Tesh

Spring Dinner Event
at
Settlers Creek
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Dinner Menu

Ceviche Shooters
A miniature version of the traditional Central American seafood favorite. An amazing mix of chopped pacific game fish, scallops and shrimp “cooked” in fresh squeezed
lime and mixed with, cilantro, avocado and sweat red onion served in a jigger shot glass with a jumbo shrimp and a sprig of cilantro.
Smoked Salmon Canapé’ with Capers & Dill
House smoked regional salmon blended with smooth cream cheese, capers and fresh garden dill, lemon zest and served on a crisp English cucumber slice.
Buffalo Mozzarella Caprese Skewers
Colorful, fresh and tasty this red, green and white skewed appetizer is made from vine ripened pear tomatoes, water cured buffalo mozzarella and fresh basil leaf and
seasoned with freshly cracked rainbow pepper and sea salt.
Angus Rib Eye Roast
Whole 100% Angus Whole Rib Eye Roast rolled in Settlers Creek’s bold savory herbs and slow roasted in our wood fired ovens for 5 hours using white oak from the
Columbia basin. Our herb rub is made from whole spices such as juniper berry, coriander, fennel, sea salt and ground just before being hand applied to the roast. When
prepared in this authentic wood fired manner, with herbs and spices freshly ground, this uncomplicated yet quality roast becomes stunningly delicious.
Individual servings cut to order at the carving station with our blend of horse radish sauce.
Cocoa Seared Pork Tenderloin
Whole tenderloin of pork rolled in our blend of sweet & savory seasoning made from scratch using ingredients such as ground roasted coffee beans, cocoa, smoked
paprika, ground chili, four types of pepper, sea salt and just a touch of red peppers to give it a slightly warm spice and of course sifted brown sugar to sweeten the mix.
Seared and flash roasted to medium well.
Individual servings cut to order at the carving station.
Rosemary Roasted Young Chicken
Whole young regional raised chicken lightly seasoned with our own very special blend of sea salt, rosemary and Italian herbs then baked in an authentic wood fired oven
using white oak from central Oregon.
Tuscan Kale Salad
A Crispy, fresh and silky salad. Lancinato kale cut chiffonade style with candied walnuts, match stick apples and shaved celery tossed with a dressing made from juiced
meyer lemons, avocado and stone ground mustard.
Grilled Asparagus
Local seasonal asparagus seasoned, grilled and served with a balsamic reduction topped with feta cheese.
Sea Salt Crusted Roasted Baby Red Potatoes
Sweet and creamy baby red potatoes tossed in real butter and course sea salt, seasoned with house ground rosemary and freshly ground rainbow pepper, then roasted until
their skin becomes toasted and the inside is velvety smooth.
Dessert
Beverages
Ice water with lemon slices
Doma Coffee
Bar
A variety of Donor furnished red and white wines and bottled beer.

On May 2nd, Idahoans will come together for a day of giving to support the nonprofits in communities across our state. From midnight -11:59pm a share of every dollar raised by Idaho nonprofits will be matched with funds from the Idaho Gives award pool. In addition, the top five organizations with the most unique donors (nonprofits are divided by size) will receive bonus grants of $3,000, $1,000, $500, $250, and $250 respectively.

About 21 percent of adults with disabilities are in the labor force, down from about 23 percent four years ago. The unemployment rate among those workers is 13.5 percent, well above the jobless rate of 7.3 percent for all employees in the U.S.

When Christopher Griffin fills out job applications, he knows his work history stands out for the wrong reason. He hasn’t held a job since 2005, well before the recession.

The 31-year-old Spokane man was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis seven years ago this month. The news derailed his working life.

Numbness in one foot – a symptom of the disease that attacks the central nervous system – forced Griffin to quit his last job as a line cook.

“We had hot oil, sharp knives – you know, just everything that would be an issue,” he said.

After years of fine-tuning medical treatments and attending community college accounting classes part time, Griffin is ready to go back to work. He hopes to land a job that permits him to mostly sit, as standing for long periods is difficult.

“I’m interested in most any work as long as I don’t have to stand,” he said. “I’m willing to take chances, try different things.”

Griffin is one of hundreds of people with disabilities who are looking for employment in a job market still saturated with unemployed and underemployed workers.

He’s getting help through Ability Works, a program that finds job leads for disabled workers and provides career coaching.

“Kind of our big thing is not just to get a person in a job but to get them in a job that’s going to fit,” said Linden Custer, program manager for Ability Works, a branch of the nonprofit Tesh Inc. in Coeur d’Alene.

Aaron Lorenz is one such success story. The 22-year-old Coeur d’Alene resident and graduate of Project CDA Alternative School had worked a number of jobs, including at a fast-food chain in town. But he struggles with anxiety and easily gets overwhelmed. He said he needs work where he can focus on learning the routine.

“It was like I was on a tightrope the whole time,” Lorenz said.

For most of a year he was out of work and couch-surfing. Then the local office of the Idaho Division of Vocational Rehabilitation referred him to Ability Works.

Custer accompanied Lorenz to several job interviews and helped him land a position as a dishwasher at the Coeur d’Alene Resort.

Now four months into it, Lorenz said he loves his work. His supervisor has been patient and lets him stop and regain his composure when he feels engulfed by the dishes and glassware that constantly pile up around him, he said.

“The early weeks were stressful, man. It got intense,” he said.

But he learned to focus on small tasks that could easily be accomplished rather than dwell on the whole job. He’s working full time and has his own place and car now.

Ability Works is helping about 150 individuals with disabilities look for work. It’s quite a jump from a low of 18 clients before the recession, Custer said.

In the past five months the program helped 35 people find employment.

Many clients are looking for entry-level jobs, such as janitorial or kitchen work.

“In those markets, it seems like a lot of those jobs have been taken by folks that may be overqualified for those positions because of the way the economy has been lately,” Custer said.

“I had a manager say, ‘Well, I’ll put him on top of the stack right now, but I’ve had 300 applicants for this dishwashing job.’ … You know on that your work is cut out for you trying to get somebody hired, let alone someone with a disability,” he said.

About 21 percent of adults with disabilities are in the labor force, down from about 23 percent four years ago, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate among those workers is 13.5 percent, well above the jobless rate of 7.3 percent for all employees in the U.S.

Lack of recent work experience can be a real hindrance to people attempting to re-enter the workforce after a prolonged absence, Custer said. Sometimes they need to start with volunteer work to freshen up their resume and demonstrate to employers they are eager to work again, he said.

Other times, employers are unsure they’ll end up with a dependable and stable employee. Ability Works will talk with them about what to expect from a person with a disability.

“They’re an employee just like everyone else they would have,” Custer said. “Given a chance, we have folks who have stayed on jobs for 10, 20, 30 years, just because once they do get that job, and it’s what they were looking for, they never want to leave.”

Griffin, the Spokane man with MS, receives Social Security disability income and is on a tight budget. He needs to find work to be able to pay tuition to complete his accounting certificate.

Ability Works is helping him through the federally funded Ticket to Work program, designed for Social Security recipients who aim to work again.

After five years of trying various treatments and rebuilding strength, Griffin’s condition is stable. He can stand and walk without assistance but grows fatigued after more than a couple hours on his feet.

“What I had to do eventually was just kind of learn to live within my disability, instead of charging through it like I was used to,” he said.

He has applied for several jobs recently but has had no interviews. He’s looking for something like a call center, assembly work, maybe a cashier where he can sit down.

“I’m willing to do a lot of things if given a shot,” he said.

“They’d have to take a chance on me, and I haven’t found anyone yet who is willing. I’ll keep searching, that’s for sure.”

COEUR d’ALENE – It was just a flier that Catherine McClintick’s son, Andrew, a child with Down syndrome, brought home from school several years ago.

But for the McClintick family, it would prove to be life-changing.

The handout was for Camp Independence, a summer program for children with developmental disabilities – a service provided by Tesh, a Coeur d’Alene nonprofit that provides life and job skills training, counseling, and child development services to Kootenai County residents.

McClintick, one of the guest speakers at Tesh’s annual Pathways to Independence breakfast held Thursday at The Coeur d’Alene Resort, shared how Andrew’s experience at Camp Independence became the gateway to other Tesh services that have helped create an enriching life for Andrew and the rest of the McClinticks.

“Without Tesh, my family would be prisoners in our own home,” McClintick said.

Raising “one of those kids with an extra chromosome” wasn’t easy, she said. There were health problems. When Andrew’s colon burst, medical professionals gave him a 20 percent chance of survival.

But he pulled through, and the McClinticks carried on.

“I finally taught him to eat at age 4,” McClintick said.

With encouragement from friends, Andrew’s mother took steps to integrate the boy into society.

When Andrew came home from school with the information about Camp Independence, McClintick said the idea of a place for Andrew to celebrate the long, sunny, school-free days of summer with his peers was appealing. It would provide an alternative to spending the time at home.

But there was also some trepidation, McClintick said. Andrew’s extreme fight-or-flight reflex sometimes caused problems. He had been injured when he once climbed out a second story window.

“This, my friends, was on my mind,” McClintick said.

At camp, Andrew went through “camp buddies” quickly because of his behavior and Intensive Behavioral Intervention therapy was recommended.

A therapist, “Miss Paula,” began what McClintick described as a “wonderful, shall we say, ‘dance,’” with Andrew. The woman initially spent weeks just playing alongside the boy.

“Somehow, he tolerated her. This was my first glimpse of hope,” McClintick said.

“Miss Paula” helped Andrew begin to overcome some of the family’s major challenges. He learned, among other things, to stop getting upset when someone laughs, and to stop running away when he does become agitated, McClintick said.

“With that hard work behind us, we could finally have some semblance of family life,” she said.

For the first time, they were able to go out in public.

“I shudder to think what life would be like today without Tesh,” McClintick said.

Tesh serves 400 clients annually. CEO Russ Doumas said the gap between what it actually costs to serve these individuals and what the agency is reimbursed for as fees for services is $1,200 per client.

Thursday’s breakfast was one of the agency’s main fundraisers for the year. By the end of the business day, the event had raised $47,000. Holly Stetson, Tesh’s development director, said they expect additional dollars to continue coming in over the next few weeks.

A video shown during the breakfast highlighted the ways Tesh helps its clients and their families become successful members of the community.

Vickie Lesley, the mother of another Tesh client, a child with autism, said that with the agency’s help, her son has learned coping skills and gained self-confidence.

“They never gave up and they never gave in,” Lesley said.

Brian Cravens, from Big R Stores, has hired several Tesh clients, and said he would hire more, if he had jobs available for them.

“They always give us their best when they’re there,” Cravens said.

Big R Stores was given Tesh’s employer of the year award during Thursday’s breakfast.

In addition to working with local employers, Tesh works with the local school districts to provide opportunities for their clients.

Trina Tinder, a Post Falls special education teacher, said her students learn a sense of value through the job opportunities Tesh offers.

“We all want to feel worthy, no matter what,” Tinder said.

Information: 765-5105