Submitted Photo With assistance from team members employed by Easter Seals Goodwill ND, Inc., Minot resident LeAnn Updike is able to get out into the community, exercise, socialize and experience quality of life. It is part of her unique care plan that is helping her gain and maintain independence.

Easter Seals Goodwill ND, Inc. is celebrating 75 years of providing specialized services to individuals and families with disability barriers.

The statewide organization serves to improve the quality of life for individuals with disabilities by helping them integrate into their communities and live more independently. The organization has a broad reach, impacting 426,069 children, adults and families through its program and services during the 2020-21 fiscal year.

As one of the state’s 50 largest employers, ESGWND reports it employs 571 team members across eight regions. It has regional offices in Minot, Grand Forks, Jamestown, Mandan, Dickinson and Fargo.

In the Minot region, ESGWND employs 152 team members and supports 142 individuals in residential services and 47 individuals in its day habilitation and vocational services.

Residential services include direct care support that might include giving a ride to an appointment, assisting with personal care, making meals or managing money.

“We provide support in homes to help people stay independent and not have to go into assisted living or a nursing home,” said Becky Briggs, director of Residential Services for Easter Seals in Minot.

ESGWND also provides a unique service in supporting families with children with disabilities, she said. A professional might come into the home or engage the person with disabilities in activities outside the home to give family members respite. It allows family members the chance to rest, run errands and do other things they need to do.

“A lot of families say, ‘I wouldn’t be able to do this without Easter Seals’ help,” Briggs said. 

ESGWND also provides services to clients with autism and contracts with the Minnesota organization for ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) to support North Dakota individuals with the disease.

ESGWND will provide residential services anywhere in the state, including rural areas, Briggs said. Client referrals come from the state’s regional human service centers and human service zones.

Four years ago ESGWND started a program to provide day services and employment. 

“People with developmental disabilities come here for a variety of reasons, depending on what their interest is,” said Derek Hanson, director of Day and Vocational Services in Minot. “It can be employment. It can be volunteerism.”

ESGWND works with other nonprofits to provide volunteer opportunities to clients, just as it works with the state’s Vocational Rehabilitation Program and area employers to connect people with work opportunities. 

Hanson said ESGWND staff support clients in finding and maintaining employment. That could mean help in writing a resume, practicing interviewing, locating a job or on-the-job coaching until they become proficient to work on their own.

Eligible clients are those with a developmental or physical disability, mental illness or traumatic brain injury. Hanson has seen clients range in age from 16 to 85 years.

About 200 people have benefitted from the employment services in the Minot region over the past four years, Hanson estimated. They have been employed at groceries, retail stores, a movie theater, a computer store and other locations.

The residential and day programs give ESGWND a much broader mission than it had at its start.

ESGWND traces its roots to the North Dakota chapter of the National Society for Crippled Children and Adults, which was founded in 1947 in Jamestown to provide speech and language screenings. A few years later, the society opened an office in a garage in Jamestown, and staff began raising funds to construct a dormitory. This building is now part of the Anne Carlsen Center for Children. 

According to the organization’s history, in the1950s the society’s name was changed to the Easter Seal Society for Crippled Children and Adults, or just North Dakota Easter Seals.

In the 1960s, North Dakota Easter Seals and the Elks Club established Camp Grassick on Lake Isabel, south of Dawson, to provide a summer camping program for children and adults with disabilities.

For many years, Easter Seals was known in Minot for its warm water therapy pool. The organization had gained a presence in Minot by 1970, when it began raising money to build the therapy center. The center opened in July 1974 and operated until a number of years ago.

In 1996, North Dakota Easter Seals sought a merger with Goodwill Industries to broaden its consumer focus and mission to include people who are socially and economically disadvantaged, those with cultural differences and those with disabilities. Goodwill supports people with a range of barriers to employment, such as lack of education, welfare dependency, criminal record and advanced age.

In joining the ranks of Goodwill Industries, Easter Seals expanded its funding sources and added occupational opportunities, such as career development, training and life skills development through its Goodwill retail stores. Stores exist in Minot, Grand Forks, Jamestown, Bismarck and two in Fargo.

Upon the merger, the organization became known as Easter Seals Goodwill ND, Inc. 

Goodwill employees process donations, offering those items with life left to the public and recycling the remainder. During the 2020-2021 fiscal year, ESGWND kept nearly two million pounds of recycled goods out of the landfill, the organization reported.

ESGWND also has an online auction site at shopgoodwill.com. The ShopGoodwill store is stationed in Bismarck. On a national level, ShopGoodwill features more than 120 Goodwill agencies that post unique items for sale.

Money from these online purchases in North Dakota helps fund ESGWND’s programs and services.

ESGWND receives much of its funding from reimbursed services it provides through state-managed programs. However, income from the thrift stores is significant for the organization.

“We’re fortunate to have the stores that assist with funding program services,” Briggs said. “We’re able to do some extra for people supported, thanks to the funding from the Goodwill.”

The stores also have enabled the organization at times to assist directly with people’s needs for clothing or household items. 

Grants and donations can be significant for ESGWND, too. Hanson said the organization currently is seeking grants for a new accessible van to provide client transportation.

“Transportation costs have gotten to be so high and our fleet is aging. We’re community-based, so we rely heavily on those. We’d like to have accessible vehicles so there’s no barriers for anybody to access the community,” Hanson said. 

One of the challenges for ESGWND comes from the worker shortage that is impacting businesses and nonprofits across the state. There especially is a need for more direct support professionals to work with clients.

ESGWND provides paid training and a hiring incentive to candidates who meet certain requirements. Some of the state’s Goodwill retail stores also are hiring. To learn about job availability, visit ESGWNDcareers.org.

As the employee shortage subsides, ESGWND hopes to continue its growth. The Mandan office plans to expand to offer Day Habilitation/Vocational Services, which currently operate in Fargo, Minot and Jamestown. 

Briggs said ESGWND services can look somewhat different for each region because the organization’s goal is to respond to needs, which can vary by community.

“But that’s what I love about Easter Seals,” she said. “It’s about the community and what is the need and what are we going to do to help the community.”