I am considering a job directing a woodshop in a community based non-profit providing treatment and community integration for individuals with long term mental illness and or disabilities. I realize it will be a challenge, but think much good can come from it.
Does anyone out there have experience in this sort of situation?
Any thoughts, words of advice?
Thanks,
Doug
Replies
Doug,
Noble cause, and I wish you the best of luck. Honestly though, I'd guess the liability red tape associated with this kind of venture would beat you down long before you got of the ground. Sorry I don't have any more to offer then best of luck to you.
Don
Doug
I own a small printing company, about 15 years ago I entered into a program with a local Special Ed school and employed students one at a time in my business on a part time basis. While it wasn't woodworking equipment it is still dangerous machinery and the work is very precise. Over a 2 year period I has 4 students I will try to case by case history.
Susie 17 years old had a terrible home life, abuse mental and physical, broken home and it broke her down emotionally. She answered the phone and did hand work, got to a point she could function well enough she went back into regular school and the last I heard she did well. All she needed was to be in a stable environment and have something to feel good about herself. Earning a paycheck is very rewarding. Susie was a success.
Clarence IQ 100, 20 years old had never had a paycheck in his life. The first paycheck he got he left as soon as he got it and went to Kmart and bought a watch. A school bus brought him to work and came and picked him up, I was responsible for his well being while he was clocked in. So I mailed his check to his house after that. He got mad at his supervisor one day and walked home (5 miles) we didn't know where he was. He came in with his teacher the next day and said he had to vent his anger so he went home. I gave him one more chance, he walked off the job again and I let him go because of the liability. I don't consider Clarence a success.
Jose had blew his brains with some kind of dope, 18 years old couldn't carry on any kind of conversation 98% of the time and then for maybe for 60 to 90 seconds he would talk as normal as anybody. He couldn't even mop floors, he would freeze in the middle of moping. We would say something to him and he would start moping again. For his safety I had to let him go. He is going to be this way the rest of his life. Nobody knows what kind of drugs did this to him, he can't tell you. I don't consider Jose a success or failure on my part, I really didn't have anything to work with, it was a really sad case.
Johnny 20 years old IQ about 50 he was classed as retarded. Johnny could do anything I gave him to do which was mostly hand work, collating, stapling, padding etc. A retarded person ( I hate that description of Johnny) may take a little more explaining a job to but once they catch on they never forget. Johnny could do a difficult job and 6 weeks that job could come back and he would remember how he did it last and do it correctly. Once a student turns 21 they are out of public high school. I will never forget the day I gave Johnny his first paycheck. He was busy working, I handed his check to him, he looked at the check, a great big smile came over his face, he folded up the check into his back pocket it went and right back to work. That made it worth all the effort dealing with the ones that didn't work out so well. I consider Johnny a success.
Would I do it all over again, Yes.
I don't know if this will help you or not but I have found when I try to help someone less fortunate than I, I'm the one that gets the most help.
Gods Peace this Holy Week
les
Les,
I think you're doing a fantastic thing! Thanks, and keep it up.
Jeff
Good people do good deeds.
On behalf of those who thought it, but never said it: Thank you.
Doug Fowler
A lot of people have undiscovered talents. Remember the movie "Rainman", (Yes I know it was a fictional movie) Unfortunately a lot don't. While I have no professional training in this subject matter, I'm often surprised how often people who have not gotten far in life are really great at doing one or two things. I guess the challenge you face is to get real good at recognizing the ones who have talent in an area that you are provided the resources to help and to weed out the ones who obviously will never benefit. That assumes that you have that authority. Please let us all know how it goes.
Jon
Hi Doug,
A very noble thing you are looking into. My wife worked in a group home environment called "L'Arch" several years ago. I do not know too much about it other than there were a number of permanent residents who all had jobs on the residence property. A number of them worked with woodworking machines making small crafts etc. Here is a link that may give you some people to talk to.
http://www.larche.org.uk/indexa.html
She worked at a home here in the Toronto (Canada) area - just north of the city in Richmond Hill. I am sure I could dig up a phone number or something if you would like. She worked (and lived) on site for 8 months and while it was extremely challenging, the rewards were immeasurable.
Good luck,
Konrad
The Waterford Hospital in St. John's, NF Canada has the very same program you are talking about. The Waterford is a mental hospital and the name of the company they build furniture under is Mill Lane Enterprises. The e-mail address is http://[email protected] and the phone number is (709)777-3400.
Hope this helps.
Scott C. Frankland
Doug,
Glad to hear you are considering joining the ranks of those of us who work with the kind if people who face more challanges in dealing with day to day life then most of us can imagine.It is a fact of life that there are many who require assistence and in many cases it is "there but for the grace of God go I".
I'm not sure what kind of a program you are looking at, but I have over 15 years in a provincial mental hospital, operating a woodworking program for adults, most of whom have a long history of problems. Some are capable of doing good work with the right help, giving them confidence to build on. Others, well, they have difficulty doing a decent sanding job on a piece of cedar for a piece of lawn furniture. We try to choose work that can have at least 70% patient input. In order to achieve this level, it is necessary to make all parts of the production process as bulletproof as possible. I.e., job sheets that spell out every step of a given process, patterns and templates to eliminate all measuring and calculating possible, jigs for accurate assembly, etc.
Our main product right now is cedar lawn furniture. Our biggest seller at this time is the adirondak chair that was featured in FWW a couple years back. (Don't have the issue # right now.) We also make an armchair, a tet-a-tet, a couple different tables, and a bear bench. We make quality products and there is a waiting list for the opportunity to purchase.
We are presently working on developing a program in computor based operations, such as specialty printing, signmaking, & embroidery or cresting.
Don't know if you are looking at an established program or starting fresh, but choose quality products, use quality materials, and expect quality work from your workers, whatever level they are capable of. Same as any business. Build on your successes & learn from your mistakes. Confidence is the biggest lack you may find in your workers. Small successes to build confidence in individuals will be one of your biggest challenges.
If you do decide to accept this challenging position, don't try to re-invent the wheel. There are many programs of this type around. Visit, if possible, others or at least communicate with them to find out how they do things and then adapt the best parts of their programs to fit yours.
I've been fairly general in this reply, (& wordy) but if you would like to run some more specific questions past me, I'd be glad to help.
Paul
Doug; Just a few tips from my own experience and that of some friends. Shaving horses are fun to work on and pretty safe when used with drawknives. A strong person can get a lot of shaping done that way too. Sanding can be pretty monotonous work but it is good exercise and doesn't take great skill in most cases. A woodshop seems to offer an astounding amount of sanding opportunities too. I met a guy who ran a stripping shop and he ran it as a sheltered workshop. He said you had to tell some of his help when to stop sanding or they'd sand the whole piece into dust. I have found that the new microplanes can get a lot of rough shaping done even for kids who are not very strong yet. Rasps and files are reasonably safe too. Production jobs, even if they are pretty complex to set up, usually have quite a few repetitive tasks and that makes it easier to utilize unsophisticated helpers.
i think i zapped my previuose message into the void.
it basically said good luck. i r 1 and i find woodworking theriputic.
good idea especially if the shop is open at 0300 hrs.
There is a program run here in the Yukon exactly like what you are talking about. Give a call at either Challenge. 867-668-4421 fax 867-667-4337 OR
Career Industries 668-4360 (Lonny )
Cheers
Mitt
To everyone who responded or thought about it,
Thanks to all of you for your words of encouragement. Today I was offered the job and have accepted. Like some of you who responded, I do not have specific experience with the mentally ill, but The place I will be working is an established program. Its website is: http://www.waystationinc.org
The workshop area has languished for several months because the former facilitator left for health reasons. There is much to do, but the shop does have sufficient equipment, and several of the "members" as we call the clients have decent skills. As I understand it, the members have not attempted regular sale of items, but the shop does support the total organization's needs for simple cabinets, signs, benches and the like. They also do seasonal sales and silent auctions to raise money for trips, etc.
Those of you who have offered help, I will contact by email if possible. For everyone's benefit I will try to do occasional updates. I appreciate your thoughts and prayers. It will be quite a change from the corporate world.
Doug
Edited 4/16/2003 8:48:42 PM ET by Doug
Doug:
Checked out the website - you're in Frederick MD. I'm running woodworking classes in an East Baltimore private HS - average kids with low self esteem, not doing well academically and the program is doing wonders. We're close to each other (I don't live far from Frederick) so please contact me - [email protected] - I'd be happy to share wood sources, places to visit, and share how I've structured my program.
Ed Gregg
Doug
You seem to be a member of a good bunch.
I am pushing 61 and have been working since Jan with high school kids teaching woodworking. This is one of the best and richest public school systems in the country. But it is also large, and the minority that cant sit still in a classroom, (ADD) take woodworkin. I think this class attracts some of the neediest kids in the system. This is also a sort of magnet school for kids with hearing deficits- so many have elected woodworking that I will be taking a signing course. Woodworking presents plenty of opportunities to teach values- finishing what you start, planning ahead, pride in ones work, working to ones potential, the value of "manual" labor, etc. etc.
Maybe yourself and the people who responded to your post could comnprise a little informal club and compare notes on how to work with the special student?
Hello,
I worked in the mental health/ mental retardation vocational field for 5 years. I found it to be very satisfying until my job was unfunded by the state. In Texas the current trend is to outplace MR clients in jobs in the community. There is still two of my clients that I got jobs sacking groceries 11 years ago still employed at the same store.
The clients take ownership in their jobs for the most part. Some of them wouldn't want to work. They preferred to sit in their apartments and watch tv and smoke cigaretts. On the other hand, the majority like to work.
Try to get training or certification in setting wage rates. It is rather weird to learn but is really fun once you get into it. The MTM3 is the best one. It looks at how an item such as a ball point pen is put together with concepts such as how far to grab a part. Does it have to be grabbed in a particular manner (up or down), etc. Some of the clients that you would never imagine could work would make $7.00+ an hour because they would only focus on the job. We had a contract sorting sand paper for the Norton company at the time.
I would recommend that you take the job. I miss the people that I worked with. Just remember to watch what you say to them. Never kid them and tell them to go play on the highway. They probably would.
I am pushing 50 and have decided to go back to school and get teacher certification in industrial tech. I have gotten burned out in the restuarant business and want to do something that is rewarding psychlogically. I know that I won't get rich but I don't care.
Chuck
Doug,
Best of luck to you in this endeavor. Let us all know how it works out!
You asked for advice (which I am happy to give) since I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Montana and work in my day job pretty much entirely with chronically mentally ill folks. But first let's make an important distinction- is your new job working with consumers who are developmentally disabled (DD) or chronically mentally ill (CMI)? Or dually diagnosed? In any case, try to talk about each client directly with their respective case managers and obtain and closely review copies of treatment plans, medical records, medication lists, and psychosocial histories.
DD clients tend to be good and happy workers, generally trainable and trustworthy. DD folks are like young children in some ways thus are prone to distraction and some acting out. CMI and dually diagnosed clients may be a different matter. For example, CMI clients with Borderline Personality Disorder tend to be quite self destructive and emotionally labile. Therefore, keep a close eye on any/all sharps. Patients with paranoid schizophrenia tend to be unpredictable and easily overstimulated- keep instructions simple and your voice almost monotonous. Consumers with Bipolar Disorder are very impressive in mood swings- be prepared to encounter challenges with this group. In my opinion, patients with Schizoaffective Disorder are the most difficult and potentially dangerous. These folks always seem to have some unknown thought process behind the veils of behaviors. However, it is a great thing to provide meaningful work to such disenfranchised folks. I commend you. I would be happy to share more of my knowledge about this topic and believe it would be better to talk outside of this forum. Email me if you require input.
sawick
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