PCS offers many opportunities at Greenville location

0

GREENVILLE — Person Centered Services (PCS) Inc. took over Wayne Industries on Jan. 1, and activity continues there at the facility at 5844 Jaysville-St. John Road.

Heather Fritz King, a Greenville High School graduate, is the director and has been with PCS for six months.

“It is a sheltered employment workshop,” she said. “We have 98 individuals in the building and 104 altogether, with home personal care offered to those in their homes.”

Services at the local facility focus on career development, volunteering, pre-vocational development, community integration and everyday living skills. These are all interwoven in the fabric of each day’s programming.

This facility helps people volunteer and helps those who are not quite ready to go into the work force to help them with pre-vocational skills.

“We also help people polish up on their daily living skills,” she said. “And, we do lots of fun things, too.”

There are seven programming rooms at PCS plus a workshop and cafeteria.

“We provide transportation all over the county,” she said.

Its service delivery system is designed for adults with ID/DD regardless of age or level of need.

King, who has introduced some new programming since she’s been there, said PCS has been in business since 2007.

PCS it was noted, believes that the best business model design to serve individuals with developmental disabilities (DD) centered on the cooperation and development of private and public sector agreements. It only operates in counties under invitation of the county board. This model enables the highest quality of services through a public/private partnership and helps ensure the longevity of the county board services.

PCS currently operates a Day Habilitation Center in Union, Defiance, Fairfield, Pickaway, Champaign, Wood and Clinton counties.

At the request of Defiance County Board of Developmental Disabilities, opened its first facility in July 2007, and operations began there, supporting those in need of day habilitation and transportation services. Every individual has the opportunity to work and all jobs pay minimum wage.

Its mission is “to provide and coordinate person centered opportunities for meaningful integrated pre-vocational, recreational, leisure, social, volunteer and educational activities for individuals with disabilities to enhance individual career opportunities.

In May 2009, PCS partnered with Fairfield County, and in April 2012 PCS and Beside Me! joined forces to bring a Day Habilitation Center to Union County. In July 2013, PCS expanded into Wood County; in October 2004, partnered with Champaign County; and in July 2015, partnered with Orion Inc., in Clinton County.

“I feel blessed and humbled to have this opportunity,” said King, daughter of Jeanie Compton of Greenville and Mark Bennett of Tennessee. “I come from traumatic and long-term care [work]. This is very challenging and very fulfilling for me.”

She has her bachelor’s degree in social services and her master’s in non-profit organizational management. She worked 10 years at Lakeland Rehabilitation, a long-term care facility in Milford, Indiana.

“I really love the person-centered philosophy of PCS,” she said. “Our company has helped and assisted them [the individuals] in accomplishing their goals.”

“Every day I learn something new,” King said. “I really inherited a wonderful staff. If not for their knowledge, PCS would not be as successful as it is.”

There are 25 on staff.

“We have a ratio of one staff person to five people,” King explained. “The longevity of the staff is amazing. They work hard and they’re flexible.”

She is a 1993 graduate of Greenville High School and is now living back in Greenville. She and fiance Kyle Voisard have five children between them as well as three dogs and two cats.

King worked at The Daily Advocate right out of high school.

“I was a clerk and took care of billing,” she said. “Then one day the publisher Terri Ashby asked me to go out and sell ads. I had a knack for it.”

https://www.dailyadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/web1_PCSatbusWEB.jpg
PCS offers many opportunities

By Linda Moody

[email protected]

This writer may be reached at 937-569-4315. Follow her on Facebook and join the conversation and get updates on Facebook by searching Darke County Sports or Advocate 360. For more features online go to dailyadvocate.com.

No posts to display