West Fork Services open but workshop closing
West Fork Services Renae Seefeld sews filters for ADF at the sheltered workshop Monday. It was one of the last tasks before the workshop, which has operated in the community since the early 1980s, closes. The closing will just be a transition to more supportive employment in the community West Fork CEO Patrick Tate said. Independent photo by Kent Thompson.
First things first, West Fork Services is not closing.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Patrick Tate wanted to make that abundantly clear to the public.
However, there is a change going on at 21 North Taft St., the West Fork Services Inc. home in Humboldt.
Beginning Sept. 1, the vocational workshop portion of the business will be closing. That doesn’t mean West Fork will not be continuing to offer supportive employment, job training and job coaching. Basically, the sheltered and pre-vocational services that West Fork has been offering will be transitioning, in an effort to get more consumers at West Fork various forms of work in the greater Humboldt community.
“In a way, this is a really exciting opportunity. When these types of services started in the 1970s, the idea was not to shelter consumers and make the work at the workshop a business unto itself, but to see people develop and get more involved in the community. The idea was not to segregate but to incorporate, so in that way, we are looking forward to this new opportunity and new stage to help the consumers we serve,” Tate said.
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