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Greencastle-PCCS partnership earns statewide recognition
A partnership between the City of Greencastle and Putnam County Comprehensive Services (PCCS) has literally proved rewarding.
The City of Greencastle has received the 2020 Indiana Association of Rehabilitation Facilities (INARF) Statewide Community Partnership Award, it was announced at the August City Council meeting by PCCS Executive Director Andrew Ranck.
The award was supposed to have been presented last March at an Indianapolis banquet, “but COVID took care of that for us,” Ranck said.
PCCS nominated the City of Greencastle for the honor which is annually presented to a community partner who is making significant contributions to improve the lives of individuals with disabilities and the organizations serving them. INARF represents agencies like PCCS, who provide services to Hoosiers with disabilities.
“We are so excited to be part of Greencastle,” Ranck said of PCCS. “We’ve had a 52-year relationship with the city.”
The award covers the 2019-20 relationship between the city and PCCS, which was contracted to run the aquatic center concession stand at Robe-Ann Park as well as provide 15 weekly hours of park maintenance support.
While the concession stand partnership ended after one year and wouldn’t have been valid this year anyway with the pool being closed, the city renewed the PCCS park maintenance contract and increased the number of hours this summer.
The nomination form submitted by PCCS notes that “Greencastle city government has worked hard to promote partnerships with local businesses to encourage Greencastle industries to contract and hire workers with disabilities.”
“Community partners are game changers for individuals with disabilities,” Ranck commented. “A strong, innovative community partner can move disability awareness forward in leaps and bounds in terms of public perception. “
PCCS proposed the idea of a partnership with the City of Greencastle in 2019. PCCS would run the pool concession stand, taking the burden and cost of day- to-day operations off the Park Department. The concession stand would provide a training ground for consumers wanting to do an internship at the pool in hopes of gaining job skills to help with future employment opportunities. Mayor Bill Dory and city officials agreed to move forward with the plan and partner with PCCS.
The mayor was so pleased with the concession stand proposal, Ranck said, that he suggested PCCS “could possibly help the city in other ways.”
PCCS then contracted with the city to provide seasonal help at the nearby park from May through October. PCCS paid three consumers to perform park maintenance four hours per day.
“Both projects were a huge success,” Ranck said, noting that the city had fewer seasonal workers to hire and manage, and PCCS advanced its program goals in the area of supportive employment and vocational training.
Last summer two trained PCCS employees served as the concession stand manager and assistant manager. PCCS consumers came to the concession stand as part of a supervised internship program to learn vocational skills to prepare them for future employment. Consumers assisted with filling customer orders, cash handling, product inventory and clean-up.
The city did not charge PCCS rent and paid for all concession stand utilities. The goal of the program was to provide vocational training for consumers, community awareness regarding people with disabilities, and hopefully not to lose money.
The City of Greencastle has been supporting the PCCS mission for many years, Ranck noted. For 30 years, former Greencastle Mayor Sue Murray served on the PCCS Board of Directors. In November 2018, Mayor Bill Dory and Police Chief Tom Sutherlin helped judge the annual PCCS talent show. And in March 2019, Mayor Dory came and read a proclamation designating March as Disability Awareness Month.
“PCCS would like to publicly recognize the City of Greencastle for all they do to support PCCS in our community,” Ranck added in presenting the award to the mayor at City Hall.
The community partnership award is presented to a company/ organization that promotes working with those who are disabled, so the nominees are not all cities. In addition to Greencastle and PCCS, this year’s nominations for the Partnership Award included:
-- Caterpillar and Wabash Center Inc.
-- Cummins Inc. and Developmental Services Inc.
-- Indiana Legal Services and Tangram Inc.
-- Kroger and Easter Seals Crossroads.
-- Lebanon Kiwanis and The Arc of Greater Boone County.
-- Second Helpings and Easter Seals Crossroads.
-- Strack & Van Til Food Market and Opportunity Enterprises Inc.
-- Sgt. First Class Tony Johnson and ResCare Inc.
-- John Pearson III and New Hope of Indiana.