“Bottom Dollars Movie Chapter 05” produced by Rooted in Rights [NARRATOR]: Bottom Dollars [atmospheric music] [NARRATOR]: Chapter five - "My mother didn't think I could do it..." AUDIO DESCRIPTION: A green lawn in front of the Capitol building in Olympia, Washington. Minimum wage $11.00 per hour. Hugh Bertolin walks down the street. HUGH: I'm Hugh Bertolin, I used to work at Morningside sheltered workshop, I was making less than minimum wage. (INTERVIEWER): And how long did you work at the sheltered workshop? HUGH: About 15, yeah, about 15 years. AUDIO DESCRIPTION: A sign reading, "Morningside, Everybody Works Everybody Wins." JIM: My name is Jim Larson, and I'm the CEO of Morningside. Morningside's always been a very successful program, and a very innovative program, but I think, while we say we focus on the individual, early on in our history through sheltered employment, I'm not sure if that's true. A professor at the University of Oregon brought up his students and they did a survey of all of our [people] in sheltered employment. So, 80% of the people wanted to work in the community, and we had about 20% of the people indicated that maybe staying there or something else would have been better for them. First you're kind of shocked, saying, "80%? That's a lot, I was sure more people would wanna be here." But that's the only option they had, and I think that's the other thing with choice, so if you only have one choice, what are your options? What is your exposure to work? You don't have any exposure to work. So, it seems to me that when you have that exposure and that choice, then there's other options than going to a sheltered workshop. AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Hugh waits to cross the street. Disability Rights Washington sign. SUSAN: My name is Susan Kas, and I'm a staff attorney at Disability Rights Washington. The whole concept of a sheltered workshop was based on a charitable notion and a notion of giving people opportunities that didn't otherwise exist, and so it has roots that run deep and have been around for several decades. The call to end sub-minimum wage, and to end the practice of sheltered work, is a call that almost universally is to transition, and to phase out this practice. (JIM): Well, 2004 was a real exciting time here at Morningside, it's 'cause we had a celebration on June 24th to close the sheltered workshop, and we called it 'Bridge to the Community celebration’, and so it was a culmination of really a five-year plan to close the sheltered workshop. So out of the 120 people in sheltered employment, we found spots for most everybody. Hugh Bertolin was one of our first people that got placed out of our sheltered workshop program. AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Hugh approaches an Albertsons store. HUGH: I was hoping I could be like a courtesy clerk, and then I finally became a courtesy clerk at Albertsons. Morningside got it for me. I like bagging the groceries, I have some friends there who I see, our customers, I see my fellow workers. AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Hugh chats with his coworker. (HUGH): I work Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. (INTERVIEWER): How long have you worked there? HUGH: 19 years. AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Hugh smiles while standing under the Albertsons sign. JIM: And there's probably eight people or so that didn't make a transition. Of the eight, six people were referred to a community access program, and I think two people decided to retire. And of the six or so people that we found another option for, all of the parents, all of the parents were upset at me. AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Mark Riccobono from the National Federation of the Blind. MARK: Parents of people with disabilities, I think, are the group that this subject is hardest for. I feel bad that we have not gotten to them earlier. They have thought the notion that this model of, quote, work, is really the thing that defines what the future can be like for their child. HUGH: Well, my mother didn't think I could do it. But I did. AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Hugh bags groceries. JIM: Having somebody sit all day, putting together a nut and a bolt, isn't necessarily a positive thing, in my opinion. Matter of fact, I think oftentimes that had a more detrimental effect on a client than it had a positive effect. 'Cause oftentimes our people didn't wanna be there, they knew it wasn't real work, they weren't getting paid for it, or paid appropriately for it, and it causes a lot of issues. [gentle guitar strumming] AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Desert landscape in Galllup, New Mexico. Minimum wage $7.50 per hour. DEXTER: My name is Dexter Smith. I listen to old country music. AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Dexter browses music. DEXTER: Sometimes I like to go to rodeo. That's all I do. I used to be working in a workshop, like buttons, janitorial. AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Dexter walks through a dry yard. Downtown Gallup. YOLANDA: My name is Yolanda Sandoval-Nez, and I'm a Senior Advocate with the Native American Disability Law Center. For Navajo especially, is that families aren't well familiar, or I guess you could say they're not educated to where they can guide the kids to different opportunities, but it doesn't mean that they don't love them. AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Wide shots of the dry New Mexico landscape. YOLANDA: I think the families did here the best that they can. I was able to go to these sheltered workshops and tell these individuals that you do have rights, you have a right to go and explore. You don't have to stay in a sheltered workshop. Dexter's one I worked with. DEXTER: I work at Walmart, pushing cart. Sometimes helping people. I love my job, it's pretty good. YOLANDA: With sheltered workshops you're kind of held to a level where they think you can't do very much, but I think when Dexter went out in the community, it gave him that opportunity to explore a lot more than when they were kind of left in a sheltered workshop. [atmospheric music] AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Dexter smiles as he drives an electric shopping cart through the parking lot. [NARRATOR]: Supported employment. AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Cheryl Bates-Harris from National Disability Rights Network. CHERYL: Supported employment has been around for almost 30 years, and supported employment was a model where you identify an appropriate job and you place the individual on the job and then train them as to how to perform specific tasks for that job, using supports that could include a job coach. AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Theresa watches Dexter as he works at Walmart. THERESA: My name is Theresa Jim, I'm the job coach for Dexter Smith. A job coach means the individuals are working out in the community. I have to coach them to monitor and make sure they do their task. He does a really good job, he's a hard-working person, doesn't call in sick, he keeps himself busy, and he likes to help out customers and his coworkers. DEXTER: I get paid every Thursday. Every Thursday, that's when I get paid. Just put it back in the bank for myself, I've got a banking account. JIM: When I brought these business leaders together and talked to them about closing the sheltered workshop, somebody said, "Well, you need to have a sheltered workshop." And these are people that were social workers in the community, and people in the medical profession. "Well, you need a sheltered workshop. What else are they gonna do?" Well, I had to really explain to them that everybody can work. Maybe work isn't a program for somebody, and that's fine, maybe work-- while I think everybody can get a job, there are some people that don't wanna work. If they wanna work, then our job is to find them a job. Last year we placed over 200 people in jobs, which is a huge number. SUSAN: If we want to phase out sheltered work because we don't believe it has a place in our modern economy, then we have to make our modern economy make a place for people with disabilities to work and contribute and earn a living the same way as everyone else. [slow electronic music] [NARRATOR]: Share the full film in your community. Host a screening. BottomDollarsMovie.com