SUCCESS STORIES: VIP INDUSTRIES CELEBRATES 25 YEARS OF ADVOCACY

Visitors to the VIP Industries plant in Cape Girardeau often see the smiling face of Cindy Schmittzehe in the front office.

Cindy does typing, puts labels on time cards, makes copies, distributes the absentee list and does an assortment of office work that needs doing.

"I meet different people every day," said Cindy. "I like that. I like to see their different personalities."

She has cerebral palsy, lives in a group home with seven other people, likes to travel, dance and go to parties.

The multi-million dollar VIP operation where she works exists, in part, because of Cindy. Her father, Hilary Schmittzehe, is one of the founders of the sheltered workshop celebrating its 25th anniversary this month.

An open house is planned today from 1-3 p.m. at both VIP's main plant on Highway 74 in Cape Girardeau and also at the Fruitland facility. Examples of the work being done will be on display and tours will be given. Open houses are planned at VIP Industries' Perryville plant Nov. 14 and the Marble Hill facility Dec. 5.

More than a quarter century ago Schmittzehe and a group of parents of other disabled children looked for services and options for their children. None existed, so they made some.

First they looked for educational services. But as the children grew, Schmittzehe said, the need for work became apparent. VIP Industries opened in October 1968 with a budget of $14,000 and 17 handicapped employees.

While VIP provides the employment portion of the program, Schmittzehe said work alone is not enough.

Under the umbrella of VIP Industries, the Association for Retarded Citizens (ARC) provides recreation, residential living, social services, emergency food and shelter, help with entitlement programs and health screenings; Heartland Industries provides continued employment for graduates of the sheltered workshop, and Regency Management provides semi-independent apartment living, independent apartment living, case management, residential living skills, community resource skills and community integration skills.

Susan Wallis, associate director of VIP Industries, explained, "We have developed lifetime case management. They will need help in their deficit area; that may be for eight hours a day or two hours a day."

Above all, Schmittzehe said, VIP Industries serves as an advocate for the handicapped.

"My wish for Cindy was that she could develop to her maximum potential and other people like her could develop as well," Schmittzehe said.

"I want to create a safe environment where there are choices and supports. The risk is what they can manage." But that meant letting his own child take a risk.

"I told my dad I wanted to go out and try it on my own," Cindy said. "I haven't been back home since -- well I go home once in a while."

At the group home, she explained, each resident has duties to perform including laundry, washing dishes, clearing the table, taking out the trash. A house parent lives in the group home with them. Cindy cooks on Wednesday nights and writes letters on Tuesday. "As long as I get my chores done, I can do what I want."

During a recent interview, she excitedly told about a weekend trip to Nashville and her ride on the General Jackson riverboat there. She is in the process of making all the Christmas gifts she will give this year thanks to craft classes. "It's more special than going out and buying something," she said.

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Steve Vogelsang knows baseball. He can recite World Series match-ups and scores from 1920 until the present. He knows batting averages, strike out records and almost any other statistic about baseball's greats.

Vogelsang works at VIP doing production work. He also serves as in-house mail deliver and has supervised the soda machines in the plant's break area, which includes keeping inventory.

Vogelsang lives in his own apartment through the assisted living program. "My other brothers and sisters had their own homes," Vogelsang explained. "I wanted to see if I could try it out."

After his parents attended a meeting at VIP Industries to learn about the program, they gave the okay.

Vogelsang loves it. "I can do what I want to do. I can cook and clean. I like to have everything put in place. They use my apartment to show people."

A homemaker takes Vogelsang grocery shopping and helps him purchase meals that are nutritious and easy to prepare. "I can cook in the crockpot," he said. Sometimes he has friends over for dinner.

"I like old movies," Vogelsang said. He has posters of both John Wayne and Elvis Presley at his apartment. But baseball is his love. Currently, Vogelsang is saving money to purchase a used computer. "I want to put my baseball cards in," he said.

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When Billy Schoen isn't working at the VIP Industries plant in Fruitland, he's working on his parents farm in Oak Ridge.

"I just like to work," said Schoen.

At Fruitland, much of the work involves hangers. Schoen operates a taping machine, makes sure other workers have enough boxes to fill, packages filled boxes for shipping. "I'm not choosy," he said.

He rides from home to work on one of VIP's buses.

"Before I started working here, I worked on the farm, hauling bales of hay. That was before they had the round bales," he said.

Now, working on the farm is one of his hobbies.

He also rides horses, sometimes tends to honey bees on the farm, and enjoys bowling with the VIP league. He also enjoys fishing and swimming and camping, in the summer time that is.

"I also like to go down to Branson," Schoen said. "I like the older singers."

Schoen said he enjoys the friends he has made at VIP. "Sometimes it seems like I have too many friends, but I try to be friendly with people."

Schmittzehe and Wallace said VIP Industries serves as a home base for most of its handicapped employees. Work provides them with income and a sense of personal worth. Social activities are available; educational and other support services are provided.

"We are looking to provide cradle to grave care," said Schmittzehe.

In the future, he predicts, the role of sheltered workshops will change. Medical advances will eliminate some disabilities. But acquired disabilities -- from head injuries, drug abuse or other factors -- will create the need for VIP Industries well into the future.

Wallis said they have also begun looking at care for elderly handicapped individuals who may not have the skills to enjoy retirement and may be better off continuing to work.

"There is not pressure in the work here," Schmittzehe said. "Years ago we talked about prescription learning, tailoring education programs to meet the needs of children. Well I guess this is prescription work."