3 Industrial Drive is home to an unassuming building that sits just to the west of Richland off of Highway 7.
The well-kept exterior simply proclaims it’s the Pulaski County Sheltered Workshop, and while all is relatively quite outside, inside is a different story.
People of all ages are busy working in the building’s interior. Some are packaging ear plugs, some are filling colorful Easter eggs with toy surprises while others work on refurbishing church pews, another a dresser.
Yes, it’s anything but quite here where more than 60 people from the county come to work everyday.
The Pulaski County Sheltered Workshop opened its original doors in Crocker more than 25 years ago. Then, it was called the Independence Sheltered Workshop, a name that really sums up what it is the program is trying to provide— independence.
Catering to mentally and physically challenged members of the community, the workshop provides an environment where they can contribute to the world around them.
And while the name has changed and the workshop has a new location, the mission remains the same— provide a place of employment where the mentally and physically challenged can make choices, realize their goals, accomplishments and achievements.
At the workshop, employees work on a variety of projects including packaging for vendors and restoring old furniture. They make reflective address signs that are useful for emergency personnel trying to locate a home and are always looking for more work.
“We’re always looking for more things to do,” Margaret, one employee said. “I really enjoy working here. It’s a real good place to work.”
The 64 people the workshop employees tend to agree with Margaret who says that “When I’m here, I feel like I can do it.”
They like working. They like knowing they’ve helped make something special.
“It gets you out of the house,” Tonya, another employee explained. “Me being in the wheelchair, it (the workshop) made me feel needed, not stuck at home.”
Linda Gifford is the PCSW manager. She see first hand each day what the workshop means and understands that while the troubles of needing more room are at hand, running out of space isn’t necessarily negative.
“To me the primary reason is it gives them a sense of self-worth. And they’re proud of their work and they should be,” she said, explaining what role sheltered workshops served.
Workshops also allow some parents to work who might not otherwise have been able to if their child were at home all day, and they save the state money while providing better quality of life for those they serve, Gifford said.
Adult day care, Gifford said, can cost the state upward of $100 a day per person in the program. At the workshop, it costs the state only $17 a day— a significant savings. Plus, the workshop fulfills contracts with outside companies and gainfully employes those who might not work otherwise.
But there’s so much more happening behind the PCSW doors.
Friendships are growing, skills are being learned and health is getting a close look.
The workshop doesn’t follow a medical model, although it is providing an exercise time for employees through a grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health, which paid for the free weights and trainers the center uses.
Everyone benefits from a more active lifestyle and Tonya can attest to that.
“When I started I weighed 190 pounds,” she said, noting she’s dropped more than 20 pounds.
The weight loss, she says, is great. But the exercises the trainers show her for her arms have helped her feel stronger and made it easier for her get get in and out of her wheelchair.

CHALLENGES

The workshop isn’t without its challenges, though. Space is at a premium and the rising cost of minimum wage amidst less work is troubling.
“That’s our biggest challenge right now,” Gifford said, speaking of the minimum wage issue.
The changes to the law mean the workshop has to pay more, but has less money available to pay it with.
Statewide, sheltered workshops have lost about $12 million in contracts.
The workshop is funded by county, state and federal monies, as well as the private companies they do work for.
But still, more is needed as the county continues to grow and resources shrink.
Currently, Gifford is working on applying for a grant that would allow those who make a $1,000 donation to the workshop to receive a $700 tax credit from the state, something she said that “would benefit them (donors) and us.”
And all donations, no matter what size, are tax deductible as the organization is a non-profit 501C-3.
Despite the challenges, Gifford said the community remains a powerful supporter of the mission.
The Pulaski County Ambulance District, for instance, provided free CPR and First Aid training to staff members.
“I was very grateful for that,” Gifford said.
And the Heritage Foundation in Lebanon provided an Automatic Electronic Defibrillator that has served the workshop well.
For more information about the workshop, its programs and products, or to make a donation, call 573-765-2500 or visit them online at www.pcsw.org.