Disabled gain work experience with ARC
FROM STAFF REPORTS Gulf Breeze News news@gulfbreezenews.com

Gulf Breeze Resident Tony Riccobene works at the Pollak Training Center. He is collating materials for a mailing.

The way we spend our time says a great deal about who we are and what we value. Whether we choose to study, work, parent, volunteer or focus on other pursuits - we want to be productive and proud of our accomplishments. This is also true for people with developmental disabilities. Visit ARC Gateway and you will find teams of dedicated workers earning their own paychecks by doing everything from preparing mailings for local businesses to operating a ferocious looking ripper saw.

Through Pollak Industries, ARC Gateway produces survey stakes, plant sleeves and concrete products while providing valuable training and job opportunities for adults with developmental disabilities.

In recent years, the area of Pollak Industries that has changed the most is the saw shop. After decades of using an old saw that was falling into disrepair, ARC Gateway received an Impact 100 grant in 2005. With this grant, they bought a top-of-the line saw that has increased their ability to produce quality survey stakes and reduced their turnaround time for orders. This is good news for the contractors who depend on their product. "It's also great news for the people who work in the re-saw department," says ARC Gateway's Executive Director, Donna Fassett,

because they don't like down time. When they're at work they want to be busy!"

Pollak Industries also employs more than 50 adults with developmental disabilities to cut, assemble, inspect and sort plant sleeves that are used by wholesalers, distributors and flower shops to protect their plants during storage or shipping.

In Pollak Industries' concrete department, a hard-working crew produces parking bumpers, splash blocks, stepping stones, air conditioning pads and survey monuments. Fassett explains that "working with concrete isn't easy, but the people who work in this area are proud that their products are durable enough to stand up to any competitors!"

The Pollak Training Center is another area that provides adults with developmental disabilities with training and job opportunities.

When people do business with the Pollak Training Center or Pollak Industries, they are supporting programs that help people with developmental disabilities succeed - and they are also creating opportunities for people with disabilities to give back to our community. For more information about Pollak Industries or the Pollak Training Center, please call ARC Gateway at 850-434-2638.