Recently, Gateway Industries Inc. in Ronceverte nominated the entire Division 4 Rehabilitation counselling staff to receive the State Use Excellence in Rehabilitation Placement Award. The award is given by the West Virginia Association of Rehabilitation Facilities (WVARF), an organization that represents Community Rehabilitation Programs (CRPS) such as Gateway, throughout the state.
WVARF presents a number of awards to acknowledge programs and individuals in many different aspects of the field of rehabilitation that have gone above and beyond in providing services for individuals with disabilities and for outstanding work accomplishments of individuals with disabilities.
It is the talent, skill and support provided by this dedicated group of counselors that gets the process started to help individuals with disabilities begin the long and often arduous journey of entering or reentering the competitive world of work alongside of non-disabled individuals. The counselors carry caseloads that can exceed 100 clients each to meet the overwhelming needs of the many individuals with disabilities in the tri-county area of Greenbrier, Monroe and Pocahontas. Yet, under what can be enormous pressure, these counselors’ always maintain the utmost in professionalism and provide appropriate high quality services to all those in need.
Without the support and guidance of these hard working counselors, many individuals with disabilities would be destined to lead lives of poverty, loneliness and despair. Instead, many are able to obtain work, regain self-esteem and become integrated into their communities and are able to contribute to the local economy.
The counselors recently honored at the WARF awards ceremony held at the Embassy Suite hotel in Charleston are as follows: Jeremy Styles, Nancy Harris, Mike Scott, Chris Baker, Virginia Ramos, and Bethany Ellard-Richmond.