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By Dominique Paul Noth
Never underestimate the powers of supportive environment, self-pride and disciplined motivation. What is true in life in general is particularly true for developmentally disadvantaged adults. Anyone who has seen these adults in do-nothing institutional care knows how society tends to turn away from, or even kick away, these citizens. Families caring for an adult with special needs also know too well how hard it is without professional guidance to carve a life more meaningful than a few meals a day and television for entertainment. All that disappears inside the southeast campus of the Milwaukee Center for Independence. There, in a Howell Ave. facility that once was a food store, and once was shared with Goodwill, real work and real pay keep four separate sheltered workshops in constant operation employing more than 120 workers. The participants are focused and clearly enjoying themselves as well as accepting with real satisfaction their biweekly paychecks. What sort of work? The next time you open a Christmas card, or pull the string shut on your laundry bag, or use a Sears lawnmower, connect that in your mind with the southeast campus. Odds are the final production phases happened here. Even in this world of mechanical automation, there are certain steps best done by hand, by groups of workers applying different tasks in synchronization. Companies do not turn to this facility as charity. Many of the businesses have been using MCFI for more than a decade. And the workers? "We have every background you can imagine," said Dave Czarnecki, one of the four work trainers at the campus. Like the others, he is responsible day to day for 30 workers. Like many of MCFI workers, he is an active member of Local 1954 (Rehabilitation and Social Service Workers).
"Some have Down Syndrome, some received brain injuries as adults - one of our workers actually managed a food store before his injuries," continued Czarnecki. "We have workers in their early twenties and workers in their late sixties - and I can show you some of the older workers who are so active as to put the rest of us to shame." "I have a great group. They love the work, they do it well, they rarely miss one day. They like it here." They like Dave, too, as they call out his name to announce a completed task, and smile at his words of encouragement as he checks the work and records their progress. The pride seems mutual - Dave Czarnecki will happily show you the smoothness and coordination his charges can accomplished, rattle off the companies for which they do regular work, or pull out a printout (careful computer records are kept) of how much each has earned on a piecework basis. There is also among the workers a sense of belonging. There isn't even much interest in hanging around the water cooler. The routine is addressed with eagerness. As smooth-running as the southeast campus is, it is clearly demanding on the work trainers and the two case managers. There's a lot of paperwork, contact work, monitoring and planning ahead. As with all clients of the MCFI, there are hidden depths to what this involves-- keeping in touch with families, evaluating the need for all sorts of special services, from speech pathology to occupational training. The workers begin each day with exercises. The center also serves as a day-care facility for about two dozen adults not in the work programs. The campus managers organize complex transportation issues as well as work scheduling and training. They conduct an annual bake sale that raises more money for the workers. Another thing they do is protect the privacy and dignity of the workers. Even for this story, we are only identifying those workers who are their own guardians and signed a release.
Czarnecki has been doing this quite a while - he has 23 years of experience and actually serves as the unit chair for Local 1954 at MCFI. But actually you could call him the baby of the work trainer staff. Paul Krueger, who runs another section, has 35 years of experience. District Council 48 workers are seeded throughout the operations of MCFI. Most people associate the center with its downtown office, the flagship center at 1339 N. Milwaukee St. where administration is centered and a great deal of the original processing and training work is organized. Aside from the southeast campus, MCFI also operates the Westside Senior Day Center on Center St. and the Promark assembly and packaging facility headquartered on N. Richards. There is a rich history behind the current MCFI, which began before World War II as the Jewish Vocational Services, staffed at first by one full time employee and focused on providing vocational assistance to German-Jewish immigrants. That agency grew in size and expanded in focus over the decades, but in 1989 a strategic rethinking process began led by 95 employees of JVS who saw that the needs of the community had expanded and new ranges of service and coordination were needed. From this process emerged MCFI and its mission to assist all persons who have special needs to live and work in the community. Now MCFI is recognized as an effective umbrella service, a member of CARF (Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities) providing vocational evaluation, job placement, occupation training, social and personal adjustment services, work services, rehabilitation programs and integrated community living programs. It works with a host of governmental, educational and private services and is affiliated with two businesses, Matarah (a manufacturer of various environmental control equipment) and Independent Care, Inc. (a managed health care company serving persons with disabilities who are eligible for SSI benefits). MCFI handles referrals from social workers, school districts, physicians and psychiatrists and other professionals. Its associates and affiliations include all the area's major universities and the Medical College of Wisconsin. It is reviewed by and also works closely with the Wisconsin Department of Vocational Rehabilitation. It has an active marketing arm and also seeks out businesses to work with its clients.
The effectiveness of the operation comes down to the personal skills and caring manner of people like Dave Czarnecki, who began his career working with delinquent children in the Milwaukee Public Schools. His social commitment extends beyond the southeast campus. Two or three times a year, Czarnecki and his wife also load up a truck with goods they have collected and drive it to Appalachia to help out nuns working with "people living in more poverty than you can imagine," he said. The nuns came to talk at his Milwaukee parish years ago, Czarnecki recalls, "and we couldn't resist the call for help." At Czarnecki talked, his corner of the southeast campus was bustling as the workers moved near completion of this week's tasks, and he constantly hopped away from his desk to check on the final stages and offer a helping hand.
According to Czarnecki, most of his workers live at home with their families and there is a ten to twelve year waiting list for group home placements. That's a big worry, given the age of many of the parents. The need for alternative placement will continually rise. Combined with SSI payments, the paychecks from MCFI may help ease that future, but the availability and suitability of housing is a looming issue. If a sudden change of residence is needed due to illness or death of a caretaker, these developmentally disadvantaged adults can be forced into less than desirable circumstances. The one constant in many of these clients' lives is "Dave" and the other MCFI staff. Ask Dave what would happen if MCFI and its programs weren't there and he looks at you as if you'd gone crazy. "They wouldn't have proven themselves the productive citizens they are," he said. "They'd be in a home someplace vegetating."
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© 2001 AFSCME District Council 48 Your e-mail feedback welcome!
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