By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
CASSOPOLIS – Whether it's a paid contractual arrangement or volunteer labor to gain work experience, Woodlands Behavioral Healthcare brings together community partners with individuals with disabilities on a regular basis.
More and more area businesses and agencies are realizing the benefits of employing and providing resources for persons with disabilities, according to Scott Williams, Woodlands community-based services supervisor, serving a population of about 60 clients.
Williams, who joined Woodlands in 1994, said AmeriHost Inn and Suites of Dowagiac is one community partner that provides an entire array of recreational, social and vocational opportunities for individuals with disabilities.
AmeriHost "has gone across the board for us," according to Williams.
"We have a swimming group that goes there every Wednesday. They open up their indoor pool to us, and we actually rent a room from them for our folks to change. We do some swim therapy. We also have some people who volunteer in their laundry department.
"The AmeriHost partnership came about because we had this swimming group going there. They already had an arrangement with Council on Aging, so they were kind of used to it. We have a staff person out there and take full responsibility for whatever may happen."
A Woodlands "enclave" of two to six workers cleans the City of Dowagiac maintenance garage.
"We've been doing the City of Dowagiac for over a year," Williams said Monday. "Jefferson Township Hall we've been doing for quite a while. They pay us to do cleaning for them in their kitchen area and their open space."
Pizza Hut "has been a really good employer for us," Williams continued.
"Peterson Springs in Three Rivers is the only factory enclave that we have right now. We've been doing small assembly things for about two years."
At Mission Hills Memorial Gardens, the cemetery between Dowagiac and Niles, "We've done some landscaping for them and done some weeding," Williams said. "We started that in the summer of 2005. Nelson Herbs, in Edwardsburg, we replant to bigger containers as the plants grow. Swiss Valley Ski Area, that's pretty recent. We've had somebody just get hired out there and hit their 90 days. If they've been employed for 90 days or more, that's our measure of success."
Cass County Medical Care Facility combines paid employment and volunteer opportunities.
There have also been job placements at Dollar General stores in Dowagiac and Cassopolis.
HouseWorks, of Sister Lakes, do after-hours contract cleaning for businesses, such as National Copper Products of Dowagiac. "We've had many placements with them," Williams said. "The Elks (Lodge 889 in Dowagiac) is a volunteer arrangement that we have. Our folks wrap silverware for them.
"Cass District Library has helped us out in a lot of different ways. They let us use their space to meet with our reading tutor for a couple of hours every Tuesday morning, as well as working with our folks on community-based skills – accessing the library, getting a library card. They've helped us in more than one capacity. Helping Hands is a big volunteer place for us to go up and do some retail work with clothing. We do filing for Preferred Printing in Dowagiac."
Another partner is Country Club Lanes in Elkhart, Ind.
"These are only a few of the local businesses and agencies that have not only made a commitment to enhance our community by involvement with persons with disabilities, but have also experienced the benefits from doing so," Williams said.
"We used to call ourselves a rehab facility," Williams said in his office at Woodland's "Austin Street" industrial park facility.
"The oldest person we have is probably in their 50s. Their independence really varies. We've had folks who for years have lived at home with a parent or in a group home. In the last three years we've raised that bar and started pushing out to see how much people can do. We've really been surprised at how far people can go."
Initially, as might be imagined, the community-oriented approach met with great resistance from family members and other caregivers.
"Parents said, 'They can never live on their own, they can never have a job.' One person in particular lives entirely on their own in an apartment and works in a job. They need folks to come in and oversee buying groceries, managing their money. That kind of support is continuous. We still have our sheltered workshop in the back and we still use that, but it's really a stepping stone to get their feet wet in competitive work before venturing out to these businesses that will let us come in and do various things."
"We're trying to figure out" how many partners can be accommodated. "We're really shooting to be as community-based as possible. There was a lot of resistance when we first made this transition," Williams said.
Woodlands provides transportation for the "typical arrangement" of weekly visits.
Williams, formerly of South Bend, Ind., lives in Goshen in the Middlebury school district. He majored in psychology in college, then went to work for Madison Center and Goodwill.
"I saw how much it helped people manage their disability and be motivated by becoming tax-paying citizens," he said.
October is National Disability Awareness Month.
"During this month of disability awareness, it is important to know that Cass County businesses and agencies can partner with persons with disabilities in many ways."
They are encouraged to call Williams at (269) 445-2451 for more information.