BERLIN– The Mayor and Council presented a grant for $7,500 to Worcester County Development Center during a meeting on Monday, Aug. 25.
Executive Director Jack Ferry spoke about the Newark-based nonprofit, which assists adults with developmental disabilities.
“You are the coolest town in America – I’m here to tell you about the coolest and best people in the world,” Ferry said.
WCDC, operating for more than 41 years, moved into a new facility in January. The nonprofit offers day programs, vocational training, supported employment, food and residential services and individual support.
“It’s all about our quality of life,” Ferry said. “Our mission with our clients is to help them achieve the highest level of economic and social independence. There’s a reason why we have economic first – if you don’t have that dollar you don’t have any independence. You don’t have any choice if you don’t have that dollar.”
WCDC workshops produce goods including Inner Ocean soap, made with Ocean City-sourced seaweed and sold at Berlin shops including Sisters and Bungalow Love.
Clients also perform janitorial work, lawn care and horticulture, food services and catering and laundry for hotels, motels and restaurants in Ocean City.
“Right now, in the season, we are producing about 12,000 pounds of laundry a day,” Ferry said. “All of that comes in, we do everything by hand and we get no complaints. Everything is done well.
“That’s what we do with all of the businesses that we have – we never ask somebody to buy something or use one of our services because it’s a nice thing to do,” Ferry continued. “We give our clients a lot more respect than that. They have the talent and they have the ability. We say you’re going to get a good product at a good price. That shows that our clients can do the job, and it shows them the respect that they deserve.”
WCDC currently serves over 85 clients, including 40 in the Berlin area, and has a paid staff of 80 people. Ferry said client payroll has grown from $24,000 to more than $73,000 since January.
“We’ve just started,” he said. “We want our clients to have that dollar so they can make those choices so they can make an even greater impact in the community than they already have. Please visit us. We love having company. We’ll have you up for lunch, the guys will cater a nice lunch for you and you’ll see the best people in the world.”
District 4 Councilmember Dean Burrell announced the grant.
“Just like Berlin is on the forefront of a lot of stuff, with this grant of $7,500 coming from the town and citizens of Berlin we will be the first municipality in the county to offer such a grant directly to the Worcester County Development Center,” he said. “And for that we are really proud.”
Executive Director Jack Ferry spoke about the Newark-based nonprofit, which assists adults with developmental disabilities.
“You are the coolest town in America – I’m here to tell you about the coolest and best people in the world,” Ferry said.
WCDC, operating for more than 41 years, moved into a new facility in January. The nonprofit offers day programs, vocational training, supported employment, food and residential services and individual support.
“It’s all about our quality of life,” Ferry said. “Our mission with our clients is to help them achieve the highest level of economic and social independence. There’s a reason why we have economic first – if you don’t have that dollar you don’t have any independence. You don’t have any choice if you don’t have that dollar.”
WCDC workshops produce goods including Inner Ocean soap, made with Ocean City-sourced seaweed and sold at Berlin shops including Sisters and Bungalow Love.
Clients also perform janitorial work, lawn care and horticulture, food services and catering and laundry for hotels, motels and restaurants in Ocean City.
“Right now, in the season, we are producing about 12,000 pounds of laundry a day,” Ferry said. “All of that comes in, we do everything by hand and we get no complaints. Everything is done well.
“That’s what we do with all of the businesses that we have – we never ask somebody to buy something or use one of our services because it’s a nice thing to do,” Ferry continued. “We give our clients a lot more respect than that. They have the talent and they have the ability. We say you’re going to get a good product at a good price. That shows that our clients can do the job, and it shows them the respect that they deserve.”
WCDC currently serves over 85 clients, including 40 in the Berlin area, and has a paid staff of 80 people. Ferry said client payroll has grown from $24,000 to more than $73,000 since January.
“We’ve just started,” he said. “We want our clients to have that dollar so they can make those choices so they can make an even greater impact in the community than they already have. Please visit us. We love having company. We’ll have you up for lunch, the guys will cater a nice lunch for you and you’ll see the best people in the world.”
District 4 Councilmember Dean Burrell announced the grant.
“Just like Berlin is on the forefront of a lot of stuff, with this grant of $7,500 coming from the town and citizens of Berlin we will be the first municipality in the county to offer such a grant directly to the Worcester County Development Center,” he said. “And for that we are really proud.”