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PEOPLE & PLACES Goodwill prepares to open new store

Goodwill/Easter Seals Minnesota, which provides skills training nonprofit for people with disabilities, will open its first Minneapolis store in November. Retail sales, which help fund Goodwill’s many programs, grew 23 percent to $57.6 million last year.

The new store is at 60th Street and Nicollet

Jonah Weinberg is the new executive director of the Autism Society of Minnesota (AuSM). Weinberg’s appointment took effect April 15.

Weinberg brings decades of non-profit and public sector leadership experience with organizations across the United States and internationally. His focus is on education, advocacy, and organizational excellence. He comes to Minneapolis from Cleveland where he worked with a broad range of organizations focused on serving people with physical, cognitive and behavioral challenges He also has served as executive director for two non-profit organizations serving that region’s Latino community.

Weinberg looks forward to expanding the visibility and impression of AuSM. “In order to get the attention and research-funding necessary to bring about an impact for the nearly 100,000 people living with autism in Minnesota, it’s vital that we share their stories with Avenue S. and is designed by DJR Architecture and developed with Wellington Management. The store will be Goodwill’s 34th location in the region and will be its first two-story store.

This is Wellington Management’s second partnership with Goodwill/Easter Seals. The St. Paul-based commercial and residential developer was involved with a Goodwill store in Coon Rapids several years ago. Wellington will own the Minneapolis site, which was most recently occupied by a restaurant. The property acquisition and development costs are $2.5 million.

Goodwill had hoped to open a new store recently on Lyndale Avenue in South Minneapolis, but dropped those plans in the face of community opposition. A Burnsville store has also been placed on hold

Autism Society of Minnesota names new executive director

due to concerns in that city. ■ friends, neighbors, community leaders and elected offi- Jonah Weinberg cials,” he said. “It’s important for people across the en- Photo courtesy of AuSM tire state to be aware of the incredible resources this with whom AuSM works and serves in the community.” organization has developed over the past 42 years.” Established in 1971, the Autism Society of Minne-

AuSM Board of Directors President Todd sota is committed to education, advocacy and support Schwartzberg said, “Weinberg’s expertise will help not designed to enhance the lives of those affected by auonly to continue the great work done by AuSM, but will tism from birth through retirement. also expand collaborations and initiatives with those Visit www.ausm.org for more information. ■

MRCI Workforce, which provides job opportunities for people with disabilities, has announced is moving a $3 million expansion of its Mankato facility. Construction should begin this summer. When the expansion is finished in early 2014 it will initially house 90 clients supported by 40 MRCI staff members. In the future, numbers are expected to more than triple.

The new 25,000-square-foot facility will house programs previously on Front Street and in the former Highland Plaza strip mall. MRCI workers do product packaging, light assembly work and other jobs for a wide range of regional companies. The old facilities didn’t have loading docks or easy truck access, which limited opportunities to take on more work.

MRCI will continue to operate it 85,000-squarefoot facility The Mankato City Council, operating as the city Economic Development Authority, recently approved the sale of the five-acre parcel for nearly $200,000, according to the Mankato Free Press.

Founded in Mankato 60 years ago, MRCI has since expanded to Fairmont, New Ulm and three Twin Cities suburbs. Clients earned more than $3.1 million in wages in 2011, about half through center-based production jobs and half at community-based jobs ranging from restaurants to supermarkets to manufacturing firms to warehouses. The nonprofit organization also provides skills training and leisure activities for clients. MRCI has nearly 1,000 employees in all of its programs. ■

PEOPLE & PLACES

Support professionals elect board

The Direct Support Professional Association of Minnesota recently held board elections. New board Chairperson Bridget Siljander is a career direct support professional. She has been involved with DSPAM since 2007, and led the board from 2007 to 2009. She will be working to engage more direct support professionals and nurture leadership, and promote public policy activities. She is the parent of a teenager with cerebral palsy. Siljander has been very active statewide, and nationally, on workforce development.

Jennifer Walton, vice-chair, has worked in human services for a wide variety of positions, from nursing home dietary aide to group home supervisor. Since 2010, she has worked in management at Midway Training Services.

Donald Krutsinger, past president, grew up with a brother with developmental disabilities. He has a longtime career as a residential program coordinator and direct support provider for a number of Twin Cities organizations.

Mike Harrison, treasurer, went into full-time direct care work after being displaced from his job as a factory worker. He is starting his second year as treasurer.

Idelle Longman, director, has served on the Hennepin County Local Advisory Council and the state’s Special Education Advisory Council. She was recently appointed by Gov. Mark Dayton to the Statewide Independent Living Council and has served on City of Edina committees.

Catherine (Kat) Gordon, director, works as the PAS Services Coordinator at the Metropolitan Center for Independent Living. She has worked there for more than five years as a direct support professional and office worker.

Jim Loved, director, has spina bifida. Loved has depended on direct support professionals for almost 30 years. Loved served 13 years on the board of the Spina Bifida Association of Minnesota.

Board members and directors Ruka Oba, Theo Nah and Lisa Evenson are all direct support professionals. Oba and Nah work for Hammer Residences. Evenson works for Lutheran Social Service of Adams. ■

Fraser School wins accreditation

Fraser School has been awarded the National Early Childhood Program Accreditation (NECPA). Fraser School is known for its inclusive environment, where children with typical needs (without disabilities) and children with special needs contribute to each other’s development in unique and life-changing ways. NECPA Accreditation is reserved for exceptional early childhood programs that substantially exceed minimum state licensing requirements.

NECPA is a nationally recognized accreditation that follows a rigorous process of self-study, surveys of parents and staff, verification by early childhood education/child care professionals, and a final review by the NECPA Board of Commissioners. As an NECPA accredited program, Fraser School has maintained its place among a select group of early childhood education centers nationwide distinguished by their quality, their commitment to young children, and their dedication to excellence.

Fraser School is a division of Fraser, Minnesota’s largest and most experienced provider of autism services. Fraser also serves children and adults with more than 60 types of mental and physical disabilities. ■

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APOLLO Resource Center, Ramsey County’s only drop-in center for people with mental illness, closed May 1 after more than 36 years. Like many other programs it is a victim of funding cuts and shifts in how services are delivered.

Clients were told of the closing during a January meeting with center staff. The center was run by People Inc. Other related programs including independent living skills training, Artability and other services will continue to operate. Funding that had been used to operate the drop-in center will be redirected to a job placement services. Most people who worked at the center have been reassigned.

For the past several weeks staff worked to find other resources for the clients who rely on the drop-in center for support. Some fear winding up in inpatient programs for adult foster care without the support the center provided. Those who rely on the center described the closing as a shock, with some comparing it to being punched in the stomach.

But the closing is representative of a trend in mental health funding, Tim Burkett, CEO of People Inc., said in an interview with City Pages. As public support for mental health services are cut, the remaining dollars are focused on programs with measurable objectives. That is a threat to programs with harder-to-quantify rates of success such as a drop-in center.

Apollo Resource Center lost $300,000 in county funding in early January. During 2013 budget deliberations last year, Ramsey County staff explained that they have to find more value with fewer dollars from the state.

Nearly $60 million has been cut from Minnesota mental illness programs in the last four years, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness Minnesota. That doesn’t include the proposed $150 million in health and human services budget cuts currently under scrutiny at the capitol. Those cuts, if adopted, would take effect in the 2014-15 biennium.

The Apollo Resource Center has served adults from Ramsey County as well

as Washington County. It was housed in different community locations, most recently in the basement level of the Dale Street Place (formerly Redeemer Arms) apartment building at Interstate 94 and Dale Street in St. Paul. Dale Street Place is a residence for people with disabilities.

The drop-in center, which opened in 1976, served about 30 people per day. It has also faced budget cuts in the past, but managed to stave those off.

Clients and supporters did mount a similar campaign earlier this year, calling and writing elected officials to save the drop-in center. But their efforts fell short, because the county doesn’t have enough money to keep the center open. The closing and diversion of funds for supported employment program is part of a larger effort to retool Ramsey County’s community support services. County officials are directing Apollo center clients to the Ramsey County mental health services, which are offered to two locations on University Avenue in St. Paul. Call 6512-266-7890 or go to http://tinyurl.com/Apollo-support to find services. Clients can be assigned case managers and find support groups. NAMI Minnesota doesn’t have a drop-in center but has support groups and classes. Call 651-645-2948 or go to www.namihelps.org and click the tabs. The closest drop-in centers are in Minneapolis and Hennepin County, where there are seven centers. Go to the Hennepin County adult mental health website at http://tinyurl.com/ hennepin-support For a list of other area drop-in centers, check http:// tinyurl.com/find-mentalhealth-support Due to changes in programs, always call to see if a center is still offered or if a program is operating. ■