Working at an industrial warehouse in South Seattle is a far cry from hobnobbing with major league baseball players, but Islander Gary Pollock is thrilled to be part of the mission to expand Northwest Center in serving the disabled.  

Pollock is a former executive director of both the Moyer Foundation and the Stroum Jewish Community Center on Mercer Island. Pollock was recently tapped to lead a major effort to increase and engage community support as the executive director of the newly restored Northwest Center Foundation. The mission of Northwest Center has changed over time as the definition of developmental disabled has changed. Their mission has been expanded to include early childhood services and programs designed to increase inclusiveness.

Northwest Center, ranked by revenue as the 18th largest northwest nonprofit by the Puget Sound Business Journal’s Book of Lists, has served people with developmental conditions like autism, Down syndrome and cerebral palsy since 1965. Northwest Center is also one of the largest employers of adults with disabilities in the region and one of the premier employment placement agencies for people with barriers to employment. Most people recognize the iconic “big blue trucks” as they pick up donations of recycled clothing and household goods across the region.

NWC has two sets of people who work for them. The first is the group they call clients. Clients are workers who ordinarily have some sort of disability that has been a roadblock to finding employment. Employees are able workers who work alongside clients. Clients can “transition to become employees after they train and reach certain milestones.”

The two groups working with and alongside each other. The interactions help “raise the bar” for all workers, Pollock explained.

The 46-year-old Northwest Center began as what was termed a sheltered workshop where people with mental or physical impairments found work. The jobs were often repetitive or piece jobs — packing or assembling parts — a small but a key component for many companies. The relationship between businesses and the social service agency works for both parties, as it is difficult to attract workers for these jobs. In turn, clients receive training, a chance to socialize, earn a wage and feel good about themselves. Businesses save money and the Center earns money for the nonprofit.

Northwest Center is now headquartered in a large industrial warehouse facility along West Marginal Way S. and SR-99 South in the midst of the industrial district. A good way to find the place is to follow Metro Access buses mid-afternoon that are headed to pick up clients at the end of their work day at the facility. The warehouse houses a cavernous workspace full of machines and equipment boxes and paper.

Pollock’s work to expand the NWC donor base is to work in concert with the funding model already in place for the nonprofit, he said, which already receives gifts and in-kind donations from many businesses. He is anticipating at least six or seven figure donations that would come from what is termed “giving circles” or legacy gifts.

“The key is finding ways to engage potential donors to help them understand that this organization deserves to be supported by the community,” he explained.
He is confident that there are many people ready to donate to the mission of NWC, he said.

“Many people just don’t know all that we do here,” he said. “We just need to tell them our story.”

It is not a question of whether or not there are people who will give, he continued. “They just need to be asked.”

“The contents of Gary’s Rolodex and that of other managers of NWC fit together nicely,” joked Mike Quinn, director of business services for NWC. “Which means they did not overlap at all.”

Quinn’s job is to find businesses who need workers.

When a plastics maker for Boeing that made temporary mats for construction workers to stand on inside jets under construction was asked to peel stickers off the mats before they were recycled, they turned to NWC for ideas.

Quinn quickly surmised that peeling the large sticky tags was not working well. He suggested a simple but elegant solution. Cutting off the offending tags would leave the sheets clean and ready to be reused. The company donated the cutting machine and NWC crews went to work. The project brought in extra revenue for NWC, and clients could be trained to use the new equipment. For the client, more material was being recycled at a lower cost. The company could also claim credit for the extra recycling and write off the donation of the cutting machine. 

The Northwest Center Foundation invites the community to support their work by investing in people and reaping the rich returns of inclusion.

“The expectations are great,” Pollock admitted of his new job. “But it is a great problem to have. I love a challenge. Both the need and the opportunity is so great. And there is such a passion here for what we do.” 

To find out more about Northwest Center, go to <a href=”http://www.nwcenter.org/”>their Web site</a>.