PCSI is a nonprofit corporation that operates under AbilityOne and Texas State Use*—programs originating in the 1938 Wagner-O’Day Act. This Act required that all brooms and mops for federal facilities—court buildings, military bases, national parks, post offices—be purchased from nonprofit workshops such as Lighthouse for the Blind.

In 1971, Senator Jacob Javits of New York spearheaded the expansion of Wagner-O’Day to include services performed by people with significant disabilities other than blindness. This legislation, known as Javits-Wagner-O’Day or JWOD, moved workers with disabilities outside workshops into public-facing service jobs on government property. Now the federal government could contract with nonprofits, such as PCSI, to bring janitors, gardeners, food service workers, and all kinds of maintenance personnel—electricians, plumbers, mechanics, HVAC technicians—to perform needed services on military bases, hospitals, and other facilities.

Today, over 80 percent of PCSI’s direct labor force is comprised of people with significant disabilities. Our workforce consistently performs support services to—and above—all standards and requirements defined in customer contracts. PCSI workers are rewarded for their labor with competitive wages and benefits. PCSI builds a positive work environment through employee recognition awards and events.

*Texas State Use is AbilityOne’s state-level counterpart.