PORT HENRY | This year, Mountain Lake Services (Essex Country’s Chapter of The ARC New York that revolutionized life for people with disabilities) celebrated its milestone 50th anniversary. Over the course of the past five decades, many chapters have unfolded, all with the constant theme of inclusivity and individuals reaching their full potential.
“Our mission is to focus on the abilities of individuals, to see abilities in everyone and try to maximize those,” said MLS Executive Director Jack Mudge. “What really makes the organization is the team that helps support that mission.”
MLS has been all about its people. It has afforded those who, a century before would have been condemned for being different, lives that are richer, productive, meaningful, and valuable. They experience more independence in their lives, the career paths they feel called towards, and who they want in their lives.
A little over half a century ago, the world was a very different place for people with disabilities. The common practice for centuries for those afflicted with challenges (cognitive or physical) was to be institutionalized- it even lasted until the latter half of the 20th century in the United States. In 1967, a group of North Country parents and family members united in their efforts over concern with the lack of support for people with disabilities. They formed a committee and opened Essex Industries (EI) seven years later on Nov. 4, 1974. Providing services and local group homes, Essex Industries was the first building purchased by Mountain Lake Services.
“We even have connections to Ticonderoga and the Burleigh family,” Mudge revealed. “Evelyn C. Burleigh was a founding board member and her daughter, Betty, was one of the first individuals to receive services and attend Essex Industries.”
In Mudge’s words, EI is a workforce development organization that trains and coaches individuals with disabilities- and abilities- to find appropriate work skills. Realizing that woodworking would make a great skill set for individuals with disabilities, founder Chuck Hayes set out to manufacture and market canoe parts domestically and worldwide, ultimately supplying names like Dagger, Hornbeck, Old Town, Mohawk, and Wenonah. Workers’ skill sets eventually expanded to picnic tables, porch furniture, packaging, and even subcontracting with larger companies. They even purchased the ADK Canoe Company are developing high-end canoes.
MLS has found more than one way to allow people of all abilities to be in the workforce. They also established and opened a consignment shop and engraving store, their Mountain Weavers’ Guild, and the Farm Store, where more opportunities for individuals to acquire job readiness skills.
Community and Staff Relations Assistant Director Elizabeth Rutkowski shared that EI partners with CVTEC, a very agreeable alliance that developed an apprentice program.
“We have apprentices from CVTEC that have become our employees,” Rutkowski revealed. “It is really about skill development. A lot of our individuals have worked in wood shops and gone out into the community and done their own business or have worked for other companies.”
MLS is one of the area’s largest employers (close to 600 people are currently on the payroll), and as it embarks on the next 50 years, is looking to recruit more quality team members to propel the mission forward.
“The people that are successful at this job over the long-term, are able to say, ‘I am going to have a great day’ every day,” Mudge said. Empathy, kindness, resiliency, positivity, and flexibility will also take a person far at MLS.
MLS encourages their employees to go back to college or pursue degrees within the field and expand their training, growth opportunities within the company ever-present. The benefits package MLS offers is also impressive.
“It’s not the work for everybody, but if you are compassionate and have a great spirit you can go very far and have the opportunity to build a lifelong career,” Mudge said. “You will be part of a team that is a driving force for positive change. Every day is filled with possibilities; this job is what you want to make of it.”
For those who don’t desire employment but want to support MLS’s work, there is always the need for volunteers and advocates. Keeping the agency, Essex County, and New York State in mind, MLS cites advocacy as a crucial conduit for broadcasting needs and finding resolutions to pending issues.
“Advocacy is what the community can do outside of employment,” said MLS Director of Human Resources Amy Gaddor. “There are a lot of ways to be connected.”
Individuals with disabilities are also able to enjoy an existence of fun and recreation. In the agency’s early days, there were neighborhood walks and van rides for enrichment. Today, it appears the world has no limits. There are Adirondack 46ers among their ranks, state-wide and international Special Olympics, even individual vacations around the country. Camping, pontoon boat rides, and Recreation Center dances provide memories and enrichment and experiences to be anticipated.
Thanks to MLS being awarded significant grants, the future is one of optimism and momentum. Both their recreation and guardianship programs have been boosted thanks to that funding, and moving ahead into 2025 and beyond, MLS is looking to support children.
“Trends are showing us that more people are being diagnosed with neurodifferences and co-occurring Mental Health Issues coupled with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities,” explained Sarah Louer, LICSW Director of Clinical Services. “Along with this fact, our field is seeing more children in need.”
According to Louer, those needs include crisis intervention, respite services, short-term residential respite, and interventions services for families who want to care for their children and keep them under their own roofs.
“Our unique and validated approach will provide guidance and stability for the families so when their child returns to the family home everyone is ready and properly equipped to manage a successful transition into everyday family life.”
For Mudge, the measure of success at MLS is evident by a mere glance at those the agency supports.
“When our individuals come up and tell us they are living their very best lives, you know it's true,” Mudge said. “You see it in their spirits. From a business perspective, I look at how the organization is doing in meeting our goals and objectives. It is a business and we want to make sure we keep the doors open; we hire the best staff and we are mission-driven.”
To learn more about MLS or to discover employment and advocacy opportunities, please visit mountainlakeservices.org.
View the original article at The Sun.
