Kathryn Lord looked out her window and saw a young man lying on a blue tarp on her lawn. That’s how she discovered job training for people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) is different than standard vocational training.
“I had never employed this type of lawn service before,” she says. “I knew the job was going to get done. It wasn’t my business to see how. It was my job to make sure they knew what I needed to have done.”
The Arc Eastern Connecticut Lawn & Landscaping Crew is a microbusiness run by the nonprofit to raise revenue while training people with IDD for community employment at minimum wage. Last year, the program graduated two people into community jobs.
Job Coach and Crew Leader Tim Bates, a Sprague resident, provides vocational training and safety oversight. “When I have a job, I make sure it gets done the way I’d want it done at my house,” Bates says. “I work side by side with my guys. Each person might not be able to do the whole task, but I try to keep everyone going so one person isn’t sitting on the tarp.”
Connecticut’s Department of Developmental Disabilities contracts with The Arc and mandates regulations ranging from behavioral supports to dietary requirements to medical needs and staffing ratios. Workplace scenarios are no exception.
Director of Employment Bonnie Jones says Tim’s walrus mustache, no-nonsense approach, and brawn shouldn’t fool people. “Tim has a huge heart.” Last Thanksgiving, Jones says, Bates was late for his family meal because he took a turkey dinner to a man on his crew who lives alone in an apartment.
“I would give this guy an award,” says Lord. “I can’t abide anything going slower than the way I think it should. And of course, in this situation, that’s not the way it works. This guy just never talks down to people.”
Lord sees the lawn crew as a community investment.
“I’ve employed people who didn’t come close to what I needed. I am getting every bit of what I am paying for.”
Kathleen Stauffer is chief executive officer of The Arc Eastern Connecticut. For more information on The Arc’s microbusinesses, go to www.TheArcECT.org. For more articles by this author visit www.kathleenstauffer.com
