GADSDEN, Ala. (AP) - The Darden Rehabilitation Center has led the state in job referrals for the last four years. It’s a statistic those with the program are proud of.
Darden Rehabilitation has been around for almost 60 years and is one of about 20 centers around the state. It’s one of the premier rehabilitation centers in the Southeast for mentally and physically challenged adults from Etowah, Marshall, DeKalb, Cherokee and St. Clair counties.
The main goal is to help those with disabilities live productive lives within their community and to create employment opportunities for them, Dana Johnson, program coordinator, said.
“We’re a hidden treasure,” Johnson said. “We try to take their disability and find their ability, then work with them so they can be successful.”
Darden is a nonprofit organization that is also a United Way agency. Those who go through Darden have challenges including mental illnesses, substance abuse, mental retardation, delayed development, deafness and other disorders, speech and language disorders, spinal cord injuries, epilepsy, visual impairment, orthopedic problems and stroke or cardiac conditions.
The center receives referrals through the Alabama Department of Rehabilitative Services and exceeded its goals last year.
The center received 329 referrals last year and placed 243 of those adults in jobs. Of those placed, 198 remained in that job for 90 days, Johnson said. At the end of 90 days, the program through Darden is complete and most of those 198 remained on that job.
The jobs in the workshop at Darden are through companies such as Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Choice Fabricator, Barricks Manufacturing, Cintas and Max Packaging. A crew also is employed by the City of Gadsden and assigned to Noccalula Falls. The crew does things like raking, picking up sticks and other things to improve the grounds at the park.
When an adult is referred to Darden for either physical or mental disabilities, it is the staff’s job to assess the person’s abilities and work to find a suitable job.
“Our goal is to put as many people into competitive employment as possible,” Johnson said.
Some of the work is done through contracts with companies and done in the workshop at Darden.
For Cintas, a company that rents uniforms, clients straighten and clean hangers so they can be reused.
“They come to us and they’re bent and dirty,” she said. “It would be a huge expense for them to replace those, so instead we have a contract to get them ready for use again.”
Workers also put together wheels for Choice Fabricators. Those wheels are used for the bottoms of appliances, Johnson said.
For Goodyear, the workers pick up tire overlays and separate the rubber so it can be recycled. It has to be repacked and shipped to be recycled as rubberized pellets.
Darden also has a contract with Max Packaging, which does plastic ware sets for use in cafeterias, fast-food restaurants and similar locations.
The workers place the napkin with the plastic ware and prepare it to be wrapped in cellophane.
“It’s these types of jobs that are necessary for all these companies, but it’s a job people don’t think about,” Johnson said.
In the context of Darden, rehabilitation means getting those with disabilities ready for work, Johnson said. Someone can begin with Darden at age 16.
“We have worked with people who were in their 70s, but they really needed to work,” Johnson said.
Medical documentation is needed to confirm a disability, and job developers work with the client to create a resume, teach them how to talk to potential employers in an interview as well as things like learning how to punch a time clock and learning the importance of being neat, prepared and on time for work.
The job developers then assess for employment for between four and six weeks and follow through when they go into the workforce.
There are jobs available in retail, fast food, restaurants, housekeeping, landscaping and similar occupations, Johnson said.
They also offer forklift training and certification as well as drivers education when the person needs help passing a driving test.
A lot of Darden’s success is because of a good working relationship with ADRS, Johnson said.
The center opened in 1957 as Gadsden Rehab Center following a grant from the Federal Office of Vocational Rehabilitation that allowed for remodeling and expansion of a dormitory on the campus of the Alabama School of Trades, now known as the East Broad campus of Gadsden State Community College.
The center was renamed in 1966 in honor of E.L. Darden, who was retiring as the trade school director.
It has flourished and its training methods have been patterned across the country.
Many of those who have become employed with assistance through Darden were previously unable to obtain work through traditional methods, Johnson said.
“We try to put them in competitive employment that fits their ability so they can stay in that job and be successful,” Johnson said.
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Information from: The Gadsden Times, https://www.gadsdentimes.com
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