Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Following in the Footsteps of a Giant

"Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue, oh what those five feet can do... (Has Anybody Seen My Girl?)" was a popular song of the 1920s. I recall my father singing it to my mother...


Oh, what those five feet can do... last week, my powerhouse of a mother was here to greet and welcome two additional members of the Stride, Inc. team. We welcomed Dooley P. and Tim D. Both gentleman have come on board as Packaging and Assembly Specialists.

This is Dooley's first work experience in a paying job, he has had a great deal of volunteer work prior to joining Stride. Dooley has brought a great new way of thinking to Stride... he's intellectual and engaging. The first week was a little rough for him and we decided to tweak his hours a bit to ease him into the workday.

Tim is coming back to Stride. He used to work here many years ago and only recently decided he would like to come back. Tim has been persistent and exuberant in seeking employment! So persistent in fact; that our VP of Sales has threatened to put him on sales calls!




Oh, what those five feet can do... my mother amazes me; she has accomplished remarkable things with her life and it is a privilege to carry on the dreams she has of offering employment to this special  workforce. 

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Marching, shuffling, rolling, tip-toeing and bouncing...

Picture this:  some thirty students, handsomely dressed, gigantic smiles plastered on many faces, fists pumping jubilantly in the air, some serious, intent on following the precise plan they practiced throughout the day.

Marching, shuffling, rolling, tip-toeing, bouncing, some needing guided assistance to their assigned seats while Rascal Flats My Wish  played in the background. 
James with his family
It's graduation day!!!  Everyone of these special kids has a Developmental Disability but yesterday I was privileged to witness a celebration of their great accomplishments.  If you had been there, perhaps tears would have rolled down your face as they did mine... how can one be unmoved by the sheer joy and pride on the faces of these young adults?

Yesterday was a special day for our very own James B!  James graduated from APS Transitions' CTAP program, a Career Transition Assistance Plan available through our public schools in Albuquerque. James was a featured speaker and did a marvelous job.  Members of the Stride, Inc. team were there to cheer him on and were gratified to hear him proclaim that his goal of finding employment has been reached.

Stride would like to thank our customers who make the hiring of James and all of our team members possible.  OfficeMax, Office Depot, Staples, School Specialty, WB Mason, United Stationers and SP Richards Company - your support of our products helps keep our Mission alive!

Monday, May 14, 2012

Stride Welcomes Dooley!


It's not even noon time and I've had three calls today from various agencies asking if we are hiring.  A lot has been said about the high unemployment numbers across the nation but have you ever stopped to think about people with developmental disabilities needing work? 


Slider Memos -
Shipping  to  an
Office Depot
retail store near you.
Stride, Inc. welcomed another new employee today. Dooley joined the team as a Packaging and Assembly worker.  Dooley is an accomplished photographer and likes graphic art.  Coming from the good folks at APS Transitions (http://goo.gl/MUQma), this is Dooley's first paying job and we are delighted to have him working with us.  The work on the schedule today is packaging replenishment packs for Office Depot retail store orders.   Dooley's lucky because the team loves packaging the colorful Memo and Slider XBs, it's a round table operation where everyone has hands on and teamwork is the key!



Stride would like to warmly welcome Dooley to the team! 

Friday, May 11, 2012

Spotlight on Jude - a Shuttle, a Train, a Bus, a Hike and Back Again.

Today's spotlight is on an employee of Stride, Inc., who has been with us for many years and his method of transportation to get to work five days a week is an indication how dedicated he is to his job!!

Jude gets up every work day @ 4 a.m. to make it to work. He lives in a Indian Pueblo 50 miles from Albuquerque. Jude is Stride's Production Assistant and he happens to have a developmental disability. He does not drive; so to get to work he must take a shuttle from the Pueblo to a rail station. There he catches New Mexico's commuter train, the Railrunner, to downtown Albuquerque. Once in downtown Albuquerque, his trip is not over! Jude catches a city bus and then completes his trip by walking two miles to the office. By the time he arrives, it is 7:30 in the morning and Jude begins his day.


Jude only recently became Production Assistant, previously he was a member of the Packaging and Assembly team and worked the tables with the rest of the crew. As our business has been growing, the fellow who had organized the crew and kept them busy working throughout the day was being spread too thin. Jude saw a need to be filled and fell naturally to doing the job. Of course, the cracker-jack management team eventually realized what was going on and promoted him!
One of the most rewarding things about working with people who have developmental challenges is that they are more than willing to try a job, fill a need and, in the case of Jude, travel two and a half hours to get to work!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

The CEO Becomes the Worker - Appreciating our Developmentally Disabled Co-Workers

Interesting day today @ Stride, Inc. As I mentioned yesterday, we got a big shipment of pens from our friends at Schneider of Germany. Now, keep in mind, the head of our Shipping and Receiving Department came to us some 25 years ago as a developmentally disabled adult. His disability was a communication disorder, basically he didn't speak.  Nada, zip.  Communication is no longer a problem "huge" for this valued employee and we call him the head of shipping, but truth be told, he is the Shipping and Receiving Department.

With our big shipment help was acquired from the assembly tables, so our work crew lost our Production Assistant (incidentally another DD employ who is now a full-fledged staff member). So, when I came in today, our work crew was sitting around with nothing to do! Nothing is tougher on a boss or on the workers. Our special needs employees love to work but one has to find them work.

I spent a good part of my day getting the crew working and keeping them working. No sooner did I get them on a task then they would come to my office stating they were done and needed more work. Around three o'clock in the afternoon as I was creatively creating yet another project I warned them that I was out of ideas and if they needed something else before the end of the day we'd all go out front and pull weeds together!

So much for my plans for the day. Let me tell you, it's humbling when the boss has to do the job of a person with documented developmental disability and has trouble keeping up.

That is what I find is truly rewarding about working for Stride, Inc. We have people here the world views as "retarded." What I find is we have employees with special job skills and abilities that far exceed mine.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

The first of four Schneider ocean freight shipments have arrived!  We're on the way for the second rollout of retail displays for Office Depot Retail stores.  For the Sliders lovers out there, you are going to love the new assortment of Schneider pens!

For the mission watch, there was a smaller group than usual working on Monday.  This was actually a blessing in disquise as we were cramped for space after the 12 pallets arrived at our door!  The wind was blowing in Albuquerque yesterday, so we have a mess to deal with as nature blew in along with the pallets.

James (Autism Spectrum) is graduating from Transitions next week and will be a speaker at the event.  Many of the Stride team will attend to show James his support.  We are very fortunate to have "Transitions" as part of our public schools here in Albuquerque. Kids with developmental disabilities can go to High School for four year, walk across the graduation stage and transition into four more years of high school!! There they learn job and life skills. 

The team worked on packing black Gel-its and labeling the eight pack Sliders we sell to OfficeMax and Office Depot.  strideinc.com