Work is about more than money. It's about health, purpose, connection, and freedom. Here's what the research and our community tell us.
Earned money is yours to spend, save, or invest as you choose. No restrictions, no income limits, no benefits cliffs.
Work provides structure, routine, and activity. You sleep better, move more, and feel strongerâeven with disabilities.
Accomplishment builds self-worth. Using your skills, solving problems, contributingâthese matter deeply for mental health.
Work is where we meet people, build friendships, and feel part of something. Isolation is one of disability's biggest challenges.
Every job teaches you somethingâabout the work, about yourself, about what you're capable of. Growth matters.
Supporting yourself changes how you see yourself. Pride in your own work is one of life's deepest satisfactions.
Contributing to your workplace, your community, your familyâknowing you're helping rather than only being helped.
Work builds work history, skills, and savings. Short-term, it's income. Long-term, it's security and options.
Work gives your day shape. You have a reason to wake up, get dressed, and move your body. Routine is healingâit reduces anxiety, improves sleep, and provides stability.
Every job teaches you something. You get better at tasks, faster at solutions, more confident in your abilities. Mastery feels good because it *is* good.
"What do you do?" is a basic human question. Having a real answerâ"I'm a cashier," "I'm a data entry specialist," "I help customers"âgives you identity and purpose beyond disability.
Work is where we meet people naturally. Coworkers, customers, colleaguesâyou build friendships through shared work. Isolation is one of disability's biggest challenges. Work fights that directly.
Knowing you're helping, producing value, contributingâthis matters psychologically. You move from "receiving support" to "supporting others." That shift in identity is profound.
Supporting yourself changes your relationship to help. You're not avoiding benefitsâyou're outgrowing them. There's power and pride in that.
Work doesn't have to be 40 hours, full-time, or forever the same.
Use our calculator to explore how different work levels would affect your real financial situation. No judgment, no pressureâjust numbers and possibilities.
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