Adults with Special Needs Show Skill, Ability in Helping Others

As part of on-the-job training, eight participants in the Easter Seals program will get a chance to practice important skills to be successful in the world of work.

But they will be giving back just as much as they’re getting, volunteering their time to help in Waukesha.

The volunteers from Easter Seals will visit the center once a month over the next year to help straighten, sort and organize clothing for the center’s Clothing Shop, according to Tracy Badura, Easter Seals program advisor.

It will be good experience for the volunteers, who are adults with special needs who want to work in retail someday.

“They’re out in the community, practicing skills they’ve been learning, in a safer, non-competitive environment,” Badura said.

Easter Seals is a non-profit provider of services for individuals with special needs. The organization provides services to ensure that all people with disabilities or special needs and their families have equal opportunities to live, learn, work and play in their communities.

This experience provides an opportunity for them to learn job skills they will need to work in a retail setting, according to Badura.

“It’s providing a valuable work experience,” she said.

It’s also a matter of pride for the Easter Seals participants that they can be of helpful.

“We tell them: You can give back to the community. And they take pride in doing that,” Bandura said.

Just last week, a group of people from Easter Seals donated boxes of hats, mittens and scarves they had knit to Hope Center to help keep people warm this winter. In the past, they’ve participated in food drives and other charitable activities.

This cooperative effort is a win-win situation for both groups, according to Laurie Jendusa, Hope Center operations coordinator.

Jendusa is happy to have the extra workers.

The Clothing Shop is staffed by all volunteers and demand is high for the items they provide free of charge to people who need it. Last month, the Clothing Shop had a record number of visits to the shop – 4,999, according to Jendusa

“I never thought we’d reach 4,000, much less almost 5,000," she said. “Tough times out there.”

The workers from Easter Seals will be merchandizing, hanging clothing, putting them in the proper location according to type and size, straightening the store, generally putting things in order.

On their first visit, the four volunteers proved they were up to the job, finishing one task and looking for another way to help.

“They’re done already? You’ve got a good crew,” Jendusa said to Bandura.

“They’re on top of things. They work well together too,” Badura said.

“I think I’ll like coming here,” volunteer Carrie McCracken said, after they had finished hanging winter coats.

Bandura said that Easter Seal volunteers will also work at other locations in Waukesha to gain valuable experiences: the Department of Health and Human Services for participants who are interested in clerical-type jobs and at the Humane Animal Welfare Society for those interested in animals.