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'Employment Options'
helps mentally ill
help themselves
(March 2006
Issue)
By Jennifer Chase Esposito
Most people living with or recovering from mental illness just
want to be treated normally. So when it's time to re-enter the workforce
after time spent in a hospital or treatment program, Employment
Options in Marlborough, Mass., does what any other job placement
agency would do to get its clients into money-earning jobs, but
with additional services as unique as the clients they serve that
would entice any employer to hire them.
At its core, Employment Options is a nonprofit organization that
helps its "members" ages 21 and over - most of whom are mentally
ill - sharpen, regain or even learn new workforce skills. Funded
primarily through the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health,
EO staff work with some 75-80 members daily to get them on their
way to enhancing their lives through jobs like dishwashing in a
restaurant and doing maintenance, to stocking shelves and light
typing.
"Just the fact that they're coming out of a mental illness, making
it public, they need support," says Director of Marketing Anupa
Shah of EO's members. For members, most of whom have depression,
bi-polar disease and anxiety disorders, "One of the biggest obstacles
is they lack self confidence. They're looking for someone to say:
"It's okay: You're just like everybody else...."
But along with serving the mentally ill population in 13 towns
and boroughs in Massachusetts, services are also provided to low-income
individuals. "A lot of people who are currently clients are also
low-income," says Shah. "A lot of non-English speaking people need
help putting together their resume, so we started providing the
resources….We're trying to get people to know of Employment Options
as more than just [for the] mentally ill."
Through an intricate grid of well-planned appointments, EO's day
program - which, for members, begins with a van pickup in the morning
from their home and transport to and from their work and home at
night - relies heavily on its "placement managers."
Fifteen placement managers and the program coordinator work together
to make the program sing. They initially accompany individual members
to their jobs to learn the positions' requirements so that if the
member misses work, the job won't go unfilled. Some placement managers
"hold" three different "jobs." And they also help run EO's day program,
"The Clubhouse," a place where from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., members can
get help finding a job, learning about hygiene and even working
out to improve physical fitness.
Members' jobs are typically repetitive, where they're doing the
same thing every day with little need to multitask or hit a deadline,
says Shah. "We don't place a member until they're absolutely ready.
We make sure they're really employable," she says. So daytime activities
at The Clubhouse can include learning prep skills in the kitchen,
cleaning skills and resume refinement. This attention to detail
- like the EO placement manager filling in for a member who might
be sick or unable to work his shift - shows employers that hiring
an EO member is a no-lose situation.
But for members - most of whom are referred to EO through the Massachusetts
Department of Mental Health - much of the work that goes into finding
a job is internal for EO members and "learning it's okay to be the
way they are," says Shah. With staff and members from Brazil, France,
India, Kenya, Vietnam, China and the U.S., EO epitomizes the ideal
that fair work can be available to all. Says Shah: "The services
provided are not based on any class or illness issue: everybody
is the same."
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