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[Back] [Email to a Friend] [Printer Friendly Version]Program Makes A 'marc' On Developmentally Disabled
Wisconsin State Journal :: DAYBREAK :: F1
Thursday, September 19, 2002
William R. Wineke Wisconsin State Journal
Dane County will gain an estimated 4,000 new residents this year and 50
of them will, on average, be eligible for services for the developmentally
disabled.That's a daunting challenge, says Richard Berling, executive director of Madison Area Rehabilitation Centers, which provides a variety of services to 280 developmentally disabled persons.
The increase in the number of persons needing service must be met by programs that are both efficient and effective, Berling says. Providers must offer both sound management and compassionate service.
MARC is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, serving adults from 18 to 80 in three Madison locations and in workshops in Stoughton and Mount Horeb. The locations offer sheltered workshop opportunities as well as individual care. MARC is supported by government contracts and private gifts.
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The anniversary will be marked by a "Gala Banquet" this evening at the Alliant Energy Center.
People served by the agency have mental retardation, epilepsy, crebral palsy, autism and traumatic brain injury.
Many MARC clients have jobs in the community but are supported in their work by MARC staff members.
Fran Bicknell, whose son, Brad, is blind and has autopsy and who has been served by MARC since 1963, is an agency board member.
"I think what we do better than almost anyone else is that we have a full range of services. We offer music and art as well as supportive employment," she said. "So, the people we serve have choices. My son once had a job that he could do, but, now, he loves listening to music. We are able to give him something to do, no matter what his situation and no matter what job opportunities there might be available."
The organization's current pride and joy, however, is a new workshop/administrative building on Post Road, overlooking hundreds of acres of wetlands and parkland. It provides day services to 25 persons, plus administrative support for many of the other MARC programs.
"We own all five of our buildings," Berling said. "It's been part of our long-range planning. Because rents will double every few years given normal inflation, we're able - over the long run - to decrease our cost of space. It costs us about $4 per square foot to operate our buildings and that compares with $10 per square foot many other agencies support. The only reason I say that is that we can provide 25 extra staff with the savings we realize."
Most of the people MARC serves have a variety of physical as well as developmental disabilities. The agency operates on a staff ratio of one staff worker for every three clients.
Some clients are so disabled that they cannot hold down even sheltered workshop jobs but spend their days at MARC in music and movement therapy sessions.
"But that is their work," Berling explained. "We help them learn choice-making and communication and being able to tell someone when you need care, that's all essential stuff and we work hard here to keep people engaged."
MARC began in 1952 as the Madison Area Association for Retarded Children. Over the years, it has used a number of names, but is now the Madison Area Rehabilitation Centers.
It developed the Madison Opportunity Center in 1958. MOC became a separate agency in 1962. Since 1971, MARC has included the Portal Foster Center, an organization for people with autism and communication disorders.
