Strictly Business

Published Aug 8th, 2006
By Jennifer Rich, HeraldToday.com
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/business/15220692.htm

When Bobby arrives at 10 a.m., Laurrie Anne Hartwick knows the Steak 'n Shake employee is ready to work.

Whether it's cleaning the freezer, washing dishes or sweeping the parking lot, Bobby will be working hard for the next five hours.

"He's very detailed, and he does everything to the best of his ability," said Hartwick, general manager of the restaurant on Cattleman Road in Sarasota.

Bobby is developmentally disabled, a client of Community Haven for Adults and Children with Disabilities Inc. in Sarasota. For the past three years, Bobby has been a porter at the restaurant, doing the detailed cleaning and the ordinary jobs that keep a restaurant afloat. He also has become a role model for other Steak 'n Shake employees.

"They all love Bobby," Hartwick said. "They respect him because he does his job and doesn't ask for favors. They look out for him."

Hartwick wishes she had a lot more Bobbys to count on.

The restaurant was the 2005 recipient of the Small Employer of the Year award from the Able Trust, a public-private partnership foundation established by the state Legislature to help the disabled find employment. Each year the organization gives out its Ability Awards in five categories, commending employers, the media and disabled employees.

John Turpack, director of vocational services at Community Haven, oversees its employment programs and knows all about the often untapped source of productivity created by disabled workers. Community Haven won its own award in 2002 for its job placement program, which helps people with disabilities find and keep jobs.

The agency matches and places the disabled with available jobs, provides job training and helps prepare applications and resumes, as well as provides support and guidance after a client finds employment.

People with developmental disabilities like mental retardation and cerebral palsy are helped along with those who have mental health disorders like brain injuries from accidents.

"This allows us to be disability neutral," Turpack said. "Anything that is a barrier to employment we can work with."

One recent client was a woman who had been involved in a drunk driving accident and now has a long-term brain injury. The woman, a college graduate and former advertising executive, is someone who "has already experienced success and things happened in their lives that have just derailed them," Turpack said.

The woman eventually regained job skills to become a cashier and then an assistant manager.

Turpack has found his eight years with Community Haven "a very satisfying experience. Our clients are striving for a normal, independent life. We are trying to get people not to be reliant on other programs."

The agency has a partnership with more than 160 businesses in Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties. They include restaurants, hotels and motels, grocery stores, retail shops, elder-care facilities and manufacturing plants.

Turpack is always looking for more. He's found that once an employer gets a disabled worker on their payroll, they often hire more. "The disabled make adjustments into the mainstream workplace quicker than most people think," he said.

The 2006 Ability Awards will be announced Aug. 18 in Tampa. There will also be a symposium with workshops for employers and disability service providers who are seeking to develop or improve their disability hiring practices. For more information, call (888) 838-2253.

Jennifer Rich is the business editor of The Herald. She can be reached at 745-7087 or on e-mail at: jrich (at) HeraldToday.com.