Category Archives: Recent News

For over 30 years, Christian Opportunity Center has offered services to people with disabilities in Mahaska County. COC supports 240 individuals living, working, and worshiping in communities like Oskaloosa. Making meaningful connections and friendships is essential but challenging for the individuals, COC supports. They are often seen as different and not fully contributing members of a community; this can often lead to isolation and loneliness. The COC Spare Some Time Bowling Fun-Raiser is an event that helps build bridges between people with disabilities and community members and raises funds to support the work of COC.

The COC Spare Some Time Bowling Fun-Raiser was held on April 10th in Oskaloosa. Statesmen Lanes and Event Center hosted over 80 bowlers who came together for an afternoon of fun and fellowship. The bowlers consisted of the people COC supports, businesses, league bowlers, and volunteers from the Oskaloosa High and William Penn Bowling teams. 

The weeks leading up to the event were celebrated by challenges focused on bowling, friendship, and community. These challenges included drawing a picture of what friendship means to me, creating your own bowling alley, and Karaoke with a bowling twist. Winners were chosen weekly.

The event also included a silent auction and a raffle. Statesmen Lanes and Oskaloosa True Value donated raffle items, and several local businesses donated silent auction items. The afternoon’s competition was intensified when an anonymous donor pledged $1 for each strike. At the end of the event, all bowlers stacked up 190 strikes!  

Each person supported was awarded a medal for their participation in the event.  The medals were provided by Tony Witt, the manager of Statesmen Lanes. COC would like to thank all sponsors, Statesmen Lanes and Event Center, Manager Tony Witt, the bowlers, volunteers, and persons supported for making it an event to remember.  

Christian Opportunity Center (COC) will host Spare Some Time for COC, a bowling FUN-raiser and silent auction, on Sunday, April 10, 2022, at Statesmen Lanes and Event Center from 2–4 pm. Doors will open at 1:30 pm for the silent auction. 

COC hopes this event will encourage positive social interactions between people with disabilities and community members. Social interactions for people with disabilities can be limited due to a lack of opportunities to meet others outside of their family, work, or church life.  Spare Some Time for COC is an opportunity to create and foster new friendships and to focus on all the people with disabilities have to offer. 

“There is so much research on the benefits for people with disabilities to have positive friendships, including a longer lifespan. But it is what people with disabilities can give back to the community that is so amazing to me. Each individual we support has so many gifts to give back. I want everyone to have the opportunity to see all they have to offer. These relationships can change lives for the better.” Said Amy Zuck, COC Public Information Director.  

This year we will be adding to the FUN by including a few new ways you can participate in Spare Some Time! We invite the community to join in weekly challenges leading up to Spare Some Time. Weekly challenges and prizes will be posted on the COC Facebook page, beginning March 14th.

Community members are encouraged to come out and bowl with COC on Sunday, April 10. Individual bowling tickets are $20 per person, and this price includes bowling, shoes, and an event t-shirt. The T-shirt guarantee is March 29. A team/family rate of $70 is available for groups of four. Tickets for Spare Some Time can be purchased online at https://one.bidpal.net/sparesometimeforcoc22/welcome. 

If you aren’t able to bowl but would still like to support COC, event t-shirts are available to purchase at

https://cocbowling2022.itemorder.com/shop/sale/

All proceeds of this event will support the programs and services COC provides to people with disabilities in Mahaska County.

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.