O’Berry Center, a part of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, is a cluster of group homes serving the needs of people with a wide range of physical and mental challenges. In addition to providing all the services you would expect, O’Berry also offers to those who live there an opportunity to have a meaningful job. “Work is a vital and important part of every person’s life,” explained Carolyn Davis, Director of Vocational and Educational Services at O’Berry. “We know that personal satisfaction and sense of accomplishment derived from completing a task are important to all of us. That is our challenge, to provide meaningful work opportunities to all the individuals who choose to work,” added Davis. By Nature Soap is one of the main enterprises providing jobs for those at O’Berry Center. The soapworks produces very high quality handmade organic soaps, lotions, butters, and balms. “All our products use the finest quality oils, butters, botanicals, and essential oils from all around the world,” said Phyllis Ezzell, the Soapworks manager. “We search the world to find only the best, pure certified organic ingredients. They cost substantially more but, because our mission is to provide quality jobs not large profits, we can still offer our products at very competitive prices,” Ezzell said. By Nature Soap offers more than forty different kinds of soap, lip balm, body butter moisturizers, lotions, bath salts and scrubs, all of which have one thing in common. “All our products use natural ingredients and contain no chemicals, additives, petroleum products, artificial ingredients, preservatives, or fillers,” added Ezzell. “Our products are 100% pure, mild and hypoallergenic.” In the Soapworks are a number of people working in various jobs. Walking through you will see Linda, mixing ingredients for soap or lip balms under the watchful eye of Ezzell who mentors her work. After the soap is poured into molds, Chris, Paul, and others begin the process of cutting the bars, grading the various soaps, and packaging the products into their individual containers. Mary and her co-workers complete the packaging process by labeling each product. Each day the products to be made change, so do the jobs performed by the various individuals. The atmosphere of the Soapworks has more the feel of an artisan studio than a production area. “We are very proud of the soap and personal care products we are making,” Davis noted. “But, the Soapworks is only one of more than a dozen artisan programs we have that provide important jobs for the individuals living here.” Other artisan areas include pottery and woodworking studios, a custom printing shop specializing in note pads, and a specialty foods program where we operate a full service bakery making decorated cakes, pies, and other unique foods and candies. “Our customers call in or stop by our store. We can design, bake, and decorate an unlimited variety of cakes from every day functions to gourmet specialty cakes”, added Davis. “We want everyone to know that when they buy from us they are getting ‘Handmade from North Carolina’. All of our products reflect traditional craft skills and methods that have been adapted to the needs of our artisans,” Davis said. Jocelyn Jackson guides the pottery studio along with other experienced potters. “North Carolina has a long tradition in pottery as exampled by the world wide reputation of the Seagrove area known as the pottery capital of America. We use only native North Carolina clay and our work is hand thrown on the potter’s wheel, made on our slab rollers, or extruded,” Jackson said. “We use all the traditional methods of throwing, coil pottery, and slab building.” After drying, the clay is fired in the studio’s kiln to 1850 degrees for the first, or bisque, firing. Various artisans then apply glaze and the items are fired to their final temperature of 2350 degrees producing durable high quality stoneware. There are a wide variety of jobs being performed by the individuals in the studio. Their jobs include preparing and weighing the clay, operating the slab roll or extruder, and glazing the bisque. “Our pottery mentors guide the creative process,” Jackson said, “we use techniques that are specific to the needs of each individual. With some who work on the wheel, we use a hand over hand process that assists them in forming the item”. Others can work independently through a particular phase of creating the work. Most of the items produced in the pottery studio are utilitarian in nature. The pottery makes a variety of strong sturdy mugs, plates, bowls, and vases, in addition to other items that are more just for fun such as their character jugs and pots. “Our pottery has been really well received. We have had pieces purchased by knowledgeable private collectors and other items that have gone into public spaces”, noted Jackson. “We were especially pleased to be asked by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to provide lamps and other pieces of pottery for the main reception area at the division headquarters in Raleigh”. “The accomplishments of the individuals who work in the pottery with their mentors has been an exciting process for all of us”, said Dr. Frank Farrell, Director of O’Berry Center. “One of our greatest honors was to be contacted by the Governor’s office after work by our individuals was shown to officials in Raleigh. The Executive Director of the North Carolina State Service Commissions, William Lindsay, would be attending the National Association of State Service Commissions annual meeting in Seattle, Washington. Each State Director was asked to bring a product representational of their home state. The Governors office chose to provide a piece of pottery since North Carolina has such a rich heritage in hand thrown pottery. The piece chosen was made here at O’Berry in our own studio”. Dr. Farrell also pointed out that when United States Senator Elizabeth Dole visited with a Veterans Affairs organization recently, their committee came to O’Berry and selected a sampling of soaps and pottery to present Senator Dole as a thank you gift representational of this area. “As our businesses have expanded, we identified the need to provide an enhanced shopping experience to better showcase the exceptional work of our individuals. Plans are underway to open a new retail shop early next year. Berry Towne Crafts has plans for an old fashioned hand hewn and chinked log cabin, which would be in keeping with our traditional crafts. The cabin will provide over 1,500 square feet of display space with a spring 2007 projected completion.” Farrell added, “We have received the final drawings from our architectural design firm and with the final drawings in hand, hope to start construction in early spring. We are so pleased with the support we get from the public, both in our store and those shopping online,” Farrell said. “When people buy our products, they are ensuring our continued success and enabling us to expand opportunities to the people we serve.” “Our artisan studios are self supporting , and all our individuals are compensated for their work,” said Barbara Doerter, who manages the vocational enterprises. Berry Towne Crafts has been selling their products through their retail store on the O’Berry Campus for many years. “By adding online shopping we have expanded our opportunity to sell our products worldwide. With our new artisan programs, and now an online store, we are in a position to increase opportunities for everyone,” added Doerter. “All our activities have one common purpose, to offer meaningful, life enriching work opportunities grounded in fun and expressive programs”. |
| Berry Towne Crafts: Exceptional People - Exceptional Work |
