A-dec and the Mid-Valley Rehabilitation Center

Many of the athletes that compete in the Special Olympics in McMinnville, work for Mid-Valley Rehabilitation, Inc. Mid-Valley provides employment, community inclusion, and residential support to adults with developmental and other disabilities.

There are several Mid-Valley locations and most of them are located in McMinnville. There is one however that is located inside of A-dec Inc.

A-dec is a dental manufacturing company where my father works and where I worked as an intern this summer. A-dec manufactures dental equipment such as dental chairs, stools, delivery systems, medical lighting, cabinetry, and other accessories.

Ken and Joan Austin

A-dec was founded by Ken and Joan Austin in 1964. Joan Austin was a very philanthropic women and believed in being a large helping hand in all aspects of her community. That is a big reason why A-dec has a Mid-Valley location.

The Mid-Valley enclave located inside of A-dec has 11 employees right now. They do many different types of jobs from labeling chair color swatch samples, adding small pieces to equipment, adding tips to tubing, etc.

Dylan, a young man who is an athlete that I work with and is pictured in the post below is one of the employees at the A-dec, Mid-Valley location.

I took a visit to the Mid-Valley Enclave located in A-dec Inc. on Wednesday, Oct. 23. As soon as I walked into the Mid-Valley enclave Dylan lit up and had a huge smile on his face. He was just as excited to see me as I was to see him.

I then met with Gregoria Hernandez, who is the supervisor of the Mid-Valley enclave. She walked me through all of the jobs that each employee does as well as introduced me to each employee.

All of the employees love their job and the opportunity to have a job like this. They all work different days so one employee does not work 5 days a week. They also don’t ever work a full day.

I think that Mid-Valley and other companies like it provide a great opportunity for adults with developmental disabilities to work and make their own income. It gives them something to do with their days and they honestly look forward to going to work.

Below is the location of A-dec Inc., which is also where the Mid-Valley Enclave is located.

 

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