Nurturing a seedling …

So long ago but I still remembered.  A few hints from my friends and I wanted to see what the Marble Activity Center had become. So I asked if I could visit.

In 1974 we were pleased with the “special education” programs started in Clay, Cherokee, and Graham Counties.  But there were no services for moderately and severely handicapped adults.  After an initial failure, we gathered together a mixed group of parents, professionals, and business leaders; as the high school special education teacher, Clay County appointed me to the board.  Our first budget was about $27,000 and supported the Marble Activity Center for a year with Bob Fink as full time director, a half time staff member, at least one volunteer, and six clients in a 1,200 square foot building. We earned $649.00 making simple wood products.

Later a church connection lead to a far away business connection.  An ongoing business manufacturing suspenders was donated to us.  After a contentious debate we accepted the business.  The question on our minds was could our little group actually run a business and produce enough suspenders to meet the contracts already in place?  My memory is that the mix of business leaders provided the critical business expertise and support needed to make it work.  Over time, we obtained some grant money and a small business loan, built a 10,000 square foot metal building  and renamed the center, Industrial Opportunities, Inc. (IOI).   But as Robin’s treatments became more intense, I rotated off the board.  The seedling I had helped establish was passed on.

Literally, a mighty oak …

So I entered a very large modern plant that had been left behind when he original business moved.  To my amazement, Tom OBrian met me at the door where he a placed a Welcome Barry Wheeler sign!

And on the wall was a framed exhibit of the history of IOI with my name as one of the original members of the Board of Directors.  I was given the Royal Treatment!

The Marble Activity Center had become a modern factory with a workforce of 285 (!!!) – 206 employees and 79 clients!  The budget is over $9,000,000 a year!  Sales revenue is almost $8,000,000 from a mix of over 150 products from suspenders to auto brake parts to tourniquets and various surgical supplies!  Look at the production floor – over 108,000 square feet …

Possibly you can tell that the entire facility is integrated …

 

 

And that the products cover enough range for financial stability.

My tiny contribution …

I’m amazed – Bob, Tom, Harry and hundreds of others have grown the seedling I helped start into something unimaginable.  They’ve taken my small contribution and magnified it millions of times.

As I reflect on my life, I can see other times – perhaps in Bloomington, Indiana and Vienna, Virginia – where my tiny contributions have been built by others into things I could not imagine.  But this is the high point of  my life because it has supported hundreds of those who need our care and our support to show us how much they have to offer!

My spirit is returning …