Lafourche ARC director goes ape for workers

Desperate times called for desperate measures last Friday.

Bobby Roddy, Lafourche ARC’s human resources director, took to the streets to recruit employees for the agency’s dwindling staff.

Roddy dressed in a gorilla suit and stood near the roadway in front of Lafourche ARC in Thibodaux, waving a sign that said, “Honk, if you want a new job”. Keeping with the recruitment theme, the Beastie Boys’ tune “Brass Monkey” resonated from the speakers.

The agency is on the prowl for full-time and part-time direct support professionals.

The recruitment day lasted from 7 a.m. to noon. During that time, Roddy said 31 applicants inquired about job openings at Lafourche ARC.

“The recruitment day was a success,” Roddy said. “We had a lot of fun and we were able to draw the community into our office to see just what we had to offer.”

Lafourche ARC is a non-profit organization that provides services to clients with physical and developmental disabilities.

The agency has clients in seven different parishes: Lafourche, Terrebonne and St. Mary as well as St. John the Baptist, Assumption, St. Charles and St. James.

The agency has work sites in Thibodaux and Lockport, six community homes located in Thibodaux, Lockport and Chackbay, and more than 300 clients receiving care in their own homes.

“The drive is to get quality workers in our system,” said Lafourche ARC’s executive director George Stack. “We get staff in all the time, but we never get up to the level that we need.”

ARCs statewide have gaps in their services because they lack the staff needed to fill the void. Stack believes that if Lafourche had more employees, the agency could improve its services.

The agency is looking for support professionals to work in any of its three departments: Residential Support Services, Community Support Services and Vocational Training Support Services.

Community Homes Director Sibyl Laiche said a professional working in residential support services will have the task of caring for the 36 adult clients that live in the six homes operated by Lafourche Arc.

Laiche said support personnel develop a plan for each client while providing them with the supervision they need to live a more independent life.

“In each one of our homes there are six individuals who either have a physical or developmental disability,” she said. “The support personnel is responsible for helping the individuals with their daily lives.”

Residential service personnel work rotating shifts up to eight hours a day for seven days a week, with the peak periods being from 4 to 8 p.m.

According to Stack, the community services sector is lacking the most employees.

Wendy Eschette, the director of Community Support Services, said support professionals provide day and night supervision for the elderly, disabled and children, ages 3 to 18 years old.

For the children, support personnel provide services strictly in the home. They can provide outdoor services for the adults.

“Whatever the plan calls for, whether it’s daily care, companionship or physical activities, the support personnel is there to help the individual,” she said.

Eschette said the support professional can work from two to 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

For the many clients who are living independently, Lafourche ARC offers vocational training, according to Vocational Services Director Rose Gaudet.

Lafourche ARC operates workshop centers in Thibodaux and Lockport. There, clients can earn wages by performing specific tasks like mobile cleaning services for various businesses, making street and business signs, sorting and packaging for businesses and recycling.

There are also a number of clients that are placed in community jobs.

Gaudet said support personnel are responsible for transporting those clients to and from work at Grenier Industrials. Once there, Gaudet said the support personnel become the client’s supervisor.

Most times, support personnel end their workdays by helping the clients organize the rest of their day after they have finished their daily task at Grenier Industrial.

“The people we support during community service all have the opportunity to work,” she said. “Everyone that comes into our vocational program is an adult. And the DSP has to play multiple roles and be flexible throughout the day.”

For more information, call (985) 447-6214 or 1-888-743-5272 or visit the agency at 100 Canal Blvd., Thibodaux.

Bobby Roddy, the human resources director at Lafourche ARC, dressed in a gorilla suit Friday and stood near the roadway waving a sign that said, “Honk, if you want a new job” for the agency’s employee recruitment. * Photo by KYLE CARRIER