In the Vista Dining Center, The Adult Living Program can be seen in action. A post-secondary program for students ages 18-21 with disabilities, this program specializes in teaching students with disabilities how to live in the real world by helping them build skills in order to get jobs.

According to Gresham-Barlow School District special education teacher Denise Gies, the Adult Living Program came into existence in the mid-1980s. It is an extension of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, a major federal statute. It states that students who have a modified diploma and disability must have access to a free appropriate education offered through their regular school districts, or local educational agencies, until the age of 21.

The program, funded locally through the Gresham-Barlow’school district, is free to eligible students. “We work with students with a variety of disabilities. Some of them are more severe than others, some of them are pretty mild,” Gies said.

Through work, relationships, leisure and independent living skills, students learn adult independence life skills. Transitions Specialist Cindy LaRue says the goal of the program is to be self-efficient, and allows students to work in fields they have interest in.

One of the ways the students learn how to experience a real work environment is by experiencing different jobs throughout the community. Students help fill in the gaps and help the other employees with their workloads. The school district pays the worker’s compensation for the student to work there, so it doesn’t cost the employer anything to have them there. Gies said they want their students to learn and develop their skills, not replace someone.

Some of the students who work in the Vista Dining Center with Chartwells are from this program. Students from the program have been working there for 8 to 10 years. The program is not part of MHCC, but has a partnership with Chartwells.

Kitchen Manager Jeremy Wilebski, who has worked with the program for four years, says he often tries to teach the basic skills in a work environment by letting workers know the type of expectations a supervisor would have of them in an actual work environment, like trying to keep busy and focused on looking for new tasks.

Throughout the week, Justin Hamner, Misha Pieterse, Donnie Zoller and Doug (due to confidentiality, his last name will not be printed) come in to work with the Chartwells’ staff in the Vista Dining Center.

Zoller and Doug come in on Monday and Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Zoller’s job is to prepare meals, like cutting up vegetables for salads. He works along with the other cooks, like Wilebski, to prepare the food. Zoller said one of his favorite things to do is cook; he decided four years ago. “It’s fun and you get to be more creative,” Zoller said.

On Tuesday and Thursday, Hamner and Pieterse came in and worked the same time as Zoller and Doug. They have the same job as Doug, checking and restocking the coolers. But they also transfer food to the St. Helen’s Room, restock the chips and breakdown cardboard.

Asked about the program, Pieterse said, that he likes going to class and getting the work experience.

Hamner, who is taking a math class here, says, “I like the fact that it helps you become an adult. [The program] helps you learn how to clean, how to cook, [it] helps you learn how to live on your own.”

He’s planning to take English next term and to get the rest of his general education credits done.

“It’s a win-win situation; the students are getting valuable training and aspects in working in a institutional kitchen environment,” LaRue said. “Students are gaining valuable skills, but MHCC is also getting some extra help.”

Working at Chartwells is only one piece of the program – students have other training sites in the community. The majority of the students are graduates from Gresham and Barlow high schools. The program also consists of three other students that are contracted by the David Douglas School District. Since the David Douglas School District does not have any program that is similar, they pay for those students’ tuition. In the past, they had students from Ferris High School, an alternative school now known as the Springwater Trail High School. They’re expecting a student to come from Springwater Trail later this year.

About 98 percent of the students come into the program with a modified diploma. A modified diploma is when the requirements that the student needs in high school are modified to fit the student’s pace. For example, in high school, some of the students would take mainstream classes like global studies or English, but they would receive extra time to finish a test, or to complete a paper.

The program’s headquarters is a house near Kelly Creek Elementary School, set up as a school. The majority of the classes take place at this house, except for the work experiences and when they are out shopping.

Even though the students don’t live at the house, they do different chores, like cooking. Each student will cook for one day a week. Other basic household chores are included as well, like laundry.

When these students live on their own, they will have experience, skills and an understanding of what to do. For example, they are taught how to work with money and a budget, so they can go to a movie or dinner. Plus they are taught how to use a checkbook when going grocery shopping, and how to cook their own meals.

Normally a class will run for nine weeks, and after the quarter is done each move up one level. Each class is two hours long and offered once a week.

“The biggest thing I want them to know is appropriate behavior and social skills, so people won’t think of them as being really off filter,” Gies said, meaning people wouldn’t look and treat them differently. She explains learning basic manners, how to introduce yourself, and how to also keep a safe socially acceptable distance from someone - not invading someone’s personal space.

“How to advocate for extra information if they need it,” Gies said, learning how to ask questions and asking someone to repeat it when needed.

By the time the student is 21 years old ,they’re finished with the program and are eligible to graduate. When they graduate there is a slide show presentation done for each student. The students help put together a power point presentation that lasts about four minutes per student.

It shows different stages of their life when they were young, spending time with family, going through school, friendship and what they accomplished in the program. It also talks about their hopes and dreams, things they want to do in the future. They receive a certificate of completion, but it does not count as a degree.

“Our hope is that they’re out working or being engaged in some type of meaningful activity or learning to live on their own,” LaRue said.