Disabled residents find work at VTF Disabled residents find work at VTF (December 26, 2003)

Nonprofit benefits both employers and employees

By Jon Wiener

Ron Castaneda had been out of work for more than a year and a half, living on Social Security benefits. In addition to hearing loss in both ears and nerve damage in his left arm, the Korean and Vietnam War veteran was struggling with emotional challenges and nervousness symptomatic of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Seven years ago, he earned his first paycheck from VTF Services, where he continues to work 20 hours a week. Castaneda remembers one thought running through his head: "I can finally take my girlfriend out to dinner."

When he shared his excitement with his boss, Susan Hamilton, she broke down and started crying. Hamilton, executive director of VTF Services for 16 years, was wiping away tears again on Dec. 2. At a City Council meeting, Council member Rosemary Stasek presented staff and board members from VTF Services with a plaque proclaiming the small nonprofit as Mountain View's Business of the Month.

VTF is the second business to earn the designation as part of a new program that honors businesses for their service to Mountain View. (Meyer Appliance was the first to be honored for the distinction in October.)

VTF provides a variety of services to other businesses, including shipping, packaging and grounds maintenance -- "any job that people can do with their hands" --according to Steve Bobay, director of sales. Its annual revenues come in close to $1 million.

But the organization's clients are clearly not the only ones who benefit from its work.

The nonprofit, which receives no additional funding from the government, began as the Vets' Task Force in 1968. Located at the VA Hospital in Palo Alto, its vocational program gave disabled veterans new skills and a new purpose.

After the 1989 earthquake, VTF was forced to find new offices and dropped its longer name -- its employees are not all veterans although they do all have a documented disability.

In fact, nearly 90 percent of the employees at VTF Services have some form of mental disability, said Hamilton. Their conditions range from schizophrenia to obsessive compulsive disorder to post-traumatic stress disorder. Others have physical disabilities such as fragile diabetes or are recovering from substance abuse problems.

"Anybody who has trouble getting and keeping jobs is eligible to work here," said Hamilton. "Maybe their condition keeps them from working eight hours a day, but they can work six hours a day or two hours a day."

Hamilton stresses that VTF employees are not receiving handouts. "These are real jobs and we pay real money," she said.

Trainees must present a doctor's signature or verification from a caseworker as part of the hiring process. Most of the 41 employees are referred by friends or other organizations in the mental health services field.

While Hamilton and Bobay are constantly searching for new tasks for their employees, Bobay says that he does not try to sell customers on the benefits VTF provides for its employees. Instead, he focuses on the quality of the work the employees can provide.

"My message is, 'Can you figure out a way that we can help you?'" said Bobay.

The diversity of answers he hears has turned VTF's Old Middlefield Road office and workshop into something of a bazaar. Inside, workers assemble gift baskets for pet-owners, receive and distribute shipments from all over the world and clean machine parts for an aerospace company. VTF also recently opened a secure 24-hour mailbox service and entered a bid to do landscaping for Moffett Field.

Ron Castaneda is in the middle of skin-packing -- a process similar to vacuum-packing -- a product called Action Knife for retailers. The 58-year-old is looking forward to a January operation to remove a tumor in his ear and restore his hearing. Like all VTF employees, he is able to set his schedule around his doctor's appointments, and he must adhere strictly to any medication program. He comes in three or four days a week, depending on what needs to be done and works five to six hours a day.

Castaneda said he enjoys the camaraderie of the VTF staff and is mainly happy just to be working again. Hamilton is, too, and praises him as a remarkably loyal and flexible employee.

"You wouldn't probably hire Ron if you were an employer in a highly competitive market," said Hamilton, "but here he's a star."

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