Author Archives: Amy Zuck

Melissa Elko celebrated retirement after 38 years of service at COC. Elko began her journey with COC in 1984. She has held various positions at COC over the years, her heart for individuals with disabilities has never diminished.  

When asked about her time at COC, Elko stated, “Many of my favorite memories at COC revolve around music.” Over the years, she made it a point to have unique connections with the individuals she supported. Often, she would find a special song, mostly old bible hymns, for each person.he was known to sing to the people supported throughout her shift. Each night many of the people she supported looked forward to her singing “Good Night, Adios, Au Revoir, Auf Wiedersehen” by the Lawrence Welk Stars.

Elko recalls one memory when the Central College football team come to volunteer at COC. The staff and volunteers were working on a craft activity, and some of the volunteers questioned if the people supported would be able to do the activity.  She remembers how much joy she took when the volunteers realized that with modifications, the people supported exceeded their expectations and completed the craft. 

During her time at COC, Melissa has continued to fight a courageous battle with cancer. In 2011, she was first diagnosed with breast cancer. The next few years were filled with surgery, chemo, radiation, and prayer, but she was declared cancer-free. Then in 2018, metastatic cancer returned, and she continues to fight to this day. Her retirement will allow more time to focus on her health and well-being. However, she will continue to work as a substitute at COC. 

Her supervisor Liz VanderWerf, said, “Melissa has been a blessing to COC in several different departments just most recently for ours.  She is a truly one of a kind.”  Everyone at COC wishes Melissa the best of luck in retirement, she will be missed. 

Residential Program Manager and Knoxville Alumni, Kelsey Goff, spoke to KHS students about career opportunities at COC.

Christian Opportunity Center (COC) recently worked with local high school and college students to educate them on career and service opportunities available at COC. COC staff members spoke to Knoxville High School (KHS)  students during KHS Career Week to educate students on services offered and career opportunities.  COC staff informed students on the many different career paths that are available and duties of different positions, from Direct Support, Management, Administration, and Leadership.  As part of their presentation, KHS students participated in disability awareness exercises to promote understanding and empathy for individuals with disabilities and ways they can be involved in supporting individuals with disabilities, individuals in their schools and communities right now.               

Central College Micro-Internship Student, Mary McGraw spent three days working side-by-side COC staff.

COC also hosted a Micro-Internship with Central college during their Career Kick-starter week. A Central student interested in non-profit human resources was able to spend three days working side by side with the COC HR department and management. The Central Micro-Intern sat in on interviews, staff training, and everyday operations. The intern witnessed how managers support the staff to retain them, how COC has managed covid/staff shortage, and the adjustments that have had to be made.

Justin Van Steenwyk, Program Manager for Community Based Employment-Life Skills and Associate Director, Jodi Tukker welcomed students to COC.

Another component of educating local youth on COC services took part as part of the KHS Career Week. COC’s Life Skills/Day Habilitation program hosted special education students to learn about services and opportunities in COC’s vocational programs. COC’s Life Skills/Day Habilitation focuses on training in life skills such as independent living skills, social skills, and communication skills. Day Habilitation participants often practice these skills in the community in an integrated setting. KHS students participated in some of the COC’s Life Skills program activities as part of their tour.  Students also learned about COC’s Community Based Employment program, which helps individuals find and maintain employment in the community.

“These interactions have been a fantastic opportunity for COC to connect with local youth and make them aware of everything COC has to offer, whether they choose to work here or receive services COC.  There will always be a need for disability services in every community, for someone to realize at this age that their involvement in disability services can and will build stronger communities,” said Amy Zuck, COC Public Information Director.

If you want more information on COC and the services, please visit www.christianopprotunity.org

Christian Opportunity Center (COC) has felt the strain of a staff shortage for several months and the shortage has now reached critical levels. This shortage is most evident in the need for Direct Support Professionals (DSPs). DSPs offer around-the-clock support for individuals with disabilities. Their work allows the people COC supports the opportunity to live the life they choose to live.

The turnover rate for DSPs has been affected by non-standard working hours and pay that is bound by state and federal funding. Since the pandemic began, the staff shortage has intensified. Competing with other local industries offering higher pay and better hours makes it particularly challenging in recruiting new employees.

In the past year, COC has made many efforts to recruit and retain staff, including offering a higher sign-on bonus, utilizing temp agencies to fill the need, and increasing DSP wages. These efforts have all been enhanced with support from Staff Enhancement funds from the COC Foundation Fund. The Staff Enhancement Fund is designed to reward and provide incentives to staff members to continue their service with COC. Even with all the extra efforts made over the past year, COC has not been able to meet our staffing needs. To fill the gaps, COC administrative staff have been working many hours during this crisis an average of 300 direct support hours per week agency wide.

COC has 26 residential programs in Pella, Knoxville, Oskaloosa, Indianola, and Des Moines, several of which have been critically short staffed for an extended time. The continued stress on COC’s workforce has forced COC Leadership to make some hard decisions to ensure the quality of the services we offer and to ease the burden and workload for current staff. Because of the ongoing staffing crisis, the decision was made to close a few of our residential programs that have been the hardest to staff, and the impacted people supported and their families have been notified of these closures.

Closing programs is a last resort in an attempt to downsize COC’s programs to more closely match the workforce available to staff these programs. We are keenly aware that the lives of people supported and their families are disrupted by these closings. We are doing all we can to assist those affected in finding alternative services. We continue to believe in the importance of our mission of integrating Christian values in empowering individuals with disabilities to realize their full potential, and we encourage others to join us in that mission by applying for a job at COC. For more information on job opportunities that are available at COC, please visit our website at www.christianopportunity.org or contact our HR department at 641-628-1162.

Christian Opportunity Center has been awarded a Three-Year Term of Accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) for its Community-Based Employment and Life Skills programs in Indianola, Oskaloosa, and Pella.  This latest accreditation is the 14th consecutive CARF accreditation that has been awarded to Christian Opportunity Center (COC).

CARF is an internationally recognized, nonprofit accreditor that sets standards of excellence for human service organizations. Those programs who meet CARF’s standards have demonstrated a commitment to being among the best available.

An organization receiving a Three-Year Accreditation through CARF has voluntarily put itself through an extensive internal review process and has then demonstrated to a team of expert practitioners during an on-site survey that it conforms to the rigorous CARF conditions and standards. Due to Covid precautions, the survey for COC was conducted virtually on September 11-15, and COC was notified of the accreditation award on November 1st. 

Disability services in central Iowa is a highly competitive field, and often people with disabilities have several options for services.  Having an accreditation through CARF is a sign of quality that can be a useful tool for individuals with disabilities and their families when choosing a quality disability services provider. 

Charlotte stepped outside of her comfort zone and did a courageous thing. She applied for a job.
Applying for a new job may not seem like a big deal, but it is something to be celebrated for all of us at COC. You see, Charlotte had only worked in COC’s Sheltered employment program since she moved to Marion County. She had never held a job in the community. With encouragement from staff and family, she applied for a job that interested her that became open at COC, the Kitchen assistant. Charlotte competitively interviewed alongside many other people, and COC offered her the position. That was 15 years ago.

Today, Charlotte still holds the same position and is still loving her job. She says, “It’s fun working in the kitchen at COC. I really like my co-workers, and I get to see my friends.”
Congratulations, Charlotte! We are so happy that you stepped outside of your comfort zone and applied for that job. You are a joy to work with every day. Thank you for your years of service to COC