SHELLY SADLER

I grew up in Tama County, Iowa in the Tama/Toledo area. That has become a familiar, much publicized part of the state because of their advertizing the Mesquawki Indian Tribe's casino. That has come about since I was there.

In those days they had their own school for elementary kids. When they went into junior high and high school, some of them went to the public schools but others went to South Dakota and other reservations to continue schooling. They pretty much kept to themselves within their own little community. They weren't the casino and hot spot they are now, where everybody knows about them. They had Bingo before I left that area and were just starting to build the casino. I wasn't involved in any of that. It is kind of funny, though, because the fellow who is Chief now I knew as a kid in school. It is fun to see him in different commercials.

I believe the land they have was given to them. I don't know all the legalities but they are considered a settlement, not a reservation. In the days I knew about them, they didn't interact with the town but kept to themselves. The kids were pretty much like the rest of us. Some of them seemed kind of rough but others played on the volley ball teams and were in band with us, so they were kids just like we were.

My family consisted of my parents and five children, of which I was the youngest. We lived in Toledo, where I was educated and graduated from South Tama County High School in 1982. I went to nursing school for a short time but when I met my husband, Ron, I decided not to continue but chose to get married and start a family.

Meeting my husband was nothing spectacular. He was in Fareway's transfer program, working in the meat department at their store in the Tama/Toledo area . I saw him when I shopped, and thought I would like to meet him. Once we met, we were together from that day forward. For a short time we thought we wanted to do camp ministry, so we moved to Lucas and managed the camp there, called Jericho Hills, owned by the Christian Union churches. I believe there are seven of them in Iowa, Missouri, and Ohio — kind of all over. That was actually the church denomination my husband grew up in. He attended their church in Milo, which is another reason this area seemed like home. Christian Union Churches are more conservative, fundamental in their beliefs, so the backgrounds we brought with us when we married were of a conservative nature, but a little more contemporary than some. We now attend the Osceola Assembly of God, which is a good fit for us.

We lived in Lucas and did camp work for three years, but he missed working in retail stores, so he decided to go back into that business. He was still in the transfer program and we transferred all over the state of Iowa. We lived in Newton, Ottumwa, Cherokee, and Estherville. We met a lot of great people, perhaps because one of the first things we did when we went to a new place was to find a church, in some cases even before we had a home established. The pastors of those churches and their families became our very close friends, and it remains so to this day, having married one of our daughters. We stay in contact with them because we have that bond.

There were many advantages to being with Fareway in the transfer program, but we felt it was time to move on and do something a little different. Ron decided to switch companies and went to work for HyVee. That is his employment now. He works in the Chariton store, and we live in Chariton. In some ways, the area for him is like coming home. He was originally from the Liberty Center/Lacona area. They lived in Dallas Center for years where his father was a Police Chief. When his parents retired, they bought a piece of land at Murray and built a house on it.

During the earlier years of our married life, we had four children — Carissa, Tiffany, Joel, and Joshua. While they were young, I mostly stayed home and raised our kids. After they were raised, I decided to pursue my career, and went back to teaching. I worked in Clarke County Schools in the Early Childhood Education Department and fell in love with that whole aspect. This was while it was still in the elementary school building, prior to the Village. I had some experience with children of special needs and really liked that side of it. I decided it was what I wanted to do and it evolved from there.

Two people were influential in my going back to school. Jeff Sogard was one. He had been a great support for me when I worked in the school. And Ann Lovell, who was the pre­school teacher and is now at the Village, was really good at spurring me on. Four or five years ago, I worked as an aide in Ann's classroom but decided I didn't want to always be an aide. I wanted to lead the class.

I still wanted to work with children who had special needs or disabilities, and my degree is broad enough to cover that area. Three years ago (2006) I went to work at Mosaic, which was an outgrowth of a service begun approximately 40 years ago for persons with special needs. The time coincided with the transition from rural schools to consolidation. Persons most instrumental in starting the program were Cliff and Charlene Jones, John and Bernice Page. Clarke County rural schools were closing during the 1950s and early 1960s. Four rural schools closed during 1961-'62, but left Ward Center, just west of Osceola for the Clarke-Decatur Activity Center, taught by Mary Delk of Weldon, a former Decatur County teacher. Decatur County left the program and it became the Clarke County Activities Center, which provided a "sheltered workshop" with a work activities program, generating income by making items for sale.

In 1986, Bethphage (pronounced beth-fa-gee'), a national organization based in Omaha, was contacted regarding providing services for the Osceola branch. That fall, Bethphage opened two 7-bed group homes and six apartments. Recommendations of persons who need our services may come from a family member who would report to the County Department of Human Services that this person has needs of services we provide. It could be Downs Syndrom or some other type of disability in which they need more assistance than the family can provide at home. Some are diagnosed with mental retardation, which designation has been changed to "intellectual"or "mental disability." They are on a waiver, which is how we get the money to support them. A case manager, in our case Dale Neas, contacts us and refers people to us to get our services at the level of care needed for that person. We will shortly be meeting with different schools to see what student needs there are. There is a lack of services for people who have completed their schooling and don't know what services are available for them or their children.

When they come to us, we go through an evaluation process in which we can determine the level of help they need. We always do interviews with them and their close family members or guardians. We know their needs by their diagnosis and try to place them in the right setting. Our organization is all about the person coming first. What their wants are is of first importance to us. We want them to live where they will be happy and to decide what their day might consist of. Some go to work, some stay home or go to our other programs. We want them to be doing things they would like to do.

It is difficult to pinpoint a precise time in a constantly expanding program, but during the early years a workshop, Expanding Horizons, was begun at 730 South Main. Several factories contracted with them to do a level of work according to the abilities of the clients, who also volunteered throughout the community. They helped in schools, in the meal delivery program, at a nursing home in Clarke County and a hospital in Lucas County. In the spring of 1990, a retail store, "High Expectations," was established at 107 South Main. Along with gift items, they sold used clothing, which they washed and mended.

In July 2003, Bethphage combined their services with the highly reputed Martin Luther homes. The consolidation was called Mosaic. The service developed with 24-hour residential support to 28 people, living in two group homes and six apal talents. High Expectations was still a part of it.

In 2008, C.R.O.S.S. Ministries established their thrift store. The timing coincided with our feeling we had grown out of the business. Our "high expectations" had been met and we decided it would be a good time to change focus. We began doing other things and left the clothing line to the Thrift Store. We also decided to change names to Expressions from Mosaic, and change locations to 143 South Main. We thought it was a good time to end one era and start a new one.

We had come in contact with a company called Jumpy Monkey Coffee. We researched and decided we wanted to buy into it. The coffee is roasted in Sioux City by people who have disabilities, so it a joint venture. It provides work for them and for us. We order the coffee, grind, package, label it, and we have an area in southern Iowa and Missouri where we market it. In July 2009, we started the Jumpy Monkey Coffee Distributorship. We also make our own candles, lotions, greeting cards and we have equipment to produce all those things. We have a loom on which we make our rugs, and we make other hand crafted items. We supplement our stock with other gift items.

The clients like what we are doing now and we've moved on. We are trying to build more of a community image, demonstrating that we are a viable business. We sell tickets for Jefferson Bus Lines, so this brings a lot of different people into our store. They buy tickets from us and catch the bus at Amtrak. It gives interaction between the customers and the individuals we support. At our store we have anywhere from 12 to 17 working every day, depending on their schedules. And we have another six or seven people who work at 730 South Main doing different jobs there.

I manage the store and additionally, I have started working part time with some of the folks who are living on their own, needing only minimal support. Mosaic has HUD housing where a couple of them live. Some live at home with their parents, others are in apartments throughout the community. The apartments on McLane are one of two group homes. The other is on Ayers. There are seven people living in each. Those people are more medically needy and need a little more assistance. We have 10 different apartments where people either live by themselves or with a housemate, and we are building more now (fall of 2009) — some in the west part of town on Warren Court and some on Manor Drive. There will be two sets of two bedroom apartments, like a duplex.

The name of the facility south of town, "Expanding Horizons," continues as a day habilitation program where people can go to spend their days. There are various rooms set up to offer a variety of choices. There are computers for them to work on — perhaps to write letters to their families. There are exercise rooms or another in which they can watch videos. A lot of people have sensory issues, meaning they don't like a lot of stimulation. Some must have physical or occupational therapy so we have that set up, too. Most of them choose not to work, or are unable to work, so they go on different outings, make crafts, or do other things which are meaningful to them.

We have a cleaning crew. They clean our main office and are paid for that. That is something we would like to expand. If they are good at it, we would like to find other businesses which might use their service. We have a contract with the Advertiser to put inserts in the Advertiser each week. They bring the inserts and pay for the work we do for them. We would like to expand some of our work options and do more cleaning or shredding, which is getting to be a bigger service. Identity theft has become an issue, and people like their waste paper shredded. We shred all of our own documents and have been thinking about starting a shredding business for others. We have some folks who like to volunteer. They go CR.O.S.S. Ministries, the animal shelter, the school to listen to children read, and others.

I was drawn to Mosaic because it is a faith-based organization. It has a wonderful mission statement. It puts people first, no matter what their disability. We realize that every person needs meaning and purpose to their day no matter what their age or ability. We try to meet those needs. Sometimes it is hard because they don't speak like we speak. They communicate in different ways. Sometimes ones who don't speak may clap their hands or show by their facial expressions if they are pleased or displeased, happy or sad. We often have to be creative in figuring out what is important to them. It is kind of a challenge.

We now have close to 80 employees and 42 clients. There are actually quite a few people employed for Mosaic, because we provide 24-hours-a-day support. We have three shifts a day. Our employees come from within a 25-mile radius. I live in Chariton, others in Leon, Humiston, or the Lucas area. Those who work with the clients are not necessarily educated in that field. First, obviously, they have to have a good heart, and like to help people with disabilities. It isn't easy work. We have an extensive training program, an orientation program that all our employees are required to go through. There are a lot of people with special diets or medical needs. They may be diabetic or have seizures. It takes training in order for people to know how to take care of them. Basically, they just have to have a good heart to help people.

We are funded through Medicaid but with the budget cuts we have gone through now we have had to adjust to them also. Our executive director always makes sure our clients are not directly impacted. They must continue to get the services they need. Sometimes that means we can't do everything we want, so we are always trying to come up with fund raising ideas — different ways to come up with money to help us meet the needs we have.

Our needs are not just financial. The kids need people who would just want to come over to visit our clients or take them on an outing, or do a Bible study with them. Things like that are very important. We can't always meet all those needs so we look to the community to help us. We would love volunteers.

Everyone who hasn't known people with limitations has some fears, or are hesitant about approaching them. They aren't sure how they might react. A lot of our clients are very affectionate and that may turn people off. It might be offensive if someone they are meeting for the first time gives them a hug. This is a practice we have to caution them about, "Don't hug everybody. You can shake their hand." Those are social skills they need to learn. But they are like everybody else. They are a lot of fun, have a good sense of humor, and we enjoy working with them.

Those who are employed or volunteer need to understand our clients are just people, with the same fears we have about them. Becoming friends with them is like becoming friends with anyone else. We have to get to know them and see what kinds of things they like to do. At Halloween a young man receiving our services wanted to help with the haunted house at the Fair Grounds. We made appropriate calls to get penuission for him to go out and help. He was accepted but before he went, he was full of questions, "What do I do? What do I say to them when I go out? Do I need to tell them I am from Mosaic?" I told him, "You don't have to. You can just say you came out to help with the haunted house." He loved it! He helped them build some of what they had in mind and he is going back tonight to scare people.

I want people to realize that everyone has a purpose. Everyone has something to offer to society. For years people with disabilities were shut away, put in homes or institutions; and obviously that has been proven not to be a good service to provide. We are trying to get rid of that prejudice and stigma, and show that everyone has something to offer. Two of the people we support have jobs in the community. One works at Pizza Hut and last month he was named "Employee of the month." That was a huge deal to him. Another of our guys works at HyVee and carries out groceries and stocks shelves. These different companies have partnered with us and have given our people a chance. That is so good! We appreciate it.

In my personal life, our children are grown now. Carissa Jacobsen lives here in Osceola. Her husband, Curt, is a police officer. They have three babies — Claire, Chloe, and Cole. Tiffany married Chris Kuball on September 27, 2009. They live in Austin, Minnesota, where he is a meteorologist for a local TV station. She is manager of a clothing store. Joel and Cami, married on April 10, 2010, live in Chariton and he works full time at HyVee. Joshua and Caitlin have set a date for June, 2011. Josh is pursuing a degree in web design from Full Sail University and works for T8 Webware in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

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Last Revised December 25, 2014