Milestone: Producing Jobs for Disabled Adults and Specialty Lettuce

Transcript

OPEN: One Pittsburgh organization is providing local produce, as well as jobs for people with disabilities. It's the third season for Milestone's hydroponic greenhouse where workers grow specialty lettuce. The Allegheny Front's Sarah Rutherford tours the greenhouse with business manager Art Brown in this audio postcard.

ART BROWN: Our greenhouse is located on approximately four acres in Buena Vista in Elizabeth Township. We're right along the MonYauch bike trail.

ART BROWN: Everyone's been very supportive with the agency. They understand that the greenhouse provides jobs to people with disabilities.

ART BROWN: If you look inside you can see Mike, he's one of our workers down here. He's transplanting all the plants.

ART BROWN: Now we're entering the greenhouse and you'll here the door shut. With all of the air movement coming through here the door slams pretty loud.

Nat Sound: door slam

ART BROWN: You need a lot of airflow in the green house to help keep the downy mildew down and the plants just love the air. You've got to keep the moisture down. You know you're in a hydroponic greenhouse where all you have is water but that's one of the worst things for the plants just all that moisture.

Nat Sound: fan

ART BROWN: We're passing the nursery right now. All the plants marked with red flags is what our guy who's out here now is transplanting today.

ART BROWN: As you can see our worker here is transplanting.

MIKE: Hello. I'm a greenhouse worker. I'm just transplanting this bib lettuce into the tray. Just stick them into the hole every other hole.

MIKE: I've harvest, transplants, sowed.

ART BROWN: We have two guys who work in the greenhouse

ART BROWN: The one guy's part time. He works two to three days a week. Our other guys is full time, he drives a truck and everything.

ART BROWN: They were involved with our supported employment program and we just let the job coaches know that we had job openings down here and they brought the guys in, we interviewed them just like a regular job, brought them in, trained them. The job coaches were with them for a good four to six months which is not normal. Normally you can take one of the guys out in the community, get him a job, and the job coach might be with him for a week or two steady and then they come back weekly to check on them.

ART BROWN: If we're having a busy week then I'll help the guys. But I try to leave them do most of the work.

Nat Sound: door open and birds outside

ART BROWN: Everyone really buys into our mission down here. I just hope sales pick up. I hope the economy starts getting better where we can sell to capacity.

Nat Sound: bikers on gravel road