Annual Report Edition Spring 2016

A very good year. RCS served 593 adults in 2015.

RCS received a 1st Place Award in the Sheboygan County Let’s Get Physical Challenge for the second year in a row.

Participants and staff participated in Disability Pride Day, a community function at Fountain Park.

Hundreds of hours were logged performing community volunteer service.

RCS assisted 34 new employers to meet their labor needs with our referrals.

Seven bachelor level interns from four universities learned from our participants and staff while providing valuable service to participants.

RCS was nominated as 1 of 13 Non-Profits, to the Non-Profit of the Year category in Sheboygan County, by the Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce.

Redesigned RCS Website Visit us at: www.rcsempowers.com

The website update project has been com-pleted. The new RCS website design makes it easier for you to search activities, find program information, print out calen-dars, connect with RCS staff and provide current RCS news.

Karen Grupe, owner of Wisconsin Web Writer, and a website committee worked together to create the new look. The website is designed for easy site mainte-nance that can be managed by RCS staff. We would like to thank Karen for her hard work and dedication to the project and also her generous donation of our website hosting. We hope everyone enjoys the new site.

The website committee benefited from the expertise and assistance from the following RCS staff and board members: Vicki Pfister, Monica Senkbeil, Martha Vande-Leest, Rick Bauer, Andrew Bubb, Lynn Justinger, Ruth Weigel, Jody Merenick, Jon Rost (Board Member) and Dan Jones (Board Member).

Calendar of Events

Little Mermaid Jr. Performances

April 22 6 p.m. April 26 9:30 a.m. April 27 9:30 a.m. April 28 7 p.m. April 29 7 p.m.

Mental Health and AODA Resource Fair

May 3 4 p.m.—7 p.m.

May 30 Memorial Day

RCS Closed

RCS Empowers Community Employment Highlights First Quarter 2016

Christine Reyes Kohler Hospitality River Wildlife

Randy Wettstein Marcus Cinema

Matt Schirmer PJ Campbells at the Depot

Joseph Matz Planet Fitness

Randy Pitsch Trinity Lutheran Church

RCS Employment Services prepares and assists individuals to obtain employment in the community. Employ-ers benefit from RCS support services and receive numerous benefits from hiring people with unique abilities. For more information on obtaining employment in the community or to see how RCS Employment Services might benefit your business, call Lynn Justinger, Employment Services Coordinator at 920-694-1206

CONGRATULATIONS to the following individuals who were hired to work in the community and the individuals that chose not to be publicly recognized. We are proud of your accomplishment.

THANK YOU to the following businesses for providing valuable work experience for RCS participants:

RCS Empowers Employer of the Month Awards In recognition of exceptional commitment to hire and support people with disabilities

Richco Structures January 2016

Todd Saeger, Production Supervisor

Aramark December 2015

Back Row: Marilyn Straub, Linda Plo-car, Louann Wilsing, Beth Van Wyk, Jeff Tetrault, Andrea Saxon, Jeryka Burkart, Melise DePagter. Front Row: Connie Paluda, Mike Luedtke, Jason Fleischfresser, and Xeng Yang

Central Bark Dog caregiver, cleaning

Culvers-Plymouth Food preparation, dining attendant

Golden Living Center Receptionist, activity assistant

Goodwill Stocking, salvage

Habitat Restore Assembly/disassembly, cleaning

Jackums Hall Wait staff

Piggly Wiggly-Plymouth Bakery, deli, produce, utility clerk

Pine Haven Dining room attendant

Plymouth Intergenerational Coalition Clerical duties

The Pizza Ranch - Oostburg Dining room attendant

Boston Store February 2016

Jennifer VandenBrulle (left) and Chrissy Helbach (right)

Please patronize these businesses and thank them for their partnership with RCS!

Success Story John Scott & Brantmeier Ford

John began RCS programming in February of 2012. He lived in Kansas and Arkansas prior to moving to Wisconsin in August of 2011. Although John was going through many difficult life changes including moving to a new state and losing his mother, he kept a positive attitude and did very well transitioning to his programming at RCS.

John was initially interested in Day and Prevoca-tional Services, After Hour Special Events, and Community Employment; and his original sched-ule consisted of a variety of life enriching Day Ser-vices classes, an Employment Preparation class where he explored a variety of work opportunities and one morning session of work in Packaging. John expressed interest in working in the commu-nity as a cart retriever since he had done so at a Wal-mart in Kansas. He was also interested in assembling things with his hands, especially any-thing related to cars, including washing and wax-ing them. John did several job trials at various locations where he gained valuable on-site work experiences. Eventually he was offered a job at Pick ‘N Save where he worked for a few months as a cart retriever. Unfortunately, he realized this was not the best fit for him since the cold Wiscon-sin weather was a bit different than Kansas!

In December of 2015, John was offered and accepted a job at Brantmeier Ford as a car detailer. This type of work is ideal for John since he loves cars and anything associated with them; and calls himself “A Ford Man.” John excels at his job, is extremely proud to tell others about it, and it has proven to be the perfect fit. The employees at Brantmeier have welcomed John as a fully included team member since his first day. They take the time to teach him new things and always emphasize his strengths.

Although John dreams of one day 'being a police officer in Arkansas and catching all the bad guys', one can be assured of having the cleanest car around if one is lucky enough to have John as their 'Detailer!’

Fuerst & Sonnenburg Nominated for United Way Volunteer Awards

Mary Winscher & Jean Fuerst

The United Way Volunteer Awards Banquet was held this year at Blue Harbor Resort and we were reminded of how fortunate we are to live in a community surrounded by exceptionally kind and generous individuals. The event hosted 180 attendees from non-profits, local businesses and individual volunteers.

Although our two nominated volunteers from RCS did not win an award, each shared their appreciation and honor for being nominated by RCS. Jean Fuerst & Marge Sonnenburg are both winners in our eyes. We are blessed to have them as volunteers. Laura Griffin & Marge Sonnenburg

Little Mermaid Jr. Tickets Still Available

Opening Night Fundraiser & Dinner

April 22, 2016 at 6 p.m.

General Admission Show Times:

Tuesday, April 26 at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 27 at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, April 28 at 7:00 p.m.

www.ticketleap.com

RCS Wish List

Wii Resort game or any Wii (non-violent con-tent) games

Tissue paper-any color

Cinco de Mayo Party decorations

Nail polish-any color

Travel size toothpaste

Travel size toothbrushes

Travel size Kleenex

White hand bell choir gloves

711 community outings provided 10,861 hours of community experiences. Outings in-cluded numerous local fishing holes, Bay Beach, Blue Harbor, Maritime Museum, Empire Cosmetology School, Odyssey Fun Center, JMKAC, community-wide farmers markets, May-wood, Bookworm Gardens, and numerous community landmarks.

The 25th Anniversary of ADA was commemorat-ed with a trip to a Milwaukee Brewers game featur-ing ADA recognition.

75 people participated in After Hours Special Events. Highlights included: Lakeshore Cinema, Sheboygan YMCA Spin/Yoga, Milwaukee Organ Re-cital, Grease The Musical, The Milwaukee Zoo, The New Zoo, Maywood Flapjack Days, La Clare Farms, Port Explorium, and Wings ’n Wheels, to name a few.

The Aktion Club, an RCS service organization chartered by the Kiwanis Club of Greater Sheboygan and Sheboygan Falls, had 15 members who provided 227 hours of service time. Events included Project Angel Hugs Valentine creations, local food bank collections & delivery, Maywood Flapjack Day cleaning, 100-Year Kiwanis Celebration, Sheboygan Humane Society project, pamphlet distri-bution for JMKAC Levitt Concert Series, ticket redemption & cleaning for the Kiwanis Pig Roast, and assisting with the RCS Art Show.

At the Eliminate Bowl-a-thon, RCS mem-bers contributed $413 toward the Kiwanis initi-ative against neo-natal Tetanus. Also, the club earned first place for their T-shirt design for the Midwest logo contest.

90 participants enjoyed the RCS “Under the Sea” Prom along with members of the pub-lic. 23 volunteers assisted with the event. Par-ticipants “shopped” for free formal attire and accessories which were donated by the commu-nity.

Adaptive bikes were purchased and used on the bike path as well as being showcased in Sheboygan’s Fourth of July parade.

The Music Man Jr., was performed in front of an estimated 2,070 individ-uals. It took over 56 days of participant practice and thousands of hours from staff and volunteers to present an outstanding show. The pre-show included a string quartet, food provided through Nourish & the chefs from the Culinary Institute, and special seating; ticket sales sold out within 3 hours.

The 10th Annual RCS Empowers Art Show contained 805 pieces of work done by 148 artists. 108 pieces sold for $1044.50 benefiting the individual RCS artists. 53 RCS artists had work submitted to the Very Special Arts-Wisconsin con-test.

A motor coach trip to Nashville & Memphis Tennessee was enjoyed by 29 participants, nine parents, and five RCS staff chaperones. Daily activities and pic-tures were publicized on Facebook.

Day Services & Special Needs provided 135,177 service hours to 158 participants.

Prevocational Services

11 participants in center-based services obtain employment in the community. Over 250 participants worked in North Plant, Packaging and Janitorial services and over 96 participants took part in Prevocational Classes.

Prevocational classes, under the supervision and assis-tance of their Prevocational Instructors, were able to ride the city buses and do “travel training” to become familiar and more comfortable with the city transit system, better ac-quainted with our community, and increase independ-ence. They also worked on bus etiquette as well as refining some of their social interactions. Shoreline Metro generously allowed our prevocational instructors and participants free fare for bus training. Thank you Shoreline Metro.

New and ongoing volunteer opportunities for participants were added at local businesses including Bethesda, Neat Re-peats, Sheboygan County Humane Society, Sheboygan Public Library, Habitat for Humanity ReStore, and the Sheboygan Senior Center.

34 tours of local businesses were provided to promote understanding and awareness of skills and expectations.

Friday Focus Groups were established. These groups allow the opportunity to look in depth at specific topics for interested individu-als.

No participant work layoffs in 2015 due to continued focus on cross training participants coupled with adaptive classroom scheduling and strong business sales.

Job Club hosted 9 different presenters from local businesses, as well as presentations by the RCS Ambassadors, for 372 participants during the year.

40 new workstations were added to the Packaging area at West Plant. The stations allow participants to sit or stand while working and the uniformity in the design helps in transitioning between work areas.

Employment Services assisted over 250 people in 2015

125 Supported Employment 65 Direct Placement 144 Benefits Analysis 20 Vocational Evaluations and other assessments 8 Ticket to Work program 13 IPS program (Individual Placement and Support), which provides job development services to people with chronic mental illness 17 Participated in the new Skills to Pay the Bills program.

60 jobs were found for people, exceeding the department goal by 7%. The majority

of these jobs were the result of building new relationships with 34 area businesses

who had never hired people through RCS or had not hired through RCS in over

five years.

Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Supported Employment programming

began in March of 2015 in partnership with the Division of Vocational Rehabilita-

tion and Sheboygan County Health and Human Services. The program underwent

its first Fidelity Review in October of 2015 and scored the second highest baseline

score ever in the State of Wisconsin. Because of its success, another full time

Employment Specialist was added to the team.

RCS Ambassadors were involved in 22 events that allowed them to share their employment journeys with others.

RCS received a grant through the Employment First Initiative, a project of the Wisconsin Board for People with Develop-

mental Disabilities. The focus is to increase integrated employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

Skills to Pay the Bills Curriculum was initiated. It offers adults and

youth an opportunity to learn employment soft skills.

Current job seekers participated in a Mock Interview Day that al-

lowed them to practice their interview skills. Members of the Em-

ployment Services Advisory Board participated in this event by con-

ducting the interviews with job seekers.

The 14th Annual Employer Recognition Luncheon

recognized employers for their dedication to employ-

ing and supporting people with disabilities.

RCS Employment Services exceeded budget

projections by over $80,000.

Employment Services - continued

ENCORE Specialized Care for Alzheimer’s and Dementia

Volunteers Mike Batt & Gary Spettel

Encore is a program for individuals with a wide range of cognitive and physical challenges with an emphasis on memory care. Encore memory care is for individuals with moderate to late stage memory loss.

The Encore programming approach is slower-paced in a safe, engaging, and personalized environment to serve an indi-vidual’s specific needs. With patient encouragement, we tailor programs to enhance participants’ abilities and to retain their independence to perform tasks.

Our caring staff can provide partial or total assistance to a participant who is not independent with:

Activities of daily living

Ambulation

Sudden changes due to memory or physical abilities Encore activities are designed to maximize individual creativity, provide self ex-pression, build memory recognition and memory retention. These activities assist participants to converse, socialize and stay in the present with meaningful interac-tions within a small group setting.

If you or a loved one could benefit from the ENCORE program please contact Ruth Weigel, Day Services Coordinator at 920-694-1219.

RCS would like to thank Mike Batt & Gary Spettel for sharing their talent, time and skills so unselfishly. Mike and Gary are posing with a raised garden bed which is one of many projects they have completed to make RCS Empowers a better place. They both work hard, stay behind the scenes and never want recognition. It is dedicated volunteers like these gentlemen that make RCS a special place for everyone who steps through the door.

The raised garden bed idea surfaced almost a year ago. It start-

ed with a picture. Mike and Gary gave the project life and creat-

ed a similar design that was “RCS Friendly”. The new design

incorporated wheels so the bed can be moved throughout the

building and allows everyone at RCS an indoor gardening

experience.

Every accomplishment that was made this year is due to the support and trust of our RCS Partners. Your gifts have made it possible for us to create opportunities for individuals with disabilities to expand their horizons and build confidence. Thank you for being an integral part of our success.

2015 RCS Partners

Alliant Energy Foundation, Inc.

Aurora Health Care - Partnership Campaign

Aurora Sheboygan Memorial Medical Center

Baird Foundation, Inc.

Baumann, Nancy

Beaton, Tom

Becca Grace Foundation, Inc.

Benzschawel, Jerome and Bonita

Bergstrom, Theodore

Bestul, Michelle

Blanke, Daniel and Kathryn

Burkart-Heisdorf Insurance - A Division of McClone

Cedar Grove Area United Fund

Cheney, Ellen

Colson, Sammy and Catherine

Community Bank and Trust

Conrardy, Charlie

Darnieder, Michael and Galvin, Joanne

Dassow, Barbara

Dirkse, David and Kristine

Ecker, Robert and Linda

Egan, John and Karen

Elkhart Lake Study Club

EP-Direct

First Reformed Church of Sheboygan Falls

Fountain Park United Methodist Church

Fountain Park United Methodist Church - United Methodist Women

Friederichs, Bruce and Brenda

Galvin Darnieder, Oliver

Gartman, Walter and Judith

Gast, Rita

Gentine, Jeffrey and Michelle

Gibbsville Reformed Church

Giertz, Norman and Debra

Grau, Joyce

Griffin, David and Laura

Guenther, Katie

Hayssen Family Foundation, Inc.

Heidemann, Joe and Lynn

Hemmer, Chris

Henne, Brian and Mally

Hiers, Richard

Holtan, Thomas

Holtz, Elizabeth

Horstmeier, Jeffrey and Rita

Jacobi, Fredrick and Rosann

Jacobi, Paul and Audrey

Jeanty, Luann

Joa, Curt and Laurel

Joe Van Horn Chevrolet - Mike Seifert - Pay It Forward Moment

Justus, Jesse

Kettler, David and Susan

King, Ken and Joan

Kiwanis Club of Greater Sheboygan

Kiwanis Club of Sheboygan Falls

Kohler Company

Kohler Foundation, Inc.

Kohler, Terry

Lahner, Cheryl

Lallemont, Clarence

Please accept our apologies if we have inadvertently omitted anyone’s name from the list.

LeClair, Wayne and Cheryl

Leonhard, Alan and Darlene

Lewis, Cathy

Lueder, Beverly

Mark and Mary Knabel Foundation

Martinez, Sylvia

McKelvey Family Foundation

Menden, Steve and Coleen

Mervar, Bernice

Meyer, Marissa

Miller, Randall and Jean

Miske, Gilbert and Meredith

Mohr, Karen

Neils, Todd and Karri

Northwestern Mutual Foundation

Old Wisconsin Sausage

O'Malley, Lori

Oostburg Area United Fund, Inc.

Oostburg Lumber Company

Oostburg Middle School

Pamperin, Edward

Paul, Randal and Christine

Peterson, Bernadette

Pfeifer, Kevin

Pfister, Keith and Vicki

Plate, Gary and Jane

Race, James and Dawn

Rammer, Fredric and Nancy

Randall and Judith Hake Family Foundation, Inc.

Raquet, Rogene

Rauwerdink, Rev. Philip

Reiss, Jennifer

Rost, Jon and Carol

Rotary International - Sheboygan West

Sargento Foods, Inc.

Schafer, Kathy

Schmitt, Betty

Schmitt, Catherine

Sheboygan Chevrolet

Sheboygan Jaycees - Dominion of Terror

Sheboygan Rotary Club

Sheboygan Theatre Company

Slimmer, Dale and Suzanne

Spettel, Gary and Karen

Steffen, Corey and Teresa

Strub, Stanley and Teri

Talen, Timothy and Patricia

Tauschek, Roland

Tempas, Dr. Christine

Ten Dolle, John and Margery

Tenpas, Carl and Joann

The Perry Fund

Timm, Bruce

Torke Coffee Roasting Company

United Way of Sheboygan County, Inc.

V.F.W Ladies Auxiliary Post 9156

Van Wyk, John

Vaness, Philip and Lois

Wadle, Cherie

Williams, David and Kristine

Wisconsin State Council - Knights of Columbus

RCS Empowers, Inc.

MAIL LABEL INFORMATION HERE

Nonprofit

U.S. Postage

PAID

EP Direct

Fond du Lac, WI

Katie Williams is dedicating her time and talent to creating beautiful sea glass pieces to be sold at the Little Mermaid Jr. performances to benefit the RCS Drama Fund.

Katie and her family are RCS partners. Katie is an Ambassador in our Employment Services Program and gives speechs to local groups sharing her employment journey. Katie’s par-ents are a part of the RCS Advisory Council. Advisory Council members are advocates for RCS, build relationships with community groups and assist with RCS events.

RCS Play Fundraiser

Katie Williams

Mission Statement

RCS Empowers individuals with disabilities and special needs so that they may work, live and function with dignity and respec t.