University employs adults from mental health facility

This is part of Food Management's new Community program, which highlights the ways onsite operators are lending a helping hand in their communities.

Working with area social service organizations is an excellent way to make a meaningful impact on an institution’s immediate area, and a number of onsite dining providers have assisted in such efforts. Among them is the University of Dayton (UD) Dining.

The evening of Aug. 4 was a proud moment for members of the UD dining team as Sue Falter, general manager of UD’s Virginia W. Kettering campus dining facility, accepted the Employer of the Year Award from Goodwill Easter Seals of Miami Valley for UD’s efforts in employing adults transitioning out of Goodwill’s Miracle Clubhouse program.

Sue Falter, general manager of UD’s Virginia Kettering Dining Services with a transitional employee during an open house at the Miracle Clubhouse. (Photo: University of Dayton Dining)

Miracle Clubhouse, which is located only a few blocks from the UD campus, deals with individuals working through a variety of mental and emotional difficulties, including addictions, that have hampered their ability to function in society and hold a job. The organization provides counseling and other services to get them back on their feet and then helps them transition back into the social mainstream.

To effect that, Miracle Clubhouse needs partner organizations, and that’s where UD stepped up.

“Miracle Clubhouse came to the university looking for employers who might be willing to hire their clients,” explains Falter about the start of the relationship. Dining services is currently the only UD department involved in hiring Miracle Clubhouse clients and Falter is the department’s point person on the project.

Individuals begin their journey back to society at Miracle Clubhouse, where counselors try to help them through their difficulties. When they are ready to try to transition back to the workforce, they are placed in workplaces like UD Dining, where they are assisted by a job coach who keeps in constant contact with both the person and his or her employer.

“It is basically a safe way for them to get back into the world of employment, knowing that we are partnering with Goodwill and that we realize they have issues,” Falter says. She notes that UD Dining is a particularly effective employer because the operation can provide a range of jobs, from very basic like dishwasher to more involved like cook, depending on a person’s inclinations and preferences.

The placements are usually year-long, and some as long as two years, she adds, “and over that year we can evaluate whether they can be independent of Miracle Clubhouse.” Ideally, the person would start at the beginning of the school year but that’s not always the case, Falter explains. It depends on the person and when they feel they are ready to try to re-enter the workforce.”

At the end of their transition term, UD can either hire them on a permanent basis either part- or full-time or help them find employment elsewhere.

“Some have worked a year or two with us and then found employment somewhere else,” Falter notes. “We had one individual who started as a cook’s helper and she was later hired full time as a cook.”

Individuals in the program are of a wide age range and both genders. Some have had successful careers before faltering, while others are inexperienced in the workforce.

Currently, Falter has only one individual in transitional employment—last year she had three—and she has hired two former transitional workers on a part-time basis and two as full-timers.

Transitional workers get the necessary training on issues like food safety, plus an orientation period, when they start. If there are any problems, Miracle Clubhouse personnel are readily at hand to help deal with it, Falter stresses. “The Clubhouse keeps close tabs, and we have a great relationship with them,” she says.