ROC Press Release
By Scott Jester

HOPE, AR – Those who live Hope are surely familiar with the corner of Elm and Division Streets downtown, just by the railroad tracks for which this city was founded.

But not many may be aware of how important that corner is regarding supplying goods and services for a large public. Plenty more don’t know how that street corner provides meaningful job opportunities to many of the individuals at Rainbow of Challenges (ROC).

The set of buildings and businesses are known as ROC Enterprises which include the enormous Recycling Center, ROC N’ Reruns thrift store, the Melon Patch restaurant and several more work outlets each employing clients from ROC that operate year-round.

Who could possibly oversee such a daunting operation?

Meet Day Services Coordinator for ROC Enterprises Michelle Witherspoon, a 20-year veteran, who fits the title like a hand in a glove.

She and her terrific staff are charged with navigating the operations of the businesses while meeting the individual goals and needs of each client who has their own care plan.

Think of it as a master juggler who keeps six balls in the air with the unique ability to adapt to any situations that would upset the coordination.

Witherspoon moved to Hope when she was nine years old and soon saw that the School of Hope and its children were in the background.

“I volunteered at School of Hope on Laurel Street and worked with the children during 7th and 8th grade so it was always in the background,” said Witherspoon on a recent hot afternoon.

“Then my sister and I volunteered with Special Olympics and helped with individuals there. Then one summer Patti Manus called and needed help working with Robin. So, I would go over in the morning and help with her.”

It's no surprise to learn ROC founder Patti Manus reached out to the young Michelle and asked for her help. The elder Manus probably had intuition then that Witherspoon had what it took and may return someday in some way providing service and assistance to the now adults at Rainbow of Challenges.

“Then I became an adult of my own and had kids,” Witherspoon continues

“My daughter and Dorene Mosier’s daughter were playing soccer together in 2002 and we were talking about her work at practice one day and the next thing Dorene recruited me, and the rest is history.”

For those who know Dorene Mosier, she is not shy in recruiting quality when she sees it. Mosier has recruited and landed many talented, long-term employees. One could sort of call it the Dorene Mosier hiring tree.

“It was 2002 when Dorene began recruiting me, but it was 2003 when I started,” Witherspoon recounts.

“I began at Omega Home and was there for a year and a few months, then I transferred to Residential and was a weekend house parent from 2004 till 2008, then I worked at Waiver as a one-on-one from then in 2010, worked in Case Management before coming over here for good in 2013,” she says after a few breaths.

Talk about “touching all the bases” for Witherspoon and her odyssey of places and experiences at ROC to become well-trained and suited for the many hats she wears today.

What was her motivating factor to stay under the ROC umbrella of employment and move into more of a “public” type job?

“It was the individuals,” she says emphatically. “I honestly don’t know if I could go back to work with the general public,” she laughs.

“These individuals are the reason. They can pick up on so many things. They can see if you’re having a bad day or not feeling well, and they will do everything they can to help make it better.

“If they are having a bad day and you brighten their day, the joy you get out of doing something to help.”

“It’s so rewarding and the feeling comes from way down here,” Witherspoon says, pointing to her heart.

“My individuals want to be here and work every single day. They want to be here and make the absolute best of it, and I want to be here with them. We try to have fun with everything we do. Even if it’s work related, we try to keep it fun.”

There are quite a few irons in the fire to tend to each day which involves the individuals who are working in their individual component. From the Recycling Center to the Melon Patch Restaurant to the contract labor, to the Roc N’ Reruns resale store, there is coordination among everyone involved. Staff working with their clients and the clients carrying out their responsibilities in a professional manner.

It's a true insight into what’s right about humanity and how to work well with others.

“There is wonderful peer support here,” Witherspoon remarks. “It really warms your heart to see them look out for each other.

“We are like a large family down here,” she continues. “It’s amazing to me, but they will tell you “These people are my family” and they mean it.

“They may have disagreements with each other, but we will sit them down and work through it together. I think it’s one of the biggest things we’ve made headway with.

For example, I came outside the other day and there were two individuals who were trying to work something out by themselves. I didn’t intervene and kept walking right into the building because they now knew how to handle situations. It takes a lot for staff and me to help teach that to the clients. We have come a long way.”

Having a good staff is a must to work anywhere inside ROC Enterprises. First, it takes the right personality combined with competent training, but the “seasoning”, the process of becoming one of the “family” can only come with time.

“We have such a wide range of work activity here,” Witherspoon continues. “There are so many different areas a new staff could go into. I’ve done a lot of moving around in order to make the right fit. We want to work with new hires to get them to an area that they will enjoy.”

While keeping her hands filled each day with the activities of ROC Enterprises, Witherspoon must have a wing person, a long-term employee who is well-versed in any area that Witherspoon covers, someone with an understanding ear and someone ready to step in to fill any gaps.

That would be Lori Thompson, ROC Workforce Coordinator.

“Lori was already here when I was hired,” Witherspoon begins. “Me not having Lori by my side at this point, I just don’t have the words to say what she represents. I do depend a lot on her especially if I’m going to be off or away. I have to know she’s going to be here to make sure everything works. She knows pretty much everything as well as I do around here.

“She’s the paperwork guru and I am the hands-on equipment guru so it's a good arrangement. We can help each other out in more areas than one. I don’t know what I would do without her.”

Honestly folks, this is not an easy corner of Hope to run. Not only is Witherspoon in charge of individuals doing their job every day, but she is also dependent on some heavy cardboard-crushing machinery, that when it decides to stop working, can create quite a logjam among the tons of cardboard boxes that are picked up every day from such industries as Tyson, UAHT, local restaurants, and even mom-and-pop businesses who depend on those machines.

For that, Witherspoon asks for patience.

“Right now, our balers are down,” she notes. “The biggest issue is being able to get the parts to the machines. We just got the parts here this week so we can begin the repair.

“It’s not ever what we want as employees of ROC, no one would want that, but it does happen and when the balers are operational soon, those areas will be and will stay clean.”

No story about ROC Enterprises is complete without some discussion on The Melon Patch restaurant. It provides some of the best home-style meals five days a week pleasing just about any palate. More importantly, ROC individuals are the primary waiters and servers as diners fill out and sign their own unique menu.

“What it ultimately does for the individual is that they get the experience of working in the community and working in a restaurant setting,” she concludes.

In wrapping up this story, it always comes back to the clients that ROC serves. It’s their endearing personalities. It’s their infectious smile. It’s their interminable love and friendship.

“I enjoy being a part of their lives and I enjoy them being a part of my life,” Witherspoon says emotionally.

“I want them to experience things in life that I got to experience and that they may not have had the same opportunity, such as going to a family Thanksgiving gathering.”

With Witherspoon and the other staffers at ROC it’s about serving something bigger than themselves, and most will say that while it’s nice to be rich with money, it’s even nicer to be rich in service to those in need.
Rainbow of Challenges, Inc. (ROC) is a private, non-profit, community-based provider of a vast array of supports and services for children and adults with developmental disabilities. Rainbow of Challenges is an equal opportunity provider and employer.