Valley Sheltered Workshop celebrates 50 years

BATAVIA – Mitch Hadfield works hard four days a week.

The 29-year-old Batavian might assemble boxes one day. Another day, he may package the Kane County Cougars pocket schedules that sit on the counters of local businesses.

On Fridays, he takes a well-deserved break.

If he wasn’t working at Valley Sheltered Workshop in Batavia, Hadfield said he’d probably be working at Jewel.

But for some of his coworkers, another job might not be an option.

Valley Sheltered Workshop is celebrating 50 years of providing employment opportunities to local individuals with disabilities. For many, the nonprofit is the only place they can find jobs that match their skill sets, be it light assembly, hand-packaging items, collating or other services for local businesses.

It’s also a place where they feel at home.

“So often, people with disabilities feel alone and alienated from other people,” said Sue Lusted, workshop supervisor.

At Valley Sheltered, everyone has a sense of belonging and finds true friendship, she said.

“I like being at the workshop because I like to hang out, and [I] enjoy every work I do and keeping people company,” Hadfield says.

Without Valley Sheltered, life would be different for many individuals.

“If you would be able to talk [to some of our workers, they] would say, ‘I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have the workshop to do every day,’” said Donna Lusk, office manager. “You have that gut-wrenching comment that, they feel if they weren’t coming here, there isn’t anything daily they would have to look forward to.”

A great vision

The day Valley Sheltered Workshop opened – May 9, 1966 – was a special day for Joe Thompson.

Not only was he one of the original four employees to help open the workshop, but it also was his birthday.

Next month, Thompson – who still works at Valley Sheltered – will turn 68 as the workshop celebrates its 50th anniversary.

Those are two incredible milestones, said Lusted, but the legwork was all laid out by the Rev. Gilbert Johnstone.

It was Johnstone who envisioned a workshop that would help those with disabilities achieve their highest potential, while also engaging in friendship and learning, she said.

“His son, Bobby, had a disability,” Lusted said. “He was aware that after the kids left the school environment, there [were] no work opportunities for them. Back in 1966, the workshop was a new, innovative idea.”

Today, Valley Sheltered employs 24 workers and has contracts with 14 vendors. But employees work on a rotating basis because there aren’t enough jobs to support each worker every day. What’s more, Lusted has had to turn away new potential workers because there’s not enough work to go around.

Several businesses understand the benefits that can come from a partnership with Valley Sheltered, including the workshop’s first partner, Furnas Electric Company – now the global company Siemens – which still works with the workshop today.

Lusted and Lusk hope this year’s anniversary will spark a renewed interest in their nonprofit and trigger new companies to explore the options they can provide.

“We can save them money for their bottom line, and they’re providing jobs for individuals who have a hard time finding work opportunities,” said Lusk.

“People need to know that the people who work here are like everyone else, they’re just differently abled,” Lusk added. “They have families; they go on vacation; they eat pizza … . The sense of pride that they have [for the work they do] is just phenomenal.”

SIDEBAR/OUTBOX

Pancake breakfast supports workshop

Valley Sheltered Workshop receives no state or federal funding, instead relying on the income it receives from business contracts, money from grants and fundraisers.

The nonprofit’s largest fundraiser is its annual pancake breakfast, which last year served almost 500 people and raised nearly $14,000 for the workshop.

This year, the pancake breakfast will take place from 7:30 a.m. to noon May 1 at the workshop, 325 Main St., Batavia.

Volunteers from the Batavia Lions Club will help serve pancakes, sausage, fresh strawberries, orange juice and coffee. Cost is $7 for adults, $5 for seniors 65 and older and $3 for children 12 and younger. A cash drawing, silent auction and basket raffles also will be available during the event.

Plus, live entertainment provided by a jazz musician will enhance the entire experience, Lusted said.

“Jazz on a Sunday with pancakes – I think that sounds pretty perfect,” she said.

To learn more, visit www.valleyshelteredworkshop.org.