Heart & Home: Verland celebrates its silver anniversary By Rachel Weaver, Staff writer June, 2003 Sewickley Herald Star

6/4/2003
In the front hallway of his Sewick-ley home, 47-year-old David Tresch kisses and shakes the hand of a visitor. Several miles away in Osborne, Marilyn Tkac leans over her coffee table piecing together a puzzle of a spotted deer.

Bird lover Jane Sadowski peers out her living room window at an array of birdhouses and says it’s a good thing no cats are in them.

These people all share two important connections: They’re all mentally challenged; and without the Verland Foun-dation, none of them would be able to do any of these things.

This year, Verland Foundation Inc. is celebrating its 25th anniversary with “A Silver Salute.”

This non-profit organization was born out of three women’s compassion for the mentally disabled. The founders are: Theo Hanzel, whose love for her son, Andrew, brought her to work at an institution; Carol Mitchell, whose young patient, the aforementioned Tresch, touched her so deeply she began a reformation; and Nancy Chalfant, whose daughter, Verlinda, inspired a mother’s involvement.

Today the foundation has 550 employees, 200 residents and 42 homes throughout Western Pennsylvania.

Mitchell is the president and CEO of Verland.

Her goal was and still is “to give David and his friends a wonderful place to live with normal homes where they’re treated with dignity and love.

“It’s the same thing anyone would want for their own children,” she says.

Mitchell remembers how challenged people lived in the ‘60s. As a new high school graduate in 1963, she worked for the Western Center, home to nearly 1,000 individuals.

“They were being warehoused in an institution,” she says. “It was that way by design.”

She set out to change the system and has been doing so ever since.

Mitchell believes the biggest change over Verland’s 25 years is the closure of huge state centers, a step in the right direction, as far as she’s concerned.

But there’s still room for improvement.

“I hope by the time I retire everyone (every disabled person) is living in a community next to a neighbor,” she says.

Before that can happen, she believes local and state governments need to make the necessary financial commitments.

With her many responsibilities, Mitchell’s job is not easy. But she’s not complaining.

“I see it as serving God,” she says. “It is God’s plan for my life, and I love doing it. It’s humbling, and I feel honored.”

It’s little things, such as the parent who was so excited to attend a Verland event that she wanted to bring a casserole, which makes Mitchell’s job rewarding.

Residents also are appreciative as made evident by the photographs lining the walls of the activity center. Smiling faces look out from scenes of Halloween parties, basketball games and family events.

The days of the residents who live on Verland’s 13-acre campus in 10 homes are structured around school, training and therapy. They’ enjoy three meals and three snacks a day and free time. In the activity center, a board shows where everyone is at any time.

“There is someone to greet them here (the activity center), and there’s someone waiting to greet them at home,” says Arlene Connors, Verland’s development officer.

The availability of care is constant with trained nurses and aids always on campus.

There also are a variety of therapies to help residents achieve full potential.

Aquatic therapy consists of recreational or therapeutic participation.

Individuals enter Verland’s indoor pool on a ramp for adaptable wheelchairs. They’re given floatation devices and are helped to walk and fishtail in the water.

“This provides them with flexion in the back muscles and with range of motion,” says aquatic program director Donna Maravich. “They have good times.”

Connors remembers the time a problem with the pool prevented use.

“You could see the difference,” she says. “The individuals didn’t move. They improve in the water.”

Verland also offers equestrian therapy and has a stable on campus.

“They can achieve in the barn what they can’t do in the gym,” says Wendy Borne, occupational therapy assistant.

Borne says the horses help because they allow non-ambulatory people to move. Horses provide a soothing rocking movement and move in similar directions to humans.

Individuals who can’t ride are encouraged to feed and brush the animals.

Despite effective programs and a mile-long waiting list, Verland does experience difficulties.

One in particular is the declining work force due to low wages and retirement. Mitchell fears people won’t be attracted to aid positions.

“We need the brightest and the best,” she says. “If a person is a good person with a loving heart, they’ll do an excellent job.”

The Verland staff trains employees.

“Whether you have contact with individuals or not, every employee is required to have 24 to 30 hours of training each year,” says Connors.

Verland always needs volunteers. Mitchell says it’s easy to get involved and very rewarding.

Dee Kolakowski, an aid at Verland’s community living arrangement house in Osborne that is home to three higher functioning girls, couldn’t agree more.

“Anybody working with these people get back more than they give,” she says.

Kolakowski has been with Verland for 17 years and has spent each of them with the same three girls: Becky, Jane and Marilyn.

“We’re definitely friends,” says Kolakowski. “We have a close, comfortable relationship. It’s more family-oriented.”

Caring for the girls is like raising another family, she says.

“This is genuine,” says Kolakowski. “Their care is genuine.”

Aids emphasize integration into society.

“We do a lot in the community,” says Kolakowski. “We go to restaurants, parks, movies, the Benedum Center, Pirate games. And they do attend church.”

Kolakowski says the girls have good relationships with neighbors. But sometimes, people need swaying.

“There is a difference between mental health and mental retardation,” she says.

The foundation will celebrate its 25th on Saturday, June 7, with a country jamboree. There will be music, a train, a petting zoo, and a barbecue, followed by a church service on Sunday at Christ Church at Grove Farm nearby.

They also will host their annual golf outing.

As for Mitchell, her work for that blue-eyed little boy named David that she met many years ago continues everyday.

“I’m still his No. 1 girl,” she says with a smile. “We definitely have love and friendship.”

Seeing him enthusiastically greet guests at the home she provided him, it’s obvious that’s true.