Our History 

Originally founded in 1980 as the International Association of Machinists Center for Administrating Rehabilitation and Employment Services, Cares of Washington provides effective, high quality services to individuals with disabilities in our region. By 2000, the organization had become a multi-state employment service agency, headquartered in Washington, D.C. In 2002, the Seattle office merged with Independent Employment Services, expanding operations to Tacoma and Bremerton. National programming ceased in 2003 and the Seattle operation became an independent agency, Cares of Washington, expanding services to include low-income individuals. In addition to our main office in Seattle, we now have offices in Tacoma, Port Orchard, and Monroe to better serve our clients and their employers. Cares is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities.

Mission Statement & Purpose

Cares of Washington’s mission is to provide tailored opportunities for people with disabilities and low incomes to become self-sufficient, creating individualized paths to economic self-sufficiency. 

Cares combines career coaching, financial skills education, vocational and educational training, support services, and job placement into a cohesive plan for each client, mitigating barriers to employment and maximizing each person’s potential for independence. Cares firmly believes that it is simply not enough to just help someone find a job, any job. We emphasize jobs with career pathways and the potential for advancement, benefits, and living wages for every client that walks through our doors. 

We recognize that solely getting someone a job also is not enough. Some individuals need additional coaching, others need help obtaining clothing suitable for work, some need help with transportation, and still, others need help making and living on a budget. To address these and other needs, we work closely with community partners to coordinate services and resources, building a network of support for each client.

From the CEO

Cares’ ongoing focus on learning and being able to adjust to change are the two main reasons that we as an organization continue to move forward and provide effective and lasting outcomes. Our goal is to be a community leader in creating jobs for people with and without disabilities that lead to self- sufficiency. We are a community minded, people-centered organization, and we set high expectations for our employees. Each employee takes the responsibility to follow and use efficient and creative yet flexible and agile strategies and procedures to reach the planned goals for each person. Our commitment to continuing employee education and engagement drive the success of everything we do, leading to positive results and services that are valuable to our clients. During this last years many changes, be it political, economically, internal staff changes, State policy or personal challenges and growth Cares employees have maintained their focus on continuous high quality work, leading to improvement in our reporting systems, a higher rate of job placements and other achievements you will read about in this report. We are proud of the impact we make year after year in all of the communities we operate. With a strong focus on quality, responsibility

and reliability we will continue to create more jobs for people who face significant barriers to employment. With each and every person we prepare, place and support on their unique journey to self- sufficiency, we hope to set an example for how one can effect positive change by promoting responsibility, resiliency and hope through education, skill building and a career. By focusing on trust and people’s abilities—what each of us can do—we support an inclusive community that embraces life and all the changes that come with living.

- Lars Nowack, CEO

Who We Are

North Team

Wendy Ehr, North Team Manager

Tessa Cook, Employment Support Specialist

Mararti Genene, Employment Support Specialist

John Lee, Employment Placement Specialist

Jared Sand, Employment Support Specialist

Ana Unpingco, Employment Support Specialist

Caitlin Wigre, Employment Support Specialist

Tammette Chitwood, Employment Placement Specialist

South Team

Linda Mendiola, South Team Manager

Rosie Hawkins, Employment Placement Specialist

CindyLu Webber, Employment Placement Specialist

Sean Woods, Employment Placement Specialist

BFET Team

Sue Koeller, King County

Nancy Engh, Pierce County

Ticket to Work (TTW)

Nancy Engh