W&L students step in
after center loses funding
Supported by a wooden cane, Ginny, 50, moves around a spacious room at the Rockbridge Area Occupational Center in Buena Vista. Employees are sitting scattered around tables, some diligently tying small knots on the end of dark green cords.
Ginny explains that these cords will later be used to anchor tents sold
by Base-X Inc., one of the largest of 20 companies that partner with
RAOC.
Ginny knows the specifications of the knots.
“It can’t be too long, and it has to be tight,” she said.
Ginny, one of RAOC’s 48 employees, began working at the center a year
ago after holding jobs at the former Burlington Industries plant and
Southern Virginia University. RAOC provides employment opportunities and
a supportive environment for citizens with disabilities.
The employees do labeling, kit assembly and bulk mailing for outside
businesses that are seeking quality work at competitive prices. Ginny
said she loves the center for the relationships and the work.
But at the end of June, RAOC lost 35 percent of its funding when jobs
were outsourced to China. The program has secured emergency funding from
three municipalities and the Virginia Department of Rehabilitative
Services to carry it through this fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2008.
But Executive Director Ruth Parsons said the funding setback has caused
the organization to cut expenses and reduce some employees’ hours.
Parsons said she has a plan to restore funds, going down a list of
prospective businesses that RAOC might partner with. She is also trying
to organize a business brainstorming session to generate ideas. One
option would be a restructuring of jobs toward distribution, with a call
center that handles ordering and customer service.
“I do see a vision for this area,” she said.
Last week, RAOC received the Lexington-Rockbridge County Chamber of
Commerce People’s Choice Award for large employer of the year. Parsons
said the center’s goal is a world-class manufacturing plant employing
hundreds of people with disabilities.
Parsons said she believes there is a job for everyone, and that the
center provides options for people.
“It’s not like you are cookie-cutting people,” she said. “It’s sort of
like job carving – carving the job so that everyone can be successful.”
For people like Ginny, the center does not provide just a job. It can
also be a kind of home. That’s especially poignant around Thanksgiving.
Especially when work has been sent to China.
At noon Friday (Nov. 16) several student volunteers with the Campus
Kitchens Project at Washington and Lee University will serve a full
Thanksgiving meal to employees and staff at RAOC. They will also share
the meal with them. They call it Turkeypalooza, a series of Thanksgiving
meals and visits the volunteers provide around the county before
Thanksgiving.
Robbie Turner, coordinator for the Campus Kitchens Project at W&L, said
delivering food can be a way to build relationships between students and
others in the community.
Such “fellowship” is crucial, says Parsons.
“They talk just like families talk around the Thanksgiving table,”
Parsons said. “Some of our people don’t have a lot of family.
Some of them might be socially isolated. ROAC is their life for a lot of them. It just extends the family out to W&L.”
Parsons said the employees get used to the students who return for
multiple visits. She stressed that the relationship benefits not only
the employees, but also the volunteers.
“I think the students learn from our employees here,” she said.
“[The employees] see the world sometimes – they have a different perspective sometimes. The employees want to work. They are very happy people. We can learn from them.”
Watch CKP cook dinner
Rockbridge Area Occupational Center
W&L Campus Kitchens Project
Produced by Washington and Lee journalism students.
Lead supervisor: Prof. Brian Richardson
Reporting supervisors:
Technical supervisor: Michael Todd