LYNNWOOD — Just inside Edmonds Community College’s Beresford Building off 196th Street Southwest, the man behind the muffin cart greeted English as a Second Language students as they walked by.
“Good morning” he said, to a female student passing his cart on her way to class. “The juices are a dollar and these juices are brand new.”
His name is Rod Fales, 30, and he’s one of five adults with developmental disabilities involved in a special program through the nonprofit Washington Vocational Services, which helps a variety of disabled adults find jobs.
In a new program running since the fall, participants sell baked goods and other snacks and beverages three mornings a week and on Saturdays from a mobile breakfast cart. They’re not paid an hourly wage or salary but do earn a stipend.
Costco provides the baked goods.
“It’s a confidence builder,” said Natalie Peterson, employment coordinator with Washington Vocational Services’ Mountlake Terrace corporate office. “You really can’t get a job until you feel confident enough that you can.”
Program participants, known as “trainees” and “customers,” are referred to WVS by the state’s Department of Developmental Disabilities.
“These people often have been rejected by their peers throughout their life,” Peterson said. “It’s a slow process to build self-confidence and self-esteem out in the community.”
Those “customers” began working the breakfast cart at a wood products company in South Everett. Since mid-October, they’ve served juices, muffins and other items to staff and some students at the Beresford Building, and at the nearby Clearview Building.
Nicola Smith, senior associate dean for student life and development at the college, said WVS was allowed to bring the cart to the north campus locations because the school has vending contracts at the main campus.
“The reason I approved it is it’s a training opportunity for their people,” she said. “Nobody’s complained.”
During Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, the breakfast cart was welcomed onto the main campus when students were away.
“The cart was so tiny, we could wheel it from office to office, which was nice for the people who were there,” Peterson said.
Her “customers” will continue the cart program until “they have grown as much as they can with what they can learn on the cart,” Peterson said. “There are going to be some people who really aren’t going to learn enough to work as a cashier. We’ll know when they’ve mastered most of the skills and we think we can transfer them to a job.”
Peterson said her organization is looking for companies interested in participating in the program. For more information, call Natalie Peterson at 425-774-3338, ext. 201.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
