Community Haven for Adults and Children with Disabilities lives mission through new project

Community Haven for Adults and Children with Disabilities was focused primarily on keeping clients entertained when Marla Doss, now the organization’s president/CEO, was hired in 1985.

"We were definitely more recreation-based before,” Doss said.

But also in the 1980s, Community Haven launched its work program that transform the Haven into a workplace that today gives many clients a chance to gain work experience and earn a paycheck.

As a result of that transformation, Community Haven will break ground in December on the $1.1 million Haven Industries Vocational Center. To date, it has raised more than $650,000. The group recently received a tentative $225,000 grant from the William G. and Marie Selby Foundation, but the Haven must raise the rest of the dollars it needs before it will receive the grant. Haven families play a key role in fundraising.

"Community Haven parents largely fund what we can do here," Doss said. "They are such a help."

Brad Jones, vice president of operations, expects the vocational center will open within a year of breaking ground.

The group recently released a 3D rendering of the center that includes a 3,500-square-foot warehouse, cafeteria, exercise room and three additional classrooms.

Classrooms will be stocked with smart boards and other technology to help clients learn work skills they will later put to use next door in the warehouse. 

Classrooms are currently spread throughout the campus, and clients travel to United Natural Foods International (UNFI) and IRISS Corp., a manufacturer in Lakewood Ranch, to complete products for customers. But after the warehouse is built, clients can complete their work right on site.

 The new facility will allow the Haven to expand its services beyond the 16 businesses with which it partners. Jones estimates the larger warehouse space, which will be able to store finished products, will also allow the organization to serve 75 to 100 new clients.

There are 25 clients on the Haven's waiting list.

And, the demand for the Haven's services is growing.

"We used to have to cold-call companies to get customers," Jones said. "Now they're calling us. They know we know what we're doing."

 Clients cut, seal, label and assemble products, such as medical kits, for customers.

"The clients are some of the most dedicated workers I've met," Jones said. "They have to be basically on their deathbed to miss work. They're great at what they do."

Like any workers, Community Haven employees earn both paychecks and job experience.

"The goal is to get them paid," Doss said. "It's empowering to them. They may have thought they would never get a paycheck."

Haven employees make $100 to $700 a month. September's payroll was $15,000.

Clients also learn workplace etiquette, along with the value of hard work, responsibility and other expectations of employers. 

Some individuals may even use their skills to obtain employment outside of the Haven. It also provides an outlet for individuals with special needs to find meaning in their day-to-day activities, Jones said.

"Some of these people are learning skills that will help them get jobs in the community later," Jones said. "Oak Park, a special needs school in Sarasota County, graduates students at 22. But then all services stop and those people end up sitting at home doing nothing. This program gives them something to take pride in."

The new vocational center is just one part of the organization’s 10-year plan (See sidebar).

By the end of the 10-year plan, the campus will have three distinct sections: the front will be comprised of workspaces; the center of the property will be used for education; and the back of the property will be used for housing.

"We'll be utilizing all the space to its potential," Doss said. "Community Haven is living up to its vision."

Contact Amanda Sebastiano at [email protected].