ABLE TO WORK LOCAL CENTER HELPS HANDICAPPED GET JOBS.Byline: Sharon Cotal Staff Writer SANTA CLARITA Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, - In the late 1960s, a group of parents led by the late Olive Ruby ruby, precious stone, the transparent red variety of corundum, found chiefly in Myanmar, Thailand, and Sri Lanka and classified among the most valuable of gems. The Myanmarese stones are blood red, the most valued tint being the "pigeon's blood. saw a need for a program to provide services to adults with developmental disabilities developmental disabilities (DD), n.pl the pathologic conditions that have their origin in the embryology and growth and development of an individual. DDs usually appear clinically before 18 years of age. in the Santa Clarita Valley The Santa Clarita Valley is the valley of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. It stretches through Los Angeles County and Ventura County. Its main population center is the city of Santa Clarita. The valley was part of the 48,612-acre (19,672. . Special education was new to the valley, and students were leaving area schools with no direction and no prospects for the future. So Pleasantview Industries, then called Pleasantview Achievement Center, opened in October 1970 to help the developmentally disabled get job training and jobs. Now celebrating 30 years of service to Santa Clarita, Pleasantview Industries has developed a strong relationship with the business community, supplying workers and also getting work as a subcontractor One who takes a portion of a contract from the principal contractor or from another subcontractor. When an individual or a company is involved in a large-scale project, a contractor is often hired to see that the work is done. in Saugus. Full-time staff was hired for the first time in 1977, and that's when Executive Director Gerry Howard joined the program. He had just received a degree in psychology and was looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. a job in which he could help people. ``I heard Pleasantview was looking for staff, so I came on board,'' Howard said. ``It has been very rewarding.'' Eighty-seven developmentally disabled adults now work through the Pleasantview program, including 30 percent who work off site, mainly in retail and food service and at the Valencia Industrial Center. Workers hired off site are provided with initial training and ongoing support from a job coach, who ensures that the work is done to company specifications. On its own site, Pleasantview Industries is a subcontractor whose workers perform packaging, assembly and bulk-mailing tasks for local businesses. ``We feel like we provide a good service to businesses in the community while giving our workers the opportunity to develop independence and skills that they can use in their daily lives,'' Howard said. Businesses interested in hiring Pleasantview workers may call Shelley Mannino. Those interested in using Pleasantview as a subcontractor can call Randy Hurst. Mannino and Hurst can be reached at (661) 296-6700. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) Kelly Hansen Kelly Hansen started his career as an independent studio singer. He later met guitarist Carlos Cavazos and bassist Rudy Sarzo of Quiet Riot fame to form Hurricane in 1985. Hurricane's record label went bankrupt in 1991 and the band disbanded shortly thereafter. of Saugus, who has been among the disabled workers at Pleasantview Industries for 21 years, collates and staples staples U-shaped stainless steel or vitallium units with sharp points used for surgical fixation. epiphyseal staples used to staple epiphysis to metaphysis; have metal bracing at the corners. mailings. (2) Disabled adults in Santa Clarita Valley perform bulk-mailing work at Pleasantview Industries, which also handles assembly and packaging subcontracts. Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News |
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