Arc Human Services connects communities within the community
Matthew Bishop is eager to deliver fresh linens to a resident at Friendship Village, where he works two to three days each week.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Matthew Bishop high-fives his job coach, Hunter Zaccone, on an elevator ride to the next floor on a recent weekday. The team starts every shift at Friendship Village with linen delivery service.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Loren Stollar leads her job coach, Grace Archibald, out of the laundry room at the Health Club of Southpointe, where the duo works together twice weekly. Stollar folds and places clean towels around the club.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Matthew Bishop, right, and his job coach Hunter Zaccone match the apartment unit to the order before hand-delivering fresh linens to a resident of Friendship Village.
Loren Stollar refills towels in the locker room on a recent weekday at the Health Club of Southpointe. Stollar and her job coach Grace Archibald enjoy dancing while they work.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Loren Stollar puts a load of towels in the wash before folding warm, clean ones at the Health Club of Southpointe, where she enjoys working with her job coach Grace Archibald and chatting with other employees and members.
The Arc Building in downtown Canonsburg sits beside Frank Sarris Public Library and is home to Chicco Baccello and Arc Human Services. Both businesses are disability-accessible from the public parking lot, or through a main entrance along West Pike Street.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
The top floor of the Arc Building houses Arc Human Services’ administrative offices, board room and classroom. The floor’s entryway was decorated by administrative assistant Kim Durbin with photos that hold meaning to the local nonprofit.
The apartment, located on the top floor of the Arc Building, offers Arc Human Service clients the opportunity to develop essential life skills, including meal preparation, dishwashing and socialization in the mock living space.
The community conference room in the Arc Human Services building is conveniently located next door to Chicco Baccello, which offers catering to those renting the space.
Works by local artists decorate the second floor of the Arc Building in downtown Canonsburg. All pieces are for sale, and a portion of proceeds is donated to Arc Human Services.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
An art gallery on the second floor of the Arc building in downtown Canonsburg is home to works by local artists, all of which are for sale. Arc Human Services’s CEO Ed Picchiarini said art classes led by these local artists will be held in the airy space.
They’re the men and women cheerfully folding laundry, the smiling faces welcoming you to Moe’s, the folks joyfully earning an honest living and engaging with society.
They’re clients of Arc Human Services, a nonprofit that for nearly 75 years has bridged communities within the community. Through learning, housing, socialization, job coaching and other opportunities, Arc Human Services guides people with disabilities to more independent living.
Last year, Arc Human Services – not to be confused with partner advocacy organization the Arc of Washington County – moved from its headquarters in Meadowlands to a fabulously remodeled building in the heart of Canonsburg.
“We’re one of the bigger companies in Washington County, and nobody even knew we existed,” said CEO Edward Picchiarini. “We wanted to have more of a community presence.”
This shift toward greater community presence inspired the installation of high-tech classrooms and a practice apartment at the new location and sparked the closure some years ago of a workshop in the Meadowlands.
“For example, we had a car detailing place in that building, and it was done by people with disabilities. The concept is, instead of doing that with all people with disabilities together, take those same people and get them jobs out in the community at car detailing places,” said Picchiarini. “Go out in the community, become part of the community.”
Become part of the community; have they ever.
Loren Stollar arrives, nails painted, hair streaked in color, to the Health Club of Southpointe two days each week, where she and her job coach Grace Archibald spend the shift sweeping, filling soap dispensers and doing laundry.
“Those two make me smile,” said health club general manager and partner Brad Hina. “They are always having fun together.”
Stollar and Archibald have worked together since the former started at the health club after Stollar’s mother, Daryl Stollar, contacted Arc Human Services.
“We tried several different job agencies in town, but we just couldn’t find the right fit for Loren. Finally, we switched to Arc. The job coaches she has had there are just wonderful,” said Daryl Stollar. “Loren loves Grace.”
The feeling is mutual.
“She’s just exuberant,” said Archibald, adding she and Stollar are close. “Loren is the star. The members love her. She just smiles and gives hugs. We know what we have to do, and sometimes we’ll be even late getting out to her dad a few minutes because we want to get the work done.”
While Stollar is a health club employee, Archibald oversees the workload and reports to Hina.
“I feel very blessed to have, for the most part, good coaches because the coach is kind of critical to the client’s success,” Hina said. “It’s hard to find good people, and Arc, I think, has done a good job in finding folks.”
The good folks at the Health Club at Southpointe put Daryl Stollar’s mind at ease when she drops her daughter off for work.
“I was nervous at first … her being away from me,” said Daryl Stollar. “It’s hard when you have a child with special needs. They’re home all the time; it’s hard to turn the mothering off. As we got to know the people, we see how caring they are, and how well they communicate. The people that work there, they seem to like her. They got her stuff for her birthday, which was really nice.”
Daryl Stollar said the job has helped her daughter, a born helper and Special Olympics basketball and bocce competitor, in ways she both did and did not expect.
“She feels good about what she does. She’s happy to go to work and happy to get her paycheck and go shopping,” said Daryl Stollar. And, “It’s helped her speech. She talks a lot clearer. We’re really blessed that we have the help we have right now, that’s letting (Loren) have her life away from us.”
Like Loren Stollar, Matthew Bishop is an Arc client employed at a local business through the nonprofit’s supported employment program.
“Supported employment is where the individual is a direct hire of that company,” said Brent Troyan, director of community-based services. “They have much more experience with the job market and what they may want to do, what they don’t want to do. Those folks, we would identify and put them directly into supported employment, where they can go in, be a direct hire, you know, for that company.”
Arc also offers transitional employment opportunities, where individuals are technically on the nonprofit’s payroll.
“That’s a really good option for new individuals. If we have an individual that is just trying out work for the first time and, you know, they don’t want to go in, or they’re sick, or it’s snowing, and they don’t want to go outside, then we can replace them with somebody else to meet that, those contractual obligations. And there is no penalty for that individual,” said Troyan. “It allows them much more leeway to discover what they want to do.”
Bishop works two part-time jobs and spends two to three days a week at Friendship Village of South Hills in Upper St. Clair, folding laundry and delivering linens and a smile to residents with his job coach, Hunter Zaccone.
“He’s just very enjoyable to be around,” said Zaccone, who has worked with Bishop for over two years. “I could be having the worst day of my life, and I come in here, and he makes it so much better.”
Bishop is popular with residents, too, who thank him by name when the responsible, energetic young man hands them fresh linens.
“He does a wonderful job,” said Jim Beck, environmental services lead. “It really helps us out. When he’s on vacation or whatever, we really miss him. We appreciate him, and we really like having him here. We hope he continues to stay here at Friendship Village for as long as he wants.”
Work is a good outlet for Bishop, whose mother, Debbi Bishop, said likes to be busy.
“He … always looks forward to going and is proud of himself when he comes home,” Debbi Bishop said. Matthew is more confident and independent now that he works five days a week. Working has also helped his communication and social skills.”
That’s Arc’s goal, to help individuals find and succeed at meaningful work. The organization partners with approximately 25 area businesses that offer transitional and supported employment opportunities that meet client needs.
“It really is individualized, you know, and tailored to what that individual’s needs and skillsets are. Our businesses, they treat our folks wonderfully: birthday parties, recognizing them. They’re not just taking somebody with a disability and trying to take advantage of them. They really do include them in their work family. And that’s a very large goal and caveat for our business partners,” said Troyan. “I don’t want to just put somebody in a job just to put them there. If it doesn’t work for them, then that’s not going to have any long-term gratification if they’re not able to maintain that employment. That’s where we take our greatest pride from, is the longevity of their employment with the company.”
For almost eight decades, Arc has connected the communities within our community to meaningful work, fulfilling relationships and a sense of purpose.
The nonprofit plans to continue its mission, including connecting adults with disabilities to good jobs, out of the new headquarters for years to come.
“Like Brent said, the meaningful part for him and his team is not just to get someone a job, but it is to get them into a job that they like, that’s a good fit,” said Picchiarini. “The best thing for us is if somebody takes the job, loves it, stays there, moves up in the company, just like anybody else who gets a job.”
To learn more about Arc Human Services, visit https://archumanservices.org/.