Jessica Beecham to Join the WE Team\

Jessica Beecham to Join the WE Team

By Kevan Worley

In a recent Blind Coloradoan post, I wrote of the work already being done by our new NFBCO Sports and Recreation Division. In this post, I’d like to announce some exciting news, which I believe will support and complement that effort.

First, in full disclosure, my company, Worley Enterprises, a.k.a. the WE Team, will be a direct beneficiary of the initiative about which I am writing. Worley Enterprises has launched a new initiative. Its mission is to offer EVERYONE the tools, motivation, and opportunity to enjoy a better life through healthy living. Our vision is both simple and audacious. It is timely, necessary, and far-reaching in size and scope. It will begin in our community of blind people. Our programs and services will bring the reality of a longer and better life through exercise, nutrition, and healthy lifestyle choices to underserved groups including people with disabilities, senior citizens, and other special populations. 

The WE Team has always operated on the principal that it is not just the bottom-line that matters, but rather, it is the necessity to operate with a commitment to social responsibility. Over the years, the WE Team has spent money and asked our staff to give of their time to the causes important to them. We have often encouraged team members to take time away from work to engage in community effort, which improves quality of life for all citizens. Due to the inspiration of the National Federation of the Blind, I have been afforded opportunities, which I never would have had without the philosophy and people of the organized blind movement. Through the assistance and support of the Colorado Division of Rehabilitation Business Enterprise Program, I was able to open a small business more than two decades ago. With the encouragement and advice of successful entrepreneurs, both blind and sighted, who knew the value of giving for growth and community impact, we have had good fortune. We have always found it rewarding to “pay it forward.” We have established aggressive targets within our company to employ people who are blind or otherwise disabled. We have worked to support Seeds Community Café, the Catamount Environmental Institute, and of course the National Federation of the Blind. Now, WE has the opportunity to embark on a brand new adventure. The need for a robust living wellness initiative for the blind community and beyond is acute. The need for additional, appropriate research conducted in an objective manner is timely. The need to provide targeted health and wellness solutions to our community is critical.

Blind vendors operating under the Randolph-Sheppard program manage vending and concessions on government property. These entrepreneurs now face more stringent regulations governing what they can sell in their businesses. Moreover, because they offer concessions in public buildings, they are one of the most visible groups of blind people in our society. Blind vendors have always made a statement by their mere presence at the cash register, flipping a burger, building a salad, or ordering merchandise, that blind people can contribute in significant ways. These concessioners recognize that they are in a position to change the world. They can be on the front line of influencing eating and wellness habits. All too often, a lack of marketing savvy, outdated equipment, inadequate training, and a limiting supply chain of healthy merchandise, make compliance with government guidelines and providing more healthy choices without damaging the profit line, all but impossible. One aspect of our new living wellness program will be to develop and implement solutions for this community of entrepreneurs.

The Randolph-Sheppard environment is only one area in which we will work to create lifestyle change and wellness outcomes. Our  WE Fit Wellness program will design research, develop partnerships, and implement training programs which will get people moving toward better health and wellness through small but important lifestyle changes.

Readers of this blog will certainly recognize the name of Jessica Beecham from her outstanding work for the NFB of Colorado. She has been an amazing asset to our affiliate for almost three years. She has worked tirelessly at the grassroots level to inspire blind Coloradoans to live the life they want through an involvement in the National Federation of the Blind. But before coming to Colorado, she worked in the area of exercise, recreation, and research. We are proud to announce that Jessica has joined the WE Team to develop and direct this innovative program.

Colorado is considered one of the most health-conscious, active living states in the nation. Numerous government and non-profit programs are working to keep it that way. Add another to the list. WE Fit Wellness is based in Colorado, but will have a national ambition. As previously noted in the Blind Coloradan, the affiliate has established a very energetic Sports and Recreation Division. In January, we will add another player on the field of improving life quality and longevity for those who are blind and others who are socially or economically disadvantaged.

 Happy New Year and we look forward to joining you as WE Fit Wellness into 2015.