St. Louis Post-Dispatch Article - Light of many lives.....

Published on: August 08, 2008

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Light of many lives began with candles in a basement

Author: Susan Weich

The idea for the Boone Center started back in 1959, when Margaret Holmes and Jane Crider wanted to find work for a friends disabled son.

They decided to make candles and bought $1,000 worth of molds for the operation. The women set up a shop in the basement of one of their homes in St. Charles.

As the operation grew, they moved to a place on Chauncey Street near the historic district. An annual flea market raised money to keep the operation going.

Things have come a long way since then for the Boone Center, which still is the only sheltered workshop in St. Charles County.

Now it employs more than 200 adults with disabilities.

The operation is housed on a modern campus off Trade Center Drive West in St. Peters. It has a production area, warehouse, office space, and lunch and locker rooms.

Yet the facility has stayed true to those moms and their mission: to provide the disabled with productive and fulfilling work.

"We're focused on what their abilities are as opposed to what their disabilities are," said Chuck Blossom, executive director of what is known today as BCI.

Instead of making candles, employees work at a dozen stations to provide custom packaging for products made by companies like Procter & Gamble Co. and Spectrum Brands.

"When you're in a store and you see two different products that are shrink-wrapped together or a buy-three-get-one-free deal, we would typically be the people who did that work," Blossom said.

Some of the workers have autism or spina bifida. Others are mentally retarded or they might have suffered a brain injury.

Each employee is evaluated four times a year to match them with work that's consistent with what they like to do and what they can do.

It has worked out well for BCI. In 2005, it was awarded the highest quality rating that Procter & Gamble gives its affiliates.

BCI also is trying a relatively new program that places groups of workers, who are supervised by a job coach, in the community. They might do janitorial work or be part of an assembly line.

Workers in both programs range in age from 18 to 65 or older. Six months ago, a worker retired at age 71.

"The turnover is virtually zero," Blossom said. "When we connect with people, and they get acclimated to the work environment, their entire life revolves around this opportunity to come to Boone Center and make a contribution."

Blossom said the center employs any certifiably disabled employee in St. Charles County who wishes to work. It has no waiting list.

In fact, they've been able to hire disabled adults from as far away as Pike County.

Most of them work full time, which is a six-hour day. Workers average $4 an hour but may make as much as $8 an hour. Their pay is based on a formula that compares each person's productivity to that of a non-disabled person doing the same job.

Workers also get some benefits, including vacation time and dental coverage.

The center's work contracts plus state and county funding make it close to 70 percent self-supporting, so it relies on private donors and a few fundraisers a year to be able to pay for employee training, staffing and new equipment, Blossom said.

I toured the plant earlier this week with Blossom. Workers smiled and waved as we walked by. Blossom addressed them by their first names and asked about family members or just how their days were going.

Some were adding pens to a package. Others were boxing nail polish remover pads that were sealed in individual pouches. Those who couldn't count used picture cards to help them know the correct number to place in each box.

Earlier this month, a popular chicken-wing tasting event raised $135,000 for BCI. Twenty-three restaurants donated the food and competed to be named the best at the 10th Annual Wing Ding.

Patrons sampled as many as 100,000 wings before picking Ethyl's Smokehouse & Saloon in O'Fallon as the People's Choice. A panel of judges picked Brewskeez West in O'Fallon as their favorite.

UMB Banks was the major sponsor.

It was a unique event for a unique charity.

"BCI allows the people to carry their lunch pail, work hard, get a paycheck, earn benefits and commiserate with their peer group," said Blossom. "It is the validation of their life."

Edition: Second Edition

Section: Metro

Page: B1

Correction:

Correction published Tuesday, July 1, 2008.

The idea for the Boone Center sheltered workshop started in 1959, when Teresa Ohrman and Jane Crider wanted to find work for their disabled sons. Margaret Holmes helped to raise money for the center but did not have a disabled child. The shop was started with a $1,200 loan and was based in the basement of Liz Kondusky's house in St. Charles. The information was reported incorrectly Thursday in Susan Weich's column in the St. Charles edition.

Index Terms: CAREER;HANDICAPPED;BUSINESS; COLUMN Record Number: 1001246967 Copyright (c) 2008 St. Louis Post-Dispatch