On The Job 29 Years….And Counting!

Mike stopped by Nature’s Bin to see some old friends, including case manager, Sandy Gross.

Lakewood, Ohio has been the home to Cornucopia and Nature’s Bin for 40 years. Cornucopia is the nonprofit that operates Nature’s Bin. Nature’s Bin natural foods market is one of Cornucopia’s seven vocational training sites where people with disabilities can go to learn job skills and workplace behaviors so that they can succeed at a job in the community. Thousands of people have participated in vocational training through Cornucopia, thereby learning skills that last a lifetime.

Mike S. is a Cornucopia graduate. Mike completed a vocational training program in 1986 through the original “Bin” on Madison Avenue. He worked alongside Cornucopia Case Manager, Sandy Gross to learn key elements of various jobs in a grocery store and of being a good employee and co-worker. Mike must have learned these skills well because upon graduation from Cornucopia he was hired by Rini-Rego Stop-n-Shop, which became Giant Eagle, and has been working there ever since. That’s 29 years! “I learned that each of us has a role to fill and that every role is important,” Mike explained.

“When I first started at Giant Eagle I used to do price checks and clean-ups but my eyesight isn’t so good anymore so now I mostly collect carts from the parking lot and bag purchases for customers,” Mike said. Mike works 15 - 20 hours per week. When he’s not at work Mike is following along with his favorite Cleveland sports teams, especially the Cleveland Indians.

Programs hosted at Nature’s Bin, Lakewood’s own independent natural foods store, serve people with a wide range of disabilities including developmental disabilities, autism, mental illness, visual, speech and hearing impairments, and injuries resulting from accident or illness. Cornucopia and Nature’s Bin have been serving the greater Cleveland community since 1975.