Honoring our Legacycommemorative report

60tH anniversary * october 13, 2013

Blazing Trails & Promoting Abilities

ANNIVERSARY

Dale Rogers

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his 60th Anniversary Commemorative Report is dedicated to the brief life of Robin Elizabeth Rogers. Her short life inspired parents to create organizations like Dale Rog-ers Training Center where people with disabilities can learn,

grow and work so they can become productive citizens.*

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Honoring our Legacy

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y name is Rebecca Cook, and it is my honor to serve Dale Rogers as President of the Board of Directors

during 2013, our 60th Anniversary year.

I speak for the entire Board when I say how proud we are to be part of this amazing organization that is commit-ted to excellence in serving the needs of individuals with disabilities. Dale Rog-ers holds a unique status in the state of Oklahoma. The oldest agency of its kind, Dale Rogers is also one of the larg-est in the Southwest, providing training and jobs to over 1,200 people with dis-abilities each year. Over 150 people with disabilities per year are placed and sup-ported in jobs in community businesses in the Oklahoma City metro area. Dale Rogers Training Center has the widest array of program choices for families supporting people with disabilities in Oklahoma, bar none. The individuals placed in our in-house and work pro-grams earn between 5.4 and 5.9 million dollars in wages per year.

Here are some facts:

• Dale Rogers Training Center is 83% financially self-sufficient due to its di-

versified array of con-tracts, services and businesses.

• Over 82% of its programs are located in the communities of 7 Oklahoma locations.

• And, it does all this with a low 3% overhead cost.

I worked in disability services in Okla-homa for 40 years, most recently for the University of Oklahoma. In the course of my work I first crossed paths with Connie Thrash McGoodwin in the early 1980s when she came to Dale Rogers Train-ing Center as the new director. I have never ceased to be amazed at her vision and talents as the Center has grown and flourished under her leadership. Together, the Dale Rogers staff, Board, the many people with disabilities served and their families have accomplished great things over the past 60 years.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, we thank all of you for joining our celebra-tion and invite you to visit our newly ren-ovated campus, the new Workforce Skills Training center, the Robins Corner Mu-seum Exhibit and Dale & Roy memora-bilia collection.

rebecca cookPresident

presidentiaL roLL caLL

tHANK YOU FROM BOARd OF diRectORs

REBECCA COOk, PRESIDEnTCHERyl MOORE, 1ST vP

CARl HAMIlTOn, 2nD vPBOB HAlE, SECRETARy

FRAnk STOnE, TREASURER AllEn BROWn Ann knUTSOnBARBARA HAHn

FRED HEnDERSOnGEnE BInnInGMARC EDWARDSHElEn STAkEMJERRy HOCkER

kATHy REEDlAvOnnE HUTCHISOn

MARTHA knIGHTMIkE JOnES

TOM SPEnCER

Past PresidentsJerry Hocker & Marc Edwards

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Honoring The Memory of Lavonne Hutchison, Past President

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Oklahoma Impact ...............5

Shop For A Cause ..............6

People With Disabilities Find Jobs! .......7

Everyone Wins When you Hire ....................8

you Have Work,We have Workers ..................9

From A Barn To Businesses ........10 & 11

It’s How you Ride The Trail .....................12

Continuing The legacy ...13

From The Director ..........14

Happy Trails.........................15

Connect With DRTC .....16

tabLe of contents

* Dale Rogers introduces you, not to disabilities, but to possibilities * Supports a very special niche of our population * Entrepreneurial spirit * Hand up rath-er than hand out * Exceptionally professional staff * Treats everyone with dignity and respect * Outstand-

ing service to the troops at Tinker Air Force Base * Renovated campus’s a symbol of beauty and energy * Outstanding example of a forward thinking sustainable, non-profit organization

rave reviews for drtc

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TRAINING CENTER

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Locations ServedDRTC Offices

1. Altus2. Bethany3. Blanchard 4. Chandler5. Chickasha

6. Choctaw7. Duncan8. Edmond9. El Reno10. Harrah

11. Lawton12. McCloud13. Midwest City14. Moore15. Mustang

16. Newcastle17. Noble18. Norman19. Oklahoma City20. Piedmont

21. Purcell22. Seminole23. Shawnee24. Spencer25. Tecumseh

26. Tipton27. Tuttle28. Walters29. Warr Acres30. Washington31. Yukon

Serving Oklahomans In 29 Locations!

At a Glance• Award-winning, entrepreneurial

non-profit serving individuals with disabilities since 1953.

• Named in honor of Dale Evans Rogers, wife of Roy Rogers and “Queen of the Cowboys”.

• Oldest, largest and most innovative community vocational training and employment center in the Southwest.

• Trains, serves or employs more than 1200 teens and adults each year.

• Self-generates 83% of its total revenue.

• Individuals placed in the community or in-house programs earned more than $5.5 million in wages last year.

• Through programs offered at DRTC, individuals gain confidence to become working, taxpaying citizens – 82% of programs and services are in the community.

• Businesses include: Prism Place, Wyman Frame & Supply, Prairie Spices, and Papa Murphy’s Pizza franchise.

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ow you can SHOP at Dale Rogers Training Center. Our new gift shop features all the advantages of one-

stop shopping for your framing, tro-phies, acrylic awards and Oklahoma themed Prairie Spice gifts, includ-ing our Boot kickin’ BBQ Set and White Hat Southwest Dip Mix Set.

new ‘Fast Framing’ at our Wyman Frame business gives you the option

to pick your price and get quality, local framing in 5 days. Custom framing, shadow boxes, engraving and other specialty framing options are also available at this innovative retail frame

shop. See our beautifully

designed

retail showroom and speak to our Certified Professional Framer.

Prism Place, the one-stop award shop, provides top of the line gifts, plaques and awards. Custom-made acrylic awards, manufactured by Prism Place, provide rewarding jobs for individuals at Dale Rogers Train-ing Center. In business for 30 years, Prism Place is also located in our new retail area.

Give the gift of meaningful work for people with disabilities with beauti-fully packaged gift sets, made in the heart of Oklahoma. Custom blend-ed by Cedar Hill Seasonings and packaged by individuals at DRTC, these MIO spice products are sure to please. Other items in our new gift shop include, “Embracing the Differ-ence” note cards, featuring artwork by 11 of our own individuals, and holiday cards with original art. *

sHop for a causeat dale rogers training center’s camPus gift sHoP

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drtc gift sHop* 405-813-9998 * www.DRTC.org/commerce

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erek doesn’t take anything for granted. He is one of the 400 employees working at the Service Work Projects.

A wide range of jobs are provided at a variety of high-profile locations in-cluding, Tinker AFB, Altus AFB, the Oklahoma City Federal Building, lockheed Martin, the Armed Forc-es Reserve Centers in Mustang and norman and the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center (Federal Avia-tion Administration). These jobs offer highly competitive pay and benefits while providing the opportunity to im-prove hard and soft work skills. People with all types of disabilities are em-ployed including those who are hear-ing impaired, individuals with autism, mental illness, intellectual disabilities, physical and medical disabilities.

Derek has always said he was working hard to make sure his two boys went to college. Derek, who has Cerbral Palsy has been a cashier since 1992 at the Tinker AFB vanwey Dining Facility; he recalls it was not always easy. After being laid off from his cashiering job at Sears with 10 years of experience, it took more than three years for him to find employment.

“It was very frustrating when I was turned away because these were jobs I was qualified for and I knew I could do it, but they wouldn’t give me a chance,” said Derek.

Today, Derek beams with pride be-cause both of his sons are attending the University of Oklahoma. “One wants to be a pharmacist and the oth-er a doctor. That sounds just fine to me,” he said with a smile.

Many employees are hired at the Ser-vice Work Projects with little or no resources for transportation, sustain-able living arrangements, clothing, medical care and/or insurance for themselves and their family. Because of their employment in the program, employees are able to purchase cars, rent apartments, buy homes and build their savings. By providing the train-ing and services necessary for people with severe disabilities to remain in stable employment, they are able to access many of the things that others take for granted. *

peopLe witH disabiLities find Jobs! service Work Projects

Derek B., tinker FooD Service Derek is wearing a colorful vest that has over 100 military patch-es on it. Some service men and women give him their patch when they retire.

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klahoma employers partner with Dale Rogers Training Center to meet staffing or diversity goals, gain tax

incentives and practice strong cor-porate citizenship. Employing mo-tivated people with a track record for longevity and dependability is a win-win situation for everyone.

Our award-winning program pro-vides your business with a trained

job coach to assist you in matching your position to an employee. The job coach will also provide train-ing for your new employee, giving them the smoothest transition pos-sible into your workplace. From the start, people with disabilities in the DRTC program receive on going

support for success, including addi-tional training when needed.

last year more than 168 employ-ees found jobs in the community through this successful program, where matching jobs with skills is what Dale Rogers Training Center does best. DRTC clients have suc-cessfully maintained jobs in a myr-iad of industries including security, food service, janitorial, retail, child care, gaming and many more.*

everyone wins wHen you Hirea Person WitH a disability - emPloyment services

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luke S., GrAnD cASino

kAylA G., tAco Bell

Anthony l., Superior Security, inc.

Hire a Person WitH a disabil-ity and find out WHat tHis

untaPPed emPloyee resource can do for your business.

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ork can be completed by our skilled workforce of more than 90 trained as-semblers, packagers and

shrink wrappers at our main location. Jobs can also be fulfilled by our Mo-bile Workforce at your worksite by 4-8 workers accompanied by a trained DRTC supervisor and transporta-tion. Either way, Dale Rogers Train-ing Center can meet your contract or sub-contracting needs with great workers like Chris.

For ten years, Chris has worked on the Mobile Workforce team at Pelco Products, an Edmond-based compa-ny, assembling kits that are sent to 50 states and 14 countries. The Pel-co Mobile Workforce crew is credited with an astoundingly low error rate and are valued members of the Pelco team, according to Phil Parduhn, the co-founder of Pelco Products.

“We never make a mistake, and we’re cautious with our work. We make our work right everytime,” says Chris with a proud smile.

If you need a reliable, dependable and motivated workforce to complete as-sembly, packaging, fulfillment, shrink wrapping, kit assembly or sub-assembly work, consider mak-ing Dale Rogers Training Center a business partner. Contact us for a free, no obligation quote at (405) 946-2113 x403.*

you Have work. we Have workersdone WHen you need it.

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chriS h., pelco

WE HAVE WORKERS!MOBILE WORKFORCEDALE ROGERS TRAINING CENTER

YOU HAVE WORK.

YOURCOMPANY

SAVETIME & MONEY

YOURWORK

It’s all about YOUR needs! YOUR product, assembled at YOUR location, with OUR workers.

Done the way you need!

With our trained SUPERVISOR & TRANSPORTATION at YOUR location.

5DAYS A WEEK

Guaranteed product QUALITY with a competitive per piece rate! Workers’ compensation benefits provided at no cost to YOU!

Commitment to always be there! We NEVER call in sick!

405-946-2113 x403 $

4-8WORKERS

PER PIECERATE

WE HAVE WORKERS!MOBILE WORKFORCEDALE ROGERS TRAINING CENTER

YOU HAVE WORK.

YOURCOMPANY

SAVETIME & MONEY

YOURWORK

It’s all about YOUR needs! YOUR product, assembled at YOUR location, with OUR workers.

Done the way you need!

With our trained SUPERVISOR & TRANSPORTATION at YOUR location.

5DAYS A WEEK

Guaranteed product QUALITY with a competitive per piece rate! Workers’ compensation benefits provided at no cost to YOU!

Commitment to always be there! We NEVER call in sick!

405-946-2113 x403 $

4-8WORKERS

PER PIECERATEspeciaL services &

programs supported by united way

* Camp Tumbleweed* Special needs Program* Transportation* Adult After Care* Rehabilitation

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1981• Post-its invented• Ronald Reagan is President• Launch of the Columbia shuttle • Sandra Day O’ Connor becomes Supreme Court Justice • Prince Charles and Diana marry • Pac-Man craze • FDA approves Nutrasweet• First season of Miami Vice• Movies: “Flashdance” and “Big Chill”

by 1985• Sally Ride becomes 1st US American woman astronaut in space • Apple introduces the “Mac”• Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”• First artificial heart transplant • “Smurfs” the cartoon debuts • Fights for Cabbage Patch dolls• VCRs are introduced • “We are the World” is recorded • Movies: “Top Gun” and “Aliens”

by 1989• “Black Monday” market crash • CDs outsell vinyl records• Challenger Shuttle explodes• Nintendo games hit U.S.• Oliver North scandal • Milli Vanilli caught lip syncing • Oprah Winfrey show national• Cosby Show rules • Movies: “Fatal Attraction” and “Lethal Weapon”

• 54 clients/students served • 3 public school special education classes • Staff of 8 + 3 teachers• No state funding for people with disabilities• Some daycare and 2 vans • Utah/Meek a dirt road • Remains of old Meek buildings at 23rd and Utah • 3 subcontracts • Clients earn 90¢/day• $90,000 in services provided

• 90 clients/students served• Staff of 21• Prism Place is born • Utah Drive is paved • Lawn maintenance contracts begin with OSBI • A new wing and dock are added onto the workshop• SBA loan for equipment• Executive Director chairs committee for first legislative money to workshops• Sally Goldman donates cookbook proceeds• Supported Employment concept introduced• $592,385 in services provided

• 135 clients served/employed• Staff of 30 • Subcontracts greatly expanded • Supported Employment programs expanded • Yard Crew program includes landscaping • School-to-Work Transition with five public schools• Time capsule buried at Dale Rogers’ 33rd anniversary• School-age classes return to public schools • $775,900 in services provided

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By end of 1990s• Murrah Building bombed• Dolly the sheep cloned • Princess Diana dies • Clinton and Lewinsky affair• MTV’s “Real World” is first reality program• Columbine school shooting• Category-5 tornado in OKC • TV: “Friends” and “Seinfeld”• Movies: “Sleepless in Seattle” and “Jurassic Park”

By end of 2006• Y2K scare • September 11 tragedy/War on Terror • Enron scandal • Martha Stewart goes to prison• Space Shuttle disintegrates • Saddam Hussein captured• Internet usage surpasses TV • TV: “Survivor” and “Apprentice” • Movies: “Harry Potter” and “Lord of the Rings”

2007-2012• Obama vs. Romney for President• Black Monday, Economic Crisis, Take Back Wallstreet• iPhone, iPad, Facebook, Amazon• Haiti & Japan hit by tsunamis & earthquake• Oprah signs off, Joe Pa fired & OKC THUNDER ROARS• Goodbye Michael, Whitney, Steve & Osama• TV: Reality Shows, Showtime, HBO, Sci Fi, A&E, FX, AMC• Movies: Harry Potter, Twilight & Hunger Games series• Will & Kate wed and start a family

• 340 clients served/employed• Staff and non-disabled: 85 • NISH Food Service contract begins at Tinker AFB• Tinker wins two Gold Plate awards for Food Services • Awarded Federal Food Service contract at Altus AFB• Special Needs Program is created for multi-handicapped • Old Meek house and garage demolished• New building at 23rd and Utah• Prism Place sells nationally• Enclaves of 6 individuals work in 3 community companies • Individuals earn $1 million in wages • $4.1 million in services provided

• 929 clients served/employed• Staff and non-disabled: 178 • 2003 – 50th anniversary • Awarded industrial custodial contracts at Tinker• Waivered services expanded• Employment Services office opened in Lawton• Camp Tumbleweed built• Custodial contracts at new Federal Building, Post Office and Courthouse in OKC• Award winning OETA video • 2800 sq. ft. warehouse built• Individuals earn $3.4 million • $14 million in services provided

• 1300 people with disabilities served by 200 support staff• Custodial contract for FAA (50 Jobs) – 2012• Custodial at Armed Forces Reserve Centers Norman/Mustang – 2011• NEW: Job Readiness Classes, Support Services, Job Placement & Ticket to Work Programs• NEW: Wyman Framing, Online Store & Prairie Spices, Papa Murphy’s• Nationally accredited by CARF and completion of Standards for Excellence• Added: Workforce Skills Training Building, purchase of building on corner, Serenity Court & new wing for Fiscal• Individuals’ earnings grew from $3 million to $5.9 million over 4 years• $16 million dollar budget

• Awarded Admin Custodial (170 buildings) contract at Tinker - January 2006 • Contract with Lockheed Martin begins – April 2006

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nce upon a time, long before Twitter, paintball or video games, a Saturday meant using your hard earned

nickels and dimes to go downtown for the Saturday matinées.

If you were going to see one of the 29 Roy Rogers westerns featuring Dale Evans, you knew you were going to leave that theatre with the sense that good always trumps evil and that even cowboys liked a good sing along. A few years later, you could see them on Tv every single week on Sunday evenings, and you’d sing along at the end of the show as they wished you “Happy Trails”.

After trying out a couple of differ-ent stage names, Roy settled on the last name Rogers, after his hero Will Rogers, and Roy, which meant “king”. This new “king of the Cow-boys” star was ready to stand boot to boot with Oklahoma’s Gene Autry, who was America’s most watched singing cowboy.

Most people who remember Roy and Dale might remember his 20,000

pieces of fan mail a week, his huge merchandising empire, second only to Walt Disney, or may have seen Roy and his trusty palomino horse, Trigger, on the front page of life magazine in 1943.

What many of you may not know about Roy and Dale is the many civic and humanitarian awards they received for their commitment to sick and handicapped children. In fact, four of the nine Rogers chil-dren were adopted. Most of their tour stops and performances includ-ed visits to children in hospitals or orphanages. They walked the walk as well. Their visits included the fledg-ling Dale Rogers Training Center in Oklahoma City.

In 1953, Dale’s first book Angel Unaware hit the bookshelves. It was a national bestseller and was later translated into dozens of languages. The book was her story of the short, but meaningful life of Dale and Roy’s daughter, Robin Elizabeth, who was born with Down syndrome in 1950. In two short years, Rob-in influenced the Rogers family and

gave them perspective on life as well as peace and solace. In her book, Dale was able to share this positive perception with families around the globe.

In 1953, DRTC was established by Oklahoma City parents as a school for children with Down syndrome and other developmental disabili-ties. Dale Rogers book, Angel Un-aware, was one of the driving forces for the development of the agency and created the programs and ser-vices that were not yet available to young Robin or children like her.*

it’s How you ride tHe traiL tHat countstHe legacy

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hen the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum closed and most of the col-lection was auctioned, we sent a “Hail Mary” letter

to Roy Rogers Jr. (Dusty). In June 2009, the trustees of the museum crated up and sent the artifacts from Robin’s Corner,

the museum display of Robin Rogers, and our legacy came full circle.

When Dusty was asked why they chose our agency, he said

“because that’s what my mother would have wanted”.

This exhibit and the additional Schmitz collection features more than 50 items, such as a satin coverlet from Robin’s layette, the original oil pastel painting of Robin and the red miniature pia-no mentioned in Dale Rogers’ popular book, Angel Unaware. The memorabilia collection displays vintage figurines of the “king of the Cowboys and the Queen of the West” on their

iconic horses Trigger and Buttermilk, original Dale Evans comic books and a vintage Roy Rogers and Trigger, child-size guitar.

* The exhibit will be open to the public at 2501 N. Utah, Mon-Fri 8am-5pm.

continuing tHe Legacyreality exceeds exPectations

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t took us two and a half years to finally reach our Grand Opening for our first Papa Murphy’s pizza fran-chise. By the fourth time we

had to move the opening date back, staff and I were frustrated. We had been doing full food service at Tin-ker Air Force Base for over twenty years; how hard could making pizza be?!@# The answer was, if you are going to do it right, it’s “HARD”! In a stroke of brilliance someone said to me, “Connie, if it were easy, everyone would do it”! light bulb! Of course they were right! Dale Rogers is the first non-profit to own a Papa Mur-phy’s franchise in the United States, and we have a history of being inno-vative and willing to go out-of-the-box to try new ideas that meet our mission to train and employ people with disabilities. We do it to allow our folks to be more independent and to become tax-paying Oklahomans, re-gardless of how challenging or incon-venient a new program may be for us as staff and management.

Our first federal contact at Tinker Air Force Base started back in 1993.

We knew nothing about food service and had almost no financial resourc-es, but our start-up team and Board were determined. General Richard Burpee (Ret.) was the Post Com-mander at the time. He has a family member with a disability and was will-ing to let agencies like DRTC com-pete for contracts and prove that we could be competitive. DRTC won an award our very first year; next came custodial contracts at Tinker AFB and more food service at Altus AFB. The real victory though was the in-crease in dignity and self-worth for the folks who were newly employed with these great jobs and benefits.

Dale Rogers first business started in the eighties, Prism Place, our awards and trophy business; others include our Gift Shop, featuring our Prairie Spice line, Wyman, our framing company, and Papa Murphy’s. The challenge is integrating these differ-ent business models into our cul-ture; all these business models have different regulations and a myriad of different licensing, software, payrolls, training requirements, surveys, dif-ferent contract years, etc.

DRTC has struggled because we never take the beaten path. We do, however, need better marketing and MORE CUSTOMERS so we can continue to increase our self-suffi-ciency! As this population continues to age, more geriatric and specialized programs will be needed.

connie tHrasH mcgoodWin, m.ed.executive director

if it was easy everyone wouLd do itfrom tHe director

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“Thanks to dedicated parents, satisfied customers, community advocates and a trusting part-nership between DRTC’s profes-sional staff and the Board of Di-rectors, there are no limitations to how far we can evolve.”

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f Robin was born today, she and her family would have so many choices and options for her future. What a joy it is to

see the opportunities for training and jobs this agency provides for people with disabilities and their families, to

watch the pride and sense of accom-plishment earned the old fashioned way and best of all, to know the good guy still wins at DRTC.

We thank the Rogers family and Schmitz for the trust they have in

Dale Rogers Training Center and our pledge to be caring stewards of their gifts as we continue the legacy of Robin Elizabeth Rogers and the impact of Dale Evans Rogers’ book Angel Unaware.*

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some

have entertained angels unawares. - Hebrews 13:2

Happy traiLs to you!

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a

Connect with DRTC

2501 N. Utah • Oklahoma city, OK 73107 • 405-946-4489 • www.dRtc.org

Gift Shop hourS: Monday - friday froM 8aM to 5pM * 405-813-9998 * www.DRTC.org/commerce

priSM place * 405-946-1079 * www.PrismPlace.orgWyMan fraMe * 405-437-5659 * www.WymanFrame.org

Papa Murphy’s Pizza u 405-601-6869 u www.facebook.com/PapaMurphysDRTC23rd & flynn (BetWeen May & penn) u Mon-thur: 11aM-8pM u fri-Sat: 11aM-9pM u Sun: 11aM-8pM

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