Winona ORC is proud to support the 5% campaign, a nonpartisan coalition of Minnesotans working to ask state legislators for a 5% rate increase for Home and Community Based Services in 2014.

The lives that many people with disabilities and older adults build for themselves depend on state funding. These critical supports allow people to be more independent by providing staffing and transportation so that people can be active employees and volunteers in their communities, fostering skill development, ensuring health and safety and more.

2013 marked the fifth year in a row that services for people with disabilities have not received rate increases to keep up with rising costs. 

Legislation is currently being developed on this critical issue for the 2014 Legislative Session that begins on February 25, 2014.

5 Reasons to Support The 5% Campaign

1. Minnesotans believe people with disabilities and older adults should live in and contribute to their communities. Community-based services provide greater opportunity to build strong connections with neighbors and the community. A 5% rate increase supports this belief.

2. Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) and Caregivers support your family; shouldn’t they be able to support their own?

3. A 5% increase will help to retain consistent staff; this is crucial to quality care. Low wages lead to higher staff turnover, creating more stress, less stability and lower quality care.

4. DSPs and caregivers who support people with disabilities and older Minnesotans have demanding, highly-skilled jobs. A 5% increase shows we value these employees and their commitment to this field.

5. Community-based services are some of the largest employers in rural Minnesota. A 5% rate increase will support necessary salary increases for dedicated staff that will put dollars to work in their local communities.

      (Information from www.arrm.org)

If you are interested in learning more about or supporting The  5% Campaign, you can sign-on to The 5% Campaigns Online Petition at www.arrm.org under the “Advocacy Arsenal” tab. 

2013 Starlight Stroll Finisher

Thank you to all who participated in our first annual Starlight Stroll Run/Walk/Roll event on Friday, November 8th!! It was a great turn out and we are already looking forward to next year!! We would also like to give a big THANK YOU to all of our volunteers!! We couldn’t have done it without all of you!!

Results

5k Overall Results

1 Mile Overall Results

Mark your calendars for next year!

Friday, November 7, 2014!!

We are grateful for all of the support from our sponsors:

Diamond Sponsors:                                                                          

• Bub’s Brewery
• Charter Steel
• Faithful Engineering
• Good Harvest
• Reinarts Stained Glass
• Sugar Loaf Senior Living
• Wapasha Construction
• Watkins
• Watlow

Gold Sponsorship

• C.O. Brown
• HBC
• Hiatt Mfg
• Bob & Deb Leaf
• John & Cindy Leaf
• Modern Ready Mix
• PlastiComp
• Southeast Tech

Donations from Kwik Trip and Midtown Foods

Winona ORC opens New Healthcare Laundry by American Laundry News! Check out the article they wrote about our brand new facility! Thank you!

To read the article, click here.

We’re Making A Splash and you’re invited!!

Thursday, August 1, 2013

4:30 p.m.

1053 East Mark Street

Winona, MN 55987

Winona ORC cordially invites you to attend our grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony for Winona Laundry!

• Ribbon Cutting
• Welcome
• Donor Thank You
• Guided Facility Tours
• Refreshments

Thank you for your support!

We are pleased to announce that Winona ORC has been awarded a number of grants to further support programs and our mission of providing community based employment, vocational training and comprehensive job related skills and services to people with special needs. 

Winona ORC has received $2,500 from Elizabeth Callender King Foundation as well as $2,500 from the Winona Community Foundation to purchase a Heavy Duty baler for use in our Winona Shredding Service. 

Winona ORC has also received $1,500 from Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) to support our SET (Skills, Education and Training) Program, which provides programs to our clients to enhance their personnel growth and communications. 

Winona ORC is extremely grateful to these organizations for supporting the people we serve. 

Winona Laundry Construction is under way!!

In January of 2013, Winona ORC broke ground for Winona Laundry, a commercial laundry facility which will provide work opportunities for clients with disabilities in the greater Winona area. Winona Laundry is proud to be the textile service provider for healthcare facilities in our region that require the best service available.

The process of converting the existing production area (9,200 sq ft) into a commercial laundry facility involves digging up roughly 20% of the existing floors to install a new 8” sewer drain. Once the plumbing is finished, the concrete floors will be polished and a barrier wall will be installed. The barrier wall will be a physical barrier between the clean and soiled linens and a positive pressure air system will provide additional protection against cross contamination.

The renovation will also include: new walls, energy efficient lighting, refurbishing the ceiling, updating the electrical system and the installation of two shipping docks. All of these changes will combine to create a modern and functional facility.

In May, commercial washers, dryers and ironers will arrive and be installed. We anticipate that by the end of June, the laundry facility will be operational.  We will be holding internal training for 4-6 weeks for employees to prepare for the laundry opening targeted for August 1^st.

The 9,200 square foot facility is being built to process area healthcare linens and will be capable of processing over 3,000,000 pounds of linens and generating more than 60,000 work hours annually for our clients.

Winona Laundry is here to serve you with the solutions and experience to meet your linen management challenges.  Our program offers  you hygienically clean, professionally ironed and folded linens and a pick-up and delivery schedule that is convenient for you.

While our mission certainly includes remaining profitable, our underlying mission is to provide a valued service to our community that will in turn create vocational opportunities for our disabled clients employed at Winona ORC.

Thanks to our many community business partners, Winona ORC is able to provide work experience and training programs for the clients we serve.

Equipment

June 2013 – Building is ready for the washing machines and dryers and all equipment!

May 2013 – Outside plumbing installed and walls are up inside!

Construction April 2013

Construction is well under-way! March 2013

Broke Ground – February 2013

Pre-Construction 

Everyone was rockin’ and a rollin’ at Winona ORC’s annual recognition banquet which was held on February 15th at Vision’s Event Center.

Our theme this year was “You Rock!” and poodle skirts and blue suede shoes were encouraged! Employees were recognized for years of service and Michael Persons was announced as Winona ORC’s Employee of the year.  Special recognition was given to Dennis Cleveland and Jerry Papenfuss for their efforts in helping to raise funds for our commerical laundry capitol campaign, “Helping 2 Build Opportunity”.

Winona ORC was honored to present awards to the following businesses for their continued support of our clients and our mission: Watkins Industries, Winona County and Chartwells. The evening culminated with entertainment from Tony Rocker, an Elvis impersonator and his band who had us “All Shook Up”. A great time was had by all. 

Duane sharing a joke

Tony Rocker

Rich and Katie (pretty in pink!)

Good Golly, Miss Molly its Amanda!

Helen, Lorin & Elvis!

Winona ORC was one of the Minnesota businesses featured on Sunday, January 27^th episode of “On the Road” with Jason Davis at 11:05 p.m. on KSTP Channel 5.

Davis visited Winona ORC in December to learn more about Winona Knits & Mitts brand of mittens which are manufactured by adults with disabilities. He filmed clients working, showing the process of how the mittens are produced and the positive impact our mittens are making for our clients and our organization.

For more than 10 years, “On the Road” has travelled throughout Minnesota looking for unique and inspiring stories and we are delighted that they chose Winona ORC.

Grant Received from Xcel Energy to Fund Winona ORC’s SET Program

Patty Holm, Pam Gorman, Jayne Grupa and Erik Iverson

Winona ORC Received a $7,500 grant from Xcel Energy. The grant totaling $7,500 will fund Winona ORC’s SET (Skills, Education and Training) Program.

Xcel Energy invests in its local communities with grants, charitable contributions and volunteer time. Through its focus area grants, they support nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations like Winona ORC that improve science, technology, engineering, economics and math education; improve and enhance the natural environment; help individuals achieve economic self-sufficiency; and that provide access to arts and culture.

The grant from Xcel Energy will help the SET Program provide education to our clients that enhances their vocational, personal and social competencies to succeed in the work-place and in their everyday lives. The SET Program is a learning environment for employment and social skills for our target population of adults with disabilities. The programs help these individuals improve their knowledge to obtain and retain employment. The program helps improve daily living skills and helps to foster quality relationship skills with their co-workers, friends and family.

To learn more about Xcel Energy, visit www.xcelenergy.com