MOUNT VERNON – “It is the mission of New Hope Industries Inc. to assist persons with disabilities to experience a dynamic life of their choice and a future of their dreams,” the organization’s mission statement says.
But that was much more challenging during the COVID-19 pandemic. The nonprofit agency was limited in the services it could provide and at one point had to reduce its staff by 75%, CEO Angela Wise told the Mount Vernon News.
The agency helps those with disabilities find jobs, obtain skills for independent living and provides daily activities such as arts and crafts, computer training and exercise. It even provides nonmedical transportation.
In March 2020, New Hope made the decision to halt the daily activities and transportation services.
“We didn’t reopen those services until June 22,” Wise said. “Obviously, when we reopened, it was on a much smaller scale. We were under strict guidance through the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities on how we operated our day service and transportation service.”
New Hope had to install barriers in vehicles to protect passengers from COVID-19, and it purchased personal protection equipment like gowns, goggles and gloves.
“To this day, we are much different than we were pre-COVID,” Wise said.
Nonmedical transportation, for example, is still only serving approximately 30% of the clients it was helping before the pandemic.
“A lot of our clients were high-risk, so some are choosing not to attend out of choice because they are just not comfortable yet,” Wise said. “But we’re starting to see numbers increase because of vaccinations. About half my staff has been vaccinated and quite a few of the folks we serve have been as well.”
With the drop in the number of clients served, New Hope experienced a drop in government funding.
“If we don’t provide services, we don’t get paid,” Wise said. “About three-fourths of our staff were originally laid off. We have recalled about half of those.”
Amid all these challenges, the agency moved to a new location on Upper Fredericktown Road in April. The building the agency had been leasing on Newark Road was sold, forcing the move, with the timing uncomfortably right in the thick of the pandemic.
New Hope is looking forward to the time when it can fully resume the work of helping clients gain work skills, find jobs and reach their full potential, Wise said.
“Everyone wants to feel needed and wants to feel that sense of self worth,” she said. ”Everyone has different abilities. I am a big advocate of seeing the person, not the disability.”
