Washington employers find dedicated help in WCDC clients

Ethan Woodsmall stands tall at six-foot-something. His long, brown hair is pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. On his right forearm is a tattoo of a dagger with a crown perched atop the handle, and his full beard and dark glasses give him a philosophical, contemplative look.

He sifts through cans and bottles at the WCDC Redemption and Shredding Center, a nondescript, one-story red building at 702 E. Washington St. in Washington, Iowa, a carabiner of keys jingling from his belt loop. He works quickly and efficiently, intensely focused on his task – until Mary Kleineberg, WCDC job coach, steps out of the office to say "hello." Mr. Woodsmall stops and beams before enveloping her in a bear hug, a plastic bag of cans still in his hands. When asked about his favorite aspect of the job, Mr. Woodsmall is quick to answer. "Seeing all the lovely faces that come in," he said. His dream is to eventually open his own full-service body shop – now that he's earned his driver's license, the sky seems like the limit.

Mr. Woodsmall is a client of the WCDC – formerly known as the Washington Community Developmental Center – a nonprofit organization at 1425 W. 5th St., Washington, that works to enable persons with disabilities to gain greater independence and inclusion in society by providing work opportunities, independent living skills, supportive services, and community engagement. Several Washington businesses employ WCDC’s clients, including the United Presbyterian Home, Hy-Vee, Walmart, Washington County Hospital, Goodwill, area schools and the WCDC’s Redemption Center. Iowa is an Employment First state, which means securing employment for people with disabilities is the top focus of publicly funded services. “Working is very important for the clients that we serve,” said Tammy Burlingame, vice president for community services at the WCDC. “We believe work helps with mental health and keeps you young.” Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services (IVRS), a division of the Iowa Workforce Development, funds career exploration and other assessment services for the WCDC, which becomes acquainted with the client and helps them identify job interests. Based on the assessment, the WCDC finds the best job match for the individual and gets in touch with the potential employer. Calling it “customized discovery,” the WCDC spends up to 20 hours over a span of time getting to know the person’s interests by participating in activities together. “We may interview them in their home, visit a teacher, go to church with them, or go for coffee,” said Ms. Burlingame. Recently, an activity involved assembling a model car. “We saw that he's (client) good with his hands and he can pay attention for so long. Those soft skills do play an important part, too,” she said. Soft skill training for a job can include learning to be on time, socialization skills and hygiene, all of which are taught to WCDC clients as part of job preparation.

A lengthy history

The WCDC started in a church basement in 1971 under the name Rolling Meadows, a center that provided work-related activities for the intellectually disabled. The initiative was spurred by Washington parents and citizens concerned about the lack of activity for the young adults graduating from the special education class in the school district. After a year, the center outgrew its space and moved to a schoolhouse on the Washington County fairgrounds, and interest in the center grew exponentially when its benefits to the disabled became apparent. Eventually, the work activity center fell under the administration of the Grant Wood Area Education District. Space became an issue once more, and the organization moved to a building known as the “old Pepsi plant” and changed its name to the Washington County Developmental Center, Inc. In 1979, the Washington County Developmental Center moved to its current location at 1425 W. 5th St. and changed its name to WCDC Inc., adding on a training center, classrooms, office space, woodworking and shipping areas. Eventually, it added community living services to support clients within their homes and the community, and support for at-risk children. Today, the WCDC serves 120 clients from Washington and surrounding counties, according to Ms. Burlingame. 45 years ago, there were only 27.

“It’s grown in different directions,” said David Hoffman, president of WCDC, of the organization’s evolution. “We have adult day-hab here, we also have a prevocational (program) here, which basically is training our people to be able to go out into the workforce.” One key to training the clients to enter the workforce has been the WCDC’s Redemption and Shredding Center, which opened in May 2017.

Redeeming the time

The Redemption and Shredding Center was created to provide jobs for disabled adults and fill a community need for can and bottle redemption, and a place to shred sensitive documents. Clients in the prevocational program – which works to help clients attain personal self-sufficiency through communication skill development, self care skills, recreational and leisure opportunities, work training, work/personal development, counseling and transportation – often start at the Redemption Center.

“We go around the county and pick up cans and bottles and bring them back here (to headquarters), and our pre-voc people learn to sort them out,” said Mr. Hoffman. “Once they get good, then they're able to apply and get a job through our Redemption Center uptown. “(The Redemption Center) really gets them out in the public…they not only sort cans, they're meeting people and greeting people. One young man runs a cash register. He's good with the numbers and can handle that.”

Challenges

Iowa Total Care, Wellpoint and Molina typically cover WCDC’s clients’ needs, but as with most nonprofits, funding for day-to-day operations can be a struggle. Offering competitive wages to staff is a challenge, and many of WCDC’s employees hold other jobs to supplement their income – Ms. Burlingame also works at Hy-Vee, and Ms. Kleineberg has a dog grooming business, for example. Passion and a willingness to serve the community’s often overlooked members drives WCDC’s employees to continue serving at the center. Sometimes, the WCDC has faced reluctance on the part of clients or their families to go through the employment program, fearing they could lose their Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits if they make more than a certain amount of wages at their places of employment. To be eligible for disability benefits, a person must be unable to engage in substantial gainful activity, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA). However, if the beneficiary returns to work, the SSA grants a trial work period in which the beneficiary may have earnings and still collect benefits. “If you're on SSDI, you can only make $1,100 without losing your benefits,” said Ms. Burlingame, but the organization has processes in place to avoid that. “We have a representative payee through Social Security that manages money and keeps track and mails in pay stubs to social security, to make sure that they stay under benefits. But if they can, I've had clients that go off benefits because they're making more money on the job and getting insurance on the job,” she continued. As well, there is the expedited reinstatement policy from the SSA, in which past beneficiaries who have lost those benefits from working and wage-earning can be reinstated without having to fill out a new application. Temporary benefits of up to six months are provided while determining eligibility, which provides a safety net. “Sometimes it's a matter of explaining to them that working is better than receiving the benefits. Because the benefits of working (is) what it brings to you,” said Mr. Hoffman.

Local employers

Ms. Burlingame likes to talk about Stacy Hodgell, a client who transitioned out of school into work activities and began working with laundry at the UP Home, with very little experience going in. “She works almost full time,” said Ms. Burlingame. “She works 30 hours a week…and she knows every resident's clothing, she can (say) ‘this top goes with these pants,’ and hang it in (the correct) room number. She knows (the residents) by name, she knows them by look. She folds the clothes, she gathers the laundry in the hallways. She's a staple there now.”

To date, Ms. Hodgell has been at the UP for more than 20 years. It’s not unusual for WCDC clients to remain long-term at their place of employment. Aside from Ms. Hodgell, several clients have also worked more than two decades in the laundry department there. “She’s consistent and dependable, and someone I enjoy working with,” said UP Home’s Director of Relations Amy Kleese. Ms. Hodgell, described as a “super gal” by Ms. Kleese, started shortly before Ms. Kleese was hired in 1999. “I think she runs the show,” said Ms. Kleese. “She knows it (the work), has ownership of it, and helps the other employees know what to do.” She’s also become well acquainted with the residents and remembers important days and details about them. The UP Home has employed clients of the WCDC since 1994. Each year, they process hundreds of thousands loads of laundry a year, said Ms. Kleese, and remain an important aspect of UP Home’s environmental safety by maintaining the laundry and, as a corollary, the health of its residents. “They're just a very important part of our business. And I think they take pride in it and they don't shirk from any of their responsibilities. They just dig in and do it. I just think it's commendable,” said Ms. Kleese. This praise is typical from local employers who hire WCDC clients, appreciative of not just the dedication, but the infectious, cheerful enthusiasm and attitudes from the staff. Ms. Burlingame and Mr. Hoffman would like to see more businesses take on disabled members of the community, whether it’s from their organization or a separate one. “Look into these different organizations that work with the intellectually disabled,” said Mr. Hoffman. “These people have a lot of skills, they have a lot to offer, they have a lot of abilities. Our clients want to be successful. They want to be at work. They're excited to be at work, they're excited to do a good job. It's important to them. So, I think if more people could expand their horizons, and look at ‘hey, what can they do for us,’ they would find that there's a lot of things that our clients could do.”