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Providing jobs, purpose and a future: ECHO pairs disabled workers with businesses to benefit both
Navigating her way through the halls of Inova Loudoun Hospital, Tammy Bolen loves what she does. Three times a day, Bolen and four co-workers sort and distribute mail to the more than 1,600 employees at the hospital. It may not be a prestigious job, but she holds her head high and gives a shrug of the shoulders and a wide grin when she completes her task.
Bolen, 36, is a client of ECHO (Every Citizen Has Opportunities), a nonprofit organization based in Leesburg that helps those with mental and physical disabilities find work.
“We aren't asking for money or volunteers,” said Karen Russell, marketing manager at ECHO. “Our goal is to place our people in jobs.”
ECHO has been helping people with disabilities find work in the community for more than 30 years through its supported-employment program. In this program, a group of workers and an ECHO supervisor work at a company doing jobs such as packaging, assembly, product fulfillment, administrative assistance, bulk mailings, document scanning and shredding, and groundskeeping.
“[These jobs are] a very positive thing because they are being valued as people who can do something,” Russell explained.
Bolen suffered a stroke before birth and was diagnosed with a disability at age 3.
“She has had to be taught everything,” said Zi Bolen, Tammy's mother.
After years of communication classes in Virginia and North Carolina, Bolen -- who still struggles with communication -- began working with ECHO in 1999 at their main office. Since then, she has held many jobs with the assistance of ECHO, and she loves every bit of it.
“She enjoys it very much,” her mother said. “She gets paid, and she likes being out in public because it is part of her growing process.”
ECHO also cares for those with severe disabilities who are unable to work, through its Medically Fragile Program. At their main office, ECHO staff members work with these individuals to maintain and enhance physical, cognitive, social and emotional abilities. The program employs licensed practical nurses, certified nursing assistants and a driver.
Better for businesses
While ECHO provides assistance to its clients, many businessmen and women who support ECHO say their company and employees are the real benefactors in the partnership.
“ECHO solved a problem we wouldn't have been able to solve,” said Randall Kelley, chief executive officer of Inova Loudoun Hospital. Before ECHO employees began delivering mail April 1, hospital employees were receiving mail service only once a day, and that was only when someone from each department could go get it.
“This is a better service for a good price,” Kelley said. “The supervision and support is remarkable.”
The positions that ECHO staff typically fill are entry-level jobs that tend to have high turnover rates.
“The people we serve are happy with entry-level jobs,” Russell said. “Our folks don't like to be without work.”
Along with the services provided, ECHO “takes the headache out of lower-wage jobs,” Russell said.
ECHO provides transportation for its employees, and the business only has to cut one check a month to ECHO. ECHO then takes care of paying workers, factoring in taxes, vacation and sick days and health benefits.
Along with working on-site in community businesses, ECHO houses a direct-mailing service in its main office. There ECHO employees do everything from direct addressing of mailers, postage metering and labeling to order processing, shrink wrapping, inserting and pickup and delivery.
Other ECHO partners in the county also sing the nonprofit's praises.
Edgar Hatrick, superintendent of Loudoun County Public Schools, said, “From a business standpoint, ECHO makes sense. There is very little responsibility from us as the employer.”
Prototype Productions, an Ashburn-based service provider of product development, manufacturing and commercialization, has been using ECHO employees since July 2004.
“They are phenomenal,” said Joe Travez, CEO of Prototype Productions Inc. “They meet the schedule, very positive, attention to detail and they are very polite. So it's amazing the technical aspect.”
He added, “Putting that aside, what has happened is our employees have formed a relationship with the ECHO employees, and so there is a positive energy that has developed. And that value is 10 times the technical value. I believe in the end, the organization that most benefits most from the relationship is PPI.”
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