Jerry's Story

Jerry Melheim knew he was qualified for the job.

Just hours after submitting his resume, a company representative called Jerry and asked if he would come in for an interview that very day. The representative on the phone even told Jerry that from his qualifications, he was a shoe-in for the position.

When Jerry arrived for the interview, however, the company’s attitude suddenly changed.

“I walked in with my crutches and they immediately told me that they were no longer interested in hiring me,” Jerry remembers. “I asked them if this was a desk job and they said, ‘Yes. However, we don’t feel this is the right environment for you.’”

For Jerry, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was three months old, this scene was all too familiar.

If the company had taken the time to speak with Jerry, they would have quickly learned he was the perfect candidate for their accounting position. After all, the Corvallis, Oregon, native has always had a gift working with numbers. But as Jerry knows, not everyone learned the school-yard lesson: don’t judge a book by its cover.

“A lot of times when people see someone with a disability, they make a lot of assumptions,” Jerry says. “People impose their ideas of limitations on what they feel people are capable of - instead of allowing them to show what they can do.”

In 1996, Jerry was introduced to PHC Northwest (PHCNW), where, unlike too many times before, he was given the chance to show what he could do. PHCNW quickly realized Jerry’s potential, and hired him as an Accounting Technician.

Today, 12 years later, Jerry has received numerous performance awards, excelling as an employee at PHCNW.