August 28, 2015 at 4:14 p.m.
Bethesda hosts open house at new Community Life Center
Bethesda hosts open house at new Community Life Center
By Kayla Thomason-
"We're having an open house to celebrate the opening of Bethesda's Rhinelander Community Life Center and also to honor some of the donors who made this investment possible," said Bethesda spokesperson Ross Boettcher.
Bethesda is a nonprofit that provides support and services to people from Oneida, Vilas and Forest counties who have intellectual and developmental disabilities.
The organization provides homes, assisted living, employment and daytime activities to its clients.
Some of the organization's employment-related services include providing pre-vocational skills training or training for jobs, according to Kathy Todd, area director.
Bethesda staffers help individuals who aren't ready for work, or have physical limitations impeding their ability to work, and offer body mechanics to keep individuals healthy.
"In addition we have an employment office here so people that we have working for us can come here, anyone who wants to work with Bethesda can come here and apply for a job right here in the Community Life Center," said Todd.
Half of the people who use these services are out in the workforce.
"(We) partner the people we support with local businesses that provide real jobs at real wages, and that's really kind of the magic we're looking for," Boettcher said.
Paul Paznonski has been utilizing Bethesda's services for about three years.
"It's better for me to have a job than...for me to be home," Paznonski said. "My life has improved because I'm not the one who has to be like 'what am I supposed to do?'"
Paznonski is employed at Goodwill and also works at Bethesda as a maintenance man.
Bethesda is not new to the community. The organization used to have an office at the old Mach One building on County Road G. The move to the new facility took place March 9, after the property was purchased from the School District of Rhinelander.
Having a location in the city has been very beneficial, officials said.
The organization has gained 10 new customers since the move and have had more people asking what they do.
This facility is much larger than the old one - 18,000 square feet compared to 2,400 at the old facility.
The new space also includes a big kitchen, a sensory room and a retail store.
"Our retail store is brand new for us," Todd said. "That is the one service and that's huge because that's the whole gym - or what was the gym of this school - so we're just in the infant stages of starting to work with retail skills."
People who are refining their retail skills separate items, make sure they are clean, mark and put them out for others to purchase.
Bethesda receives 70 to 75 percent of its funding from the state and federal governments, the rest is comes from donations.
Todd and the others are very thankful for the community's support. Todd said the administration would like to send out a special thank you to Alice Kuhnert from Wausau, who sponsored several picnics, made significant donations and bought a big shredding machine for the staff.
They would also like to thank Nancy Schroepfer, who found the new building and said it was "out of the woods." Schroepfer is Bethesda's recently retired vocational services program manager.
"I'm very happy (Nancy) gets to do the retirement things that she planned to do, but I certainly couldn't take the credit, it was like 'really you guys, I always look good because everybody else makes you look good, you know,' but she really did the hard work," Todd said.
"I just want to say 'thank you' to the Rhinelander community," Boettcher added. "The reason that we moved into this facility is because we've been able to build really remarkable partnerships with local businesses and members of the community have really embraced us."
Bethesda is based in Watertown. To apply for a job there, call (715) 365-6818, contact Kathy at (715) 365-6909, or visit BethesdaLutheranCommunities.org.
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