here's the background "cliff" notes for my question:
i got hurt while working in NY state in light construction in Oct
2004.the injury is a radial nerve palsy in my left wrist/hand. the
radial nerve is the nerve that extends the wrist and fingers, my wrist
somewhat works now, my fingers dont extend at all. I was out of work
until may , 2005 when i started doing counter work at my own
"business" (small billiard room)because i cant do heavy work anymore.
i'm making no money at this (actually lost some) and will be closing
it down soon as the pain even from some counter duties is too much. i
have 2 marketable skills, casino work and alarm installation/
servicing. unfortunately, both require 2 healthy hands. there is a
good chance my injury will have lifelong implications. i'm 30 years
old. male. caucasian. my savings are on the brink of nill, worker's
compensation pays me roughly $200/week as severe/partial disability. i
am not interested in milking the system, i'm a worker and wish to
return to working, but my situation scares me in that i may never be
able to return to doing the things that earned me a decent living and
the thought of what work i can get and do in my situation is very
depressing. i have no degree(s), i have about 60 college credits
earned with roughly a 3 G.P.A.
so, my question(s):
are there programs out there that help provide financial
aid/grants/loans to the work-disabled to go back to school or get
vocational training?
if there are programs, who are they? how do i contact them?
are there any large corporations that have any programs specifically
geared to work-disabled? maybe an entry level job and program that
pays for schooling?
does the government have jobs programs for the disabled? something to
work for them / the post office, something like that?
please feel free to elaborate beyond exact answers to the above
questions to include information you feel would be helpful in
addressing my motivation to ask the questions, which is to end up
gainfully employed with a good job despite my health issues , i will
pay extra for the service.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 23 Oct 2005 09:32 PDT

allahaugh-ga,

There may be programs that are particular to your state or city, and
in order to check on those, we will need to know where you are
located.

Don't post a full address -- just your city and state are fine.

pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by allahaugh-ga on 23 Oct 2005 13:23 PDT

utica, ny 13501

You should check out Vocational Rehabilitation for your state.  Voc
Rehab is a government program that often falls under the department of
education and is kind of the step up from the Disability/Social
Security office.  For people that are disabled, they can apply for
Social Security Disability funds which sends you a monthly check. 
Vocational Rehabilitation is for people who have either a physical
and/or mental disability (yours would obviously fall under the
physical category) who are having trouble finding and maintaing
employment.  I have heard of Voc Rehab doing everything from
sponsoring sheltered workshops for mentally retarded people to
providing job training and placement to helping support people finish
college (both financially and coordinating any needed accommodations -
assistive technology for the blind, alternative computers, whatever is
needed) so there is obviously a wide range of skills and levels of
disability they support.  The goal of Voc Rehab is to get people who
can work back into the workforce.

You said that you were injured in New York, but I'm not sure that is
where you living now, but here is the link to the list of New York
district Voc Rehab offices.  If you're not in New York, you could just
google your stated with "Vocational Rehabilitation" and I'm sure it
would pop up.

http://www.vesid.nysed.gov/

My experiences with people who are getting voc rehab services is that
they are a good agency that can really help people.  The downside is
that as a government agency there can be a lot of redtape to get
through before you actually get the services.  Generally, you apply
and they need to do some kind of evaluation/get medical records to
verify your eligibilty with your disability.  Hopefully, should you go
this route, since your disability is pretty clear cut (i.e., not
claiming a mental disorder or unverifiable pain or something like
that), things should go pretty smoothly.  Regardless of what you try,
good luck to you.

Oh...one other tip.  I would recommend that you start trying to gather
medical and disability records documenting your disability now. 
Whatever program you end up trying, my prediction is that they will
need some kind of records/verification.  If you can go into these
places with copies of the medical and disability records and contact
information for your doctors/workmans comp people, that will make the
whole process go much smoother and faster.

thank you needsomeinfo, i will definately look into that, and for
clarification i do still live in NY.
allahaugh