Welcoming New Ideas

By Walt Woyden

At first glance, the Mission Valley seems like "the last best place." Towering mountains, pristine streams, abundant wildlife, and relatively mild winters make this one of the more desirable places to live in Western Montana. There is one major drawback to life up here on the Flathead Indian Reservation—the job market is, in a word, bleak. There is little industry, few large businesses, a good deal of the work is seasonal, and tribal preference frequently limits hiring. Add to that the fact that most of the area's towns are small and miles apart and there is virtually no public transportation. You can understand some of the obstacles that a person with a disability has to overcome to gain any kind of meaningful employment.

Mission Mountain Enterprises has been serving people with disabilities for nearly twenty-five years. Our program consists of group homes, supported living and vocational services. Although most of our people work in our day programs and thrift stores in both Ronan and Polson, Montana, we have increasingly emphasized individual, community-based employment. Our job developer and three job coaches put a great deal of time and effort into overcoming the existing barriers that hinder the search for community employment, but it is often an uphill battle. We always welcome new ideas, so we were eager to take part in the Montana Consumer Controlled Career Project sponsored by the Rural Institute.

David Hammis, an Organizational Consultant from the Rural Institute, worked with Mission Mountain Enterprises on the project. He began the project with an "Open Space Opportunities, Ideas and Issues Forum" on September 25, 1998. Nearly 30 Mission Mountain Enterprises staff, consumers, and community members participated. The group discussed a number of ideas for improving the employment situation, the ongoing problems such as transportation, attitudinal barriers, and transitioning students from school-to-work programs. A number of solutions were proposed to remove some of these roadblocks, and the majority of the participants left the forum with new found optimism.

In October, David returned to provide training on natural supports in the work place and conduct several supported employment simulations at some of the local businesses. Staff and consumers went to actual job sites and observed employees going through their normal workday routines. This gave the consumers a clearer idea of these jobs. These simulations opened the door for future opportunities.

David also taught us about Social Security, tax incentives, and Vocational Rehabilitation. This was particularly relevant for us, since we recently became a vendor for Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) services. As a follow up to this, we registered several people with disabilities with VR as another avenue to help them finds jobs. We also conducted Personal Futures Plans with six consumers to find out just what their "dream careers" would be. These dreams ranged from operating a business selling compact discs to doing janitorial work in a local company. Our supported employment staff has been following up on the goals outlined in these plans.

We have also implemented other ideas from the Consumer Controlled Careers Project. One of these was the formation of a Ronan Business Advisory Council. The Council consists of Mission Mountain Enterprises consumers and staff and local business people. It meets monthly to brainstorm ways to create employment opportunities for people with disabilities. We have already had one success; a local building supply store has carved out a position cleaning up the lumber yards at two of their locations, thus freeing up some of their employees to work in other areas. Other companies are looking into similar job carving situations. The Ronan Business Advisory Council has been going so well that we will soon be starting one in Polson.

Another idea we've implemented is paying a $50 "finders fee" to any job coach who finds a community job placement for someone with a disabilty. There are certain criteria that have to be met to collect the fee, such as the number of hours worked per week and the length of time on the job, but if the employee stays with the job for the required length of time, the job coach will be paid another $50. We are hoping that this will stimulate everyone to focus on individual job placements in the community.

In May, 1999, two people with disabilities started working at a concession stand at a local racetrack during the weekend drag races. They cook burgers and wait on customers. One of our job coaches had worked there in the past and felt that this would be a good opportunity. It offers these new employees the chance to do something they enjoy—watching drag races while they earn some income. This has been a big success and we are hoping to be able to continue this during the next racing season.

As of May, 1999, eleven people are engaged in individual, integrated community employment, ranging from a few hours a week to nearly full time. Some of them work more than one job. Our goal is to increase this number substantially over the coming years. Thanks to the training we received from David through the Consumer Controlled Career Project, we are moving along on the right track and are looking forward to continued success in the future.

Walt Woyden is the Ronan Supervisor for Mission Mountain Enterprises in the Ronan and Polson, Montana.