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PIBH is Proud to Present the 2007 Nettie Mann
Achievement Award Winner
David Schmitt
David
Schmitt was born in 1955 and grew up with his
parents, Brother Gary and Sister Laura in Midwest
Wisconsin. He attended St. Thomas Aquinas elementary
school, Lance Jr. High School and Tremper High
School and worked as a Design Draftsman for almost
ten years after attending a Technical School. He and
his family spent many years enjoying outdoor
activities at their family resort in Wisconsin.
In 1986 David was taken to the hospital for what
most thought was just severe fatigue, flu or
something similar. Shockingly, David was diagnosed
with Multiple Sclerosis, an inflammatory disease of
the Central Nervous System. David explains it as
having a broken wire shorting out. MS affects
everyone differently. As a result of MS, David is
blind in one eye and is now confined to a
wheelchair.
David attended college at the University of
Wisconsin majoring in Engineering and Sociology. As
part of his own self therapy he started talking of
this disease and its effects on him to many of his
writing and sociology classes. While at college in
Wisconsin David met his wife, Colleen. A few years
later they moved back to his wife’s home state of
Pennsylvania. Shortly after they settled in
Pennsylvania, David’s MS had forced confinement to a
wheelchair.
In 1999 David contacted the Office of Vocational
Rehabilitation regarding the opportunity to work.
Doreen Friend from ARC Human Services suggested a
job at the Drivers License Center in Belle Vernon as
a Photo License Technician. Since he had always
enjoyed and excelled at working with people he
accepted the position. In this position, David
enjoys seeing the customer’s reaction to their photo
he took for their driver’s license or identification
card. Whether it is the excitement of a teenager
receiving their first license or the excited smile
of a young woman of seventy-five receiving a picture
she is proud of, these are the most pleasurable
rewards that David receives from his job day after
day. Over the last decade, David has had great
results using self-injected medications to lower the
frequency of the symptoms of MS. Although a strict
schedule must be adhered to, it allows him to enjoy
his hobbies, children, family and job. David is very
happy at the Belle Vernon License Center and enjoys
his co-workers and customers.
David still enjoys drafting and continues his hobby
of designing houses. He refuses to throw in the
towel because his fight isn’t even close to being
over. He still has lost to see and do in his life.
< < Click on images to the left
for information about each runner up.
Established in 1976, the Nettie Mann
Achievement Award seeks to recognize an individual from one of our 90 affiliated work centers throughout the Commonwealth. Some of the better-known work centers are the Pennsylvania Association for the Blind, Goodwill Industries, The Easter Seal Society, United Cerebral Palsy of Pennsylvania, and the Association for Retarded Citizens.
The award winner must be a person who
exhibits outstanding achievement and exceptional character in living and coping
with his or her disabilities, particularly in the work place. To be so
recognized, out of the over 10,000 people employed in our family of work
centers, is quite an honor.
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