‘Because of you’

MARVA Workshop sets Thursday open house

Garrett Ellsworth, 24, stands with his mother, Cynthia Ellsworth, at the Mid-Arkansas River Valley Abilities Workshop in Russellville, where he works three days a week. Cynthia is a member of the board of directors of the nonprofit organization that provides jobs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It will celebrate its 50th anniversary with an open house from 2-4 p.m. Thursday at the center, 1205 S. Arkansas Ave.
Garrett Ellsworth, 24, stands with his mother, Cynthia Ellsworth, at the Mid-Arkansas River Valley Abilities Workshop in Russellville, where he works three days a week. Cynthia is a member of the board of directors of the nonprofit organization that provides jobs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It will celebrate its 50th anniversary with an open house from 2-4 p.m. Thursday at the center, 1205 S. Arkansas Ave.

Cynthia and Dan Ellsworth’s 24-year-old son, Garrett, was developing normally until he got a virus as a toddler.

“He got sick at 15 months, and it just changed our life,” Cynthia Ellsworth said. “They called it pneumococcal sepsis; it just shut down everything,” she said. Garrett stopped walking and talking. He even went blind for a time, although his sight came back.

“Our life just totally changed,” she said. “He went from typically developing to having learning disabilities.”

Starting his senior year at Russellville High School, he was able to go to the Mid-Arkansas River Valley Abilities Workshop Inc. in Russellville, which is celebrating its 50th year this month of providing opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

An open house is scheduled from 2-4 p.m. Thursday at the center, 1205 S. Arkansas Ave. Guided tours will be available, Ellsworth said, and several dignitaries have been invited, including Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

The theme is “Celebrating 50 Years Because of You!”

The nonprofit organization was created in 1967 by a group of concerned residents in Pope County, said Ellsworth, a member of the board of directors. It was incorporated in November 1968 and started with three clients and three staff members; today, it has 29 clients and 29 staff members.

“MARVA started out as a thrift store, which provided jobs for our clients, adults with disabilities. Through the years, we have added jobs such as making pens, shredding documents, recycling, printing calendars and subcontract work from businesses,” Ellsworth said. “The clients are a special group of adults who work hard. The love what they do and thrive in their work environment.”

The pens are sold to clients, as well as through eBAY, Etsy and marvapens.com.

Mid-Arkansas River Valley Abilities still has a resale store, too.

“The community drops off donations. … They also take things for recycling,” Ellsworth said.

“People are just amazing in this community,” she said. “The thrift store stays busy with an average of 300, 350 [transactions] a day.”

Teresa Parker, executive director of the organization, echoed Ellsworth’s remarks.

Parker said the nonprofit organization provides opportunities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities “to experience the rewards of having a meaningful job where the individual is allowed to produce at their own personal level of ability in an environment of safety and acceptance.”

MARVA is supported primarily by itself, although it receives some state and federal funding. According to the 2017-2018 annual report, the organization generated 87 percent of its annual income and received 13 percent from state and federal sources. It is not a United Way agency.

Ellsworth said the organization has made all the difference for Garrett.

“He was able to come over from high school, and that was such a relief to us as parents, because we didn’t know … what Garrett was going to be able to do,” she said.

“Through the years, he’s a miracle, really. He’s done so much more than people thought he’d be able to do. He loves MARVA,” Ellsworth said.

Garrett, who will be 25 on Nov. 18, said, “I shred [documents]. I make ink pens. I do newspapers in bags.”

His favorite part is shredding, “because I’m fast. I just need to make sure I don’t jam it,” he said. “It helps with getting a good paycheck.”

If he didn’t have that job, he would be “a couch potato,” Ellsworth said.

The law changed in 2014 and went into effect in 2016, and now clients have to be 25 to work there or have failed three times at a job in the community. Garrett and others were grandfathered in.

That’s a “sore spot” with supporters of the organization, Ellsworth said.

“You don’t want those kids to lose an opportunity,” or their motivation to work, she said.

“Since that regulation passed, they’ve been offering a transition option for the schools around Russellville and home-schoolers, where they can come in. There are limited spots. There’s a lady that’s wonderful that ends up helping them get their confidence and tries to see what things they like to do and takes them out in the community, and they job shadow to see if that’s a job they would really like. That’s a new option, since we can’t have the students from the high school,” Ellsworth said.

Community support is the backbone of the organization, she said.

“That is really big, and that’s how MARVA started; there were some individuals in our community who saw a need because there wasn’t anything [for people with disabilities]. They had to go to other counties, like the Human Development Center.

“A group got together, spearheaded by Margie Crabaugh,” Ellsworth said, adding that Crabaugh is deceased. “She spearheaded a need. There was so much support from the community

that MARVA was established in November ’68. They started taking donations and set up the store. One of the people on the board opened a building of his, and they were able to collect items and would wash and press and all that kind of stuff way back then.”

As a board member, Ellsworth said, her goal for the organization is simply for it to continue.

“We’re wanting to make sure MARVA can continue to run. A lot of people in the government that would like to get rid of workshops and make [the clients] go out in the community — they should have a choice if they want to go out in the community. And we just don’t have a lot of businesses that can take [MARVA clients]. Some clients have tried it out in the community, and it just didn’t work,” Ellsworth said.

“It’s kind of like a family. They’re comfortable there; they’re secure there,” she said. “You don’t have to worry about them being bullied or picked on.

“I want to make sure we keep MARVA” — for Garrett, she said, and for all the clients to come.

Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.

Upcoming Events