Job opportunities grow for disabled, indigent in Eastern Iowa

In one year's time, Mark Edwards lost everything. He had held a job at Penford Products for 21 years. He and his wife had been married for 19 years.

“Both came to a screeching halt within a year,” said Edwards, 53.

He was an “extreme alcoholic” in dire need of treatment, he said, and he eventually found help at the Iowa Veterans Home. But when he emerged a sober and better man, he had no money.

He had no family to support him. He had no home.

So he migrated to the Shelter House in Iowa City in the summer of 2011, where he found more than a warm bed, free meal and a roof over his head. He found a path to independence. He found hope.

Through the Shelter's Fairweather Lodge program, Edwards now is a supervisor for the Shelter-run cleaning service, Fresh Start. He and a crew of 10 men clean two to five sites every day.

At night, they share a home independent from the Shelter.

“It's an excellent program,” Edwards said. “It helps people start over again.”

Fresh Start is among numerous businesses in the area that provide jobs for prospective employees who are disabled or indigent. The Shelter House, in addition to its cleaning service, has a culinary job program for its residents.

And businesses such as Goodwill of the Heartland, Hiawatha Care Center, Quality Care and Walgreens also have worked with job placement agencies to hire individuals who might otherwise have a difficult time landing a job.

A recent study released by the Kessler Foundation and the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development explored the “growing trend among employers to establish initiatives to increase the participation of workers with disabilities in their workplaces.”

The initiatives, according to the report, include partnering with agencies to learn about recruiting, training and retaining employees with disabilities. Doing so has benefited employers and employees, the study showed, as companies gain hardworking employees that have been screened to fit their needs while workers pick up employment in a tough job market.

Edwards said Fresh Start is a perfect fit for him in that it gives him a way to make money, live independently and gain experience and confidence in the work force after being out of it for so long.

“It gives you knowledge of a trade and a work reference,” Edwards said, adding that he has no plans to leave Fresh Start as it keeps him busy and employed. “There are a lot of challenges in my job.”

Roy Rice, 38, also works at Fresh Start and said the job has moved him from a state of hopelessness to self-sufficiency.

“I got some of my pride back,” Rice said.

He had been out of work since 2009 and living at the shelter after he and his wife split. With poor hearing, Rice qualified for disability benefits and said he's very grateful for his job.

“I have not come up with another future plan,” he said.

Phoebe Trepp, program development director for the Fairweather Lodge at the Shetler House, said that's good news. She praised Edwards and Rice for their hard work and dedication and said the two are model employees who would be sorely missed if they took another job.

“We need you guys,” she told them.

The Shelter's Culinary Starts program began in March 2011 and the Fresh Start program launched in May 2011 - with Edwards and Rice as its first employees.

The culinary program provides food service training for workers wanting to enter the restaurant industry. Employees spend time with chefs, learn about food temperatures and kitchen safety and “chop a lot of vegetables,” Trepp said.

They help prepare meals for food service at the shelter and for catering events. The Shelter House also now runs a deli in a University of Iowa administrative building and, Trepp said, it's increasing efforts to place trainees in jobs throughout the community.

The Shelter House focuses so much time and energy on vocational services because, Treepp said, “It's so central to them getting back on their feet.

“It really is a major part of the recovery process - being employed and a contributing member of society,” she said. “They have income gains that come from that, pride, a schedule and the ability to relate to everyone else.”

EMPLOYER DIALOG

Dana Engelbert, vice president of marketing for Goodwill of the Heartland in Iowa City, said that in her organization's service to the disabled and indigent, employment is a major focus. They offer training in job aptitude, interview skills and even how to take public transportation.

Goodwill works with organizations in the area to find jobs for their population, and Engelbert said Goodwill hires some of them as well.

“We are very conscientiousness of that and of providing second chances and having an open dialog with employers on that front,” Engelbert said.

Some of the businesses she identified as partnering with Goodwill from time to time include Quality Care, Walgreens and Hiawatha Care Center.

Kent Walton, administrator for Hiawatha Care Center, said there are some positions within his facility that people with disabilities can qualify for, and he's found their employment to be a good fit.

Many of them match the need the center has – a part-time roll in perhaps the dining area or the housekeeping department – and the job offers workers experience and income.

“It's been a really good marriage,” he said.

Walton said that while his company doesn't have a hiring quota, he works with Goodwill and the Cedar Rapids School District to match employment seekers with job opportunities at the center. He said it's “absolutely” a priority to provide employment opportunities for all types of people.

“But, at the base of it, it's a business decision,” he said. “They fill a need for us.”