Sometimes, parents can move mountains. It’s a normal reaction when their children’s needs aren’t being met.
The parents at the Garden Center for the Handicapped in Burbank have moved some mountains in the past 40 years, working to provide their children with the opportunities that most parents take for granted. And those efforts continue as they raise funds and support a staff of 50 led by executive director Joe Wesbrook.
The Garden Center has changed over the years, growing along with its clients and adapting to their needs. Founded in 1956 by concerned parents as the Garden School for the Handicapped to serve school-age children, it has evolved into a place where clients 18 and older can refine existing developmental and vocational skills and learn new ones. It also is a busy workshop that provides competitively priced and professional-level services to area industries.
To its 60 clients, all of whom are developmentally disabled adults living in the southwest suburbs, the center is also a social hub, a place to gather with old friends and meet new ones. (The center’s recreation program is also open to developmentally disabled adults in the area who are not clients of the center.) There are dances and outings, swim sessions at Oak Lawn High School, bowling, and video and popcorn nights.
“The focus here at the Garden Center is on the entire life of the client. Work is important. The opportunity is here, but personal growth, community integration and socialization are equally important,” Wesbrook says.
Developmental training is an important aspect of the center’s curriculum for its clients.
“It’s just a matter of reinforcement,” Wesbrook explains. One client may practice crossing the street or dressing and grooming properly, while another might need to work on reading, writing or speaking skills.
“Training is always going on here at the Garden Center,” Wesbrook says.
That training may not be as obvious as a client working one-on-one with staff on developmental skills or with a vocational trainer on assembling a product. Clients might go to lunch with staff and the restaurant becomes a classroom, a place to practice social skills. There are other learning experiences: trips to movies, museums, pumpkin and Christmas tree farms–all opportunities for the clients to learn more about the world around them and have a great time in the process.
For 28-year-old Colleen O’Grady of Oak Lawn, “life at the Garden Center is very fulfilling for her and for us as parents,” says her father, Michael. Proud of his daughter’s busy schedule and involvement in extracurricular activities, he says, “Colleen’s calendar is held up by magnets on the refrigerator. And it’s a pretty full calendar, with social events sponsored by the center and involvement with the Special Olympics, speed skating, volleyball and basketball teams.”
The center offers structure for its clients’ lives. Colleen works on the center’s assembly line, for which she receives a nominal check every two weeks. She meets other clients and has friends, O’Grady explains.
“Years ago, there wasn’t a lot (for these young people to do). Many of (them) would be home watching TV and eating,” he says. “It’s fulfilling for them to have somewhere to go, something to do.”
Twenty-two of the 60 clients work a full-time job, which means five hours a day, and the remainder do as much work as they are capable of, supplemented with developmental training.
“Being parent-driven helps us to keep our priorities in view,” Wesbrook says, noting that parents make up seven of the eight members of the center’s executive board. “We need to do what is necessary for the person we are serving, whether it’s helping them with transportation, obtaining financial assistance, sharpening their personal skills or integrating them into the community.”
“When our clients come here each day, they’re going to work and I’m their boss,” he says. The work agenda may change depending on contracts that the center has with various businesses, and clients perform different tasks according to their abilities. There might be pins to affix to buttons, items to package or count, or backings to be cut for a company that makes classroom maps.
“They are proud of their work. And needless to say, pay days are especially happy days around here. Paychecks vary according to the amount of work completed and may reach $135 per two-week pay period,” Wesbrook says.
Jerry Cismoski, president of Val-A, Chicago, said Garden Center clients have packed, counted and assembled his products since 1975. Val-A manufactures Teramender, a natural latex adhesive for gluing denim and tents. A retail display unit for Teramender was custom-designed for easy assembly and filling by the clients at Garden Center.
“I take personal enjoyment in the fact that there is room in the working world for the clients at Garden Center and other developmentally disabled adults. A lot of people have a skewed perspective of happiness. These are young adults who do not become old adults, but rather old young people. They are happy to be a part of things. I can’t say enough about the quality of their work,” Cismoski says.
“Our hope is that down the line, more clients may be able to reside in independent living centers and perform jobs in the community. It’s not happening to the degree that we thought it would, but it is happening,” Wesbrook explains. “You have to use common sense. You don’t want to put people in jobs where they will feel hurt or that they can’t do a job. We take our time because we have the responsibility of protecting the client.”
Independent living is a reality for six clients who reside in the center’s four apartments in Chicago Ridge. These residents are high functioning, and their needs aren’t as great as those of other clients. They plan their own menus, shop, clean and work at the center during the day, then are overseen by staff when at their residence, Wesbrook explains.
“The hope,” he says, “is that they might work in the community if the right job would come along.”
The center manages a residential program for 15 clients in a facility adjacent to the center. These clients require more assistance, receive developmental training and do not work in the workshop.
Funded partially by the state, the center receives assistance from United Way and the Chicago Tribune Holiday Fund toward its total annual budget of $1.4 million. Parents work to raise funds in the community. And there’s ample opportunity to get involved in a variety of fundraisers, from the annual fall fashion show that entertains more than 500 to occasional rummage sales.
Wesbrook credits the generosity of area service clubs, churches and individuals as well as that of volunteers.
“Over the years, facilities like the Garden Center have evolved into a professional movement to meet funding requirements, but the volunteers remain a vital part of our recreational programs and instrumental in raising the funds that help to keep the center going,” Wesbrook says.
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For information on the Garden Center for the Handicapped, its programs, volunteer opportunities and industrial services, call 708-636-0054.
