in March. But Best Western Pheasant Hill general manager Christine Cochran didn’t know about the newspaper story until Davis, who uses a wheelchair, brought in a copy a few weeks after she was hired.

“We just sat down and said, ‘Wow, we had no idea what you had been through,’ ” Cochran said.

Davis was accidentally dropped on her head minutes after she was born, seriously injuring her. She has struggled to find jobs because many employers shy away from hiring people with disabilities, said Craig Hansen, of Skils’kin.

The organization helps about 80 people with disabilities find work, he said, and businesses like the Best Western Pheasant Hill should be commended for reaching out to those with disabilities. The company also hired two other workers from Skils’kin this year.

“It’s something we would hope to see more of,” he said.

The hotel was named the employer of the year by Skils’kin this year.

But despite incentives like a $2,400 tax credit per employee, 30 potential workers are still looking for jobs, Hansen said.

Hansen or another Skils’kin worker checks in on Davis once a week to make sure things are going all right, Hansen said.

Davis is treated like any other employee at the hotel, said two of her co-workers, Cindy Cecil and Melody Coghill, both managers of the business’s housekeeping division.

“We’ve been blessed to have her around,” Cecil said. “She comes to work with a smile on her face. We’ve all grown because of her.”

Cecil said Davis is thorough with her work and helpful to guests.

Co-workers even arrange transportation for Davis so that she can attend employee parties, where she has a knack for winning door prizes, Cecil said.

“I couldn’t imagine the Best Western without her,” Coghill said.

“She’s leading us, and I’m learning from her every day.”