Cobb and Douglas County Community Services Board

Agency provides more than just a job

November 27, 2003

By Tucker McQueen
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Jacque Smith knows how difficult the job market can be for the handicapped. Her 24-year-old son, Ronnie Smith, has severe autism and doesn't speak.

She left her job in the corporate world three years ago to become a job coach with the Cobb Community Service Board, an agency that helps the mentally ill and handicapped.

The board is collaborating with Cobb-Works to find not just work, but careers for the disabled. The agency has received $1.3 million in federal grants over the past two years and will get an additional $1.4 million in the next three years. The money is passed on to clients who can receive up to $15,000 to buy equipment to start businesses of their own.

Smith's son has a business, "Keep It Clean," that provides towel service to barbershops and beauty salons near his home in Smyrna. He received about $8,000 to buy a high-tech washer and dryer and to repair a Jeep. He picks up laundry at drop-off spots and works from a place set up at his parents' house.

"He has always struggled in the outside world," Smith said. "Being a part of that world successfully has made a huge difference in the way he looks at himself."

She's now coaching a Lassiter graduate, Brian Smith. He received $4,200 to go into pet grooming. The 23-year-old, who is mildly mentally handicapped, didn't enjoy his previous job as a stock clerk. His job coach said there seemed to be a piece missing in his life.
Ronnie Smith washing a dog

A grooming business, Fur's Gonna Fly, within walking distance of Smith's home in east Cobb, provided the solution when the business took him on as an apprentice. The money bought two tables with hydraulic lifts and $3,000 in dog washing equipment. If he decides to set up on his own, he can take the equipment with him. But it's there to use, as long as he works at the grooming shop.

"When we push them into environments where they don't fit, they fail," Jacque Smith said. "The money helps us be creative in fitting our clients with work they can enjoy."

Maria St. John and Amy Young, co-owners of the grooming business, said Brian Smith always shows up and does a great job. They don't cut him any slack and say he doesn't need any. His father, Don Smith, said the job is giving his son purpose.

"I've always liked animals," Brian Smith said. "Watching all these dogs is fun. I like bathing and brushing them."

Doug Crandell, program employment director, said that all too often the disabled are stuck in the service industry without a chance at advancement. He said the supported employment program helps them become entrepreneurs.

"Work is so vital to us. That's what we talk about," Crandell said. "In our culture, what you do is who you are. This gives the disabled a chance to be somebody and enjoy what they do."