When Systems Pacify Instead of Pay: A Hard Truth About Disability and Work

In this episode of The Restoration Exchange: Banking on Humanity, we confront the uncomfortable reality behind a familiar phrase: “You could always volunteer.” For disabled adults, volunteering is too often positioned not as a choice, but as the highest form of opportunity available—while paid work, fair wages, and economic agency remain out of reach. Building on the previous episode, “The Money Connection Nobody Addresses,” host Janine Kasper connects unpaid labor to broader financial exclusion, exposing how systems keep people busy but broke, included but uncompensated. This conversation challenges employers, nonprofits, workforce programs, financial institutions, and policymakers to stop confusing access with equity—and to finally acknowledge that dignity begins with being paid for the value you bring.