Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Company hopes others help veterans find jobs
Mellon Certified Restoration wants to set example with its employment practices
Mellon Certified Restoration hopes it sets an example with its employment practices of veterans.
When he was in the service, Shawn Hester flew on helicopter rescue missions behind enemy lines. Years later, Hester as branch manager of Mellon Certified Restoration on Gordon Drive, believes he is on a similar mission. “Veterans helping veterans,” Hester said, “I feel an obligation to my fellow veterans.” That is why Mellon, a property restoration company with seven locations in Pennsylvania, participates in a program run by the Coatesville VA Medical Center that gives veterans the chance to work at businesses first as temporary workers with the option on both sides to make the arrangement permanent. Mellon has about a dozen employees at the Exton area location, about half of whom are veterans, Hester said. Founded in 1982, the company with around 125 employees restores business and residential properties destroyed by fire water, wind and smoke. Locally, Mellon was called in to do the cleanup after fire destroyed a large portion of the unit block of North Church Street in West Chester in June. During a recent visit to the Exton area facility where supplies and training tools are kept, two veterans recently hired through the transitional work program expressed their satisfaction with the company and with the VA’s efforts to help them find jobs. Patrick Nelson and Don Duran, both carpenters at Mellon, said the arrangement has given them a sense of purpose. “There’s a lot of companies that wouldn’t hire us because they are afraid we’re going to (freak) out on them,” said Nelson, 55, of Coatesville, who transitioned at Mellon from a temporary employee to permanent. “I went from the bottom of the pits to the top.” Many employers miss out on the unique mindset veterans can bring to their workplace, he added. “If one man goes down, the next man picks him up,” Nelson said of his Army training. “It’s like that now here. It’s a team. If you don’t work as a unit, everything is going to go haywire.” Veterans, Nelson added, should look to use more services offered by the VA. “It took me four or five years to hook up with the VA,” he said. “I thought it was more for the wounded. There are so many vets who don’t know about any of this.” That is a situation the Veter-
ans Administration would like to change, several of those from the Coatesville area facility said during the recent visit to Mellon.
Susan Wieser, program manager of the Work Restoration Department at the Coatesville VA and Lee Toothaker and Marcus Blanks, vocational rehabilitation specialists there, said they hope more employers and veterans contact them about the possibilities.
“It’s like a temp agency almost,” Wieser said. “It was set up by an act of Congress to hook unemployed veterans up with employers. They work there temporarily with the idea of becoming a permanent employee.”
Duran, 57, said he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, depression and had spent some time homeless before going to the VA for help for his illnesses.
“It’s something the Veter-
ans Administration here really stepped up on,” said Duran, who credited the programs with helping to turn his life around. “They’re going out of their way to help us right now.”
Any Veteran who is eligible for VA health care is eligible for Work Restoration services, and there are no associated co-pays for the services, Wieser said in encouraging veterans to look into the help the VA can give to them. About 55 employees in Coatesville are participating now, a rate that’s up significantly in recent months, she added. Job services are: • Vocational Assessment. Veterans referred to Work Restoration begin with a vocational assessment, including an overview of past employment, education, skills, future housing plans, strengths, needs, abilities and preferences. It helps determine the course of vocational treatment.
• Transitional Work (Employment Development Services). Veterans are given real work opportunities at the medical center or community businesses under contract for the purpose of job readiness evaluation and work hardening. Assignments may range from one to six calendar months, 20 – 40 hours per week.
• Employment Development Resource Center. Formal and informal computer instruction and resume assistance are offered, and a
resource center for job postings, fax machine, personal computers and a message center is maintained for all veterans in need of vocational assistance.
• Job Search. Veterans are given individualized assistance in attaining community employment through counseling, transportation assistance, job leads, and cold-calling opportunities.
• Incentive Therapy. Service provides opportunities for veterans with serious disabilities who do not currently express the desire to work in the community to be productive by participation in light duty assignments on campus.
• Supported Employment. Veterans are offered ongoing vocational assessment, job matching, job
coaching and follow along support to attain and maintain community employment. That program is designed for veterans with serious mental illnesses who express interest in community employment. Employment specialists collaborate with the veteran’s treatment team.
To Hester, who served from 1989 to 2001 in the Air Force, including in the first Desert Storm and in Turkey and Kuwait, Mellon’s support of veterans is rewarding.
“I am very proud of our company,” he said. “They are really on board with this.”
Wieser said Musser’s efforts are admirable.
“He was a hero in the military and he continues to be a hero,” she said.