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Ron and Nancy #5

Ron:  The next example that I want to share is Craig. Craig is interesting. The 
most interesting thing about Craig, other than he's a really unique in and of 
himself, is that he was on his way to the gold watch at the workshop.  He had 
been involved with sheltered work for about 26 years.  With some changes in the 
system, some gentle pushing and prodding from VIA staff, and also from his 
family; Craig was finally convinced that maybe he didn't want to retire from a 
sheltered workshop with sub-minimum wage and all the things that go with that. 

He also took the change, that I mentioned earlier in the Pennsylvania system, of 
moving toward individualized service plans and individualized budgets, with some 
quasi control that the individuals would have, and of getting involved in a job 
trial type of program, that we've used in some cases called VIA Works. [This is] 
where people get a chance to go out and see what it's like to be outside the 
workshop, earn money, and do those kinds of things.  

That seemed to have really helped Craig. I think the most important thing was 
the control and the option of having your own budget and getting control of your 
life.  To make a long story short, once he made that decision, the transition 
where his Medicaid day service dollars followed him into the community, VIA 
staff was attached through those traditional Medicaid day service dollars in 
helping him do that.  

Then Craig did the rest on his own.  He's another one of those guys who has a 
label of Down Syndrome and considered a person with fairly severe disabilities. 
But, he has become a full-time employee with Giant Food stores.   I think 
they’re all around the country.  He's another one of those people who's had his 
job now for two years, has full benefits,  and also has had some recognition 
which we have no control over as a provider.  Craig's done all of this on his 
own.  He was recently profiled in the Giant Foodstores national publications as 
one of their Employee Star's of the Year.  This is another one of those quiet 
success stories for a person who for 26 years [was told he] couldn't work.

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