Connecting with Community: Handi-Capable Hands

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Tables and chairs dot the large, open room at Handi-Capable Hands on Indianapolis’ south side. In the chairs, a few dozen adults work – with great focus – on a mailer. One person folds a letter and the next puts the letter in an envelope. The third person seals the envelope and passes it to the fourth person who affixes the recipients’ mailing label. Quickly, the job is done.

The mailer is from, and for, Handi-Capable Hands – formerly known as the Southside Work Center. Since 1981, the organization has worked to create opportunities for developmentally disabled adults in the Indianapolis area.

“We all feel a great sense of pride when we’ve completed a job, and that feeling is no different for a developmentally disabled adult,” says Executive Director Elizabeth Farley. “We’re providing them a place to go each day where they can learn life skills, socialize, and get paid.”

The organization receives work from local businesses that subcontract services like assembly, kitting, mailing and sorting materials to Hand-Capable Hands. From there, the organization pays the disabled adults for their work.

“When our associates can sit down and do a repetitive action, it gets done very quickly -- probably faster than you or I could do,” says Farley.

Associates are paid based on the amount of work they complete and are allowed to work at their own pace. A small monthly tuition allows each associate to be guided and cared for during the work day.

Barry Taylor is one of a few dozen associates who come to Handi-Capable Hands. When asked what his favorite part of the organization was, he responded by saying, “being with my friends.”

Associates spend a considerable amount of time learning life skills, like nutrition and socialization, through different workshops each week, made possible by the recent receipt of a Nina Mason Pulliam Grant.

"We also have physical therapy, theater, and nutrition [among other things]. So, we really try to focus on an overall community feel,” says Handi-Capable Hands Board President John Corbin. “We're trying to give them a reason to come to work every day, like the rest of us have."

Handi-Capable Hands receives no state or federal funding. The organization operates on job income, grants, fundraisers and donations.

To learn more, visit them on the web at www.handi-capablehands.org

To donate, contact Elizabeth Farley