Director of Employment Options earns international award

Marlborough - At a pivotal point when Marlborough-based Employment Options Inc. began expanding the support services they have provided for 25 years to people with mental illness to now also serving people with low income - the organization's Executive Director Toni Wolf received a top honor from the International Association of Psychosocial Rehabilitation Services (IAPSRS). At the IAPSRS May conference in San Diego, California, she was presented with the Irvin Rutman Award, an award that recognizes leaders in the field of psychosocial rehabilitation.

"It kind of felt like it ended a chapter," Wolf said, in regard to the award acknowledging the mental health programming that for "an era" had been the cornerstone of Employment Options services. "And now there's a whole other era of development that's going to happen. As an organization, we not only want to strengthen the mental health piece, but we want to move on to a workforce development piece [Employment Options' new programming for people with low income]."

According to Anupa Shah, the Options Marketing and Employment Manager who works closely with Wolf, Wolf is "very visionary" and takes her lead from the people she serves. She has been able to implement creative programming by listening to the concerns of members, Shah said, and she's been able to broaden the scope of service delivery by working with other providers in the community to blend programs that will reach wider groups with common needs.

But Wolf recognizes, Shah added, that without the financial backing the organization has had from the Metrowest community and other sources, the visionary programs could not be carried out.

"By her getting this award," Shah said, "it shows the credibility of our executive director. It's good for our funders to see that we have someone who's so strong and can lead the agency very successfully."

Now that Wolf has had some noted success, she said she's ready to raise the bar.

"When you get an award, that doesn't mean that you've mastered your skills. It just means it's time to gain new skills. It acknowledged a set of skills, but it's time to master some more," she said.

Some of the new skills she said she's working on include workforce development and fiscal responsibility skills.

She's got a head start on some of it. Out of necessity - to sustain the programming that's been working - she expanded her mental health advocacy to fiscal advocacy. She's built partnerships with donors, and is actively seeking more contributors to help fund the services that promote a barrier-free, strengthened community. Businesses, organizations and individuals are invited to sign on as a fiscal friend of Employment Options.

As Employment Options enters their new era, Wolf said the philosophy and values that have held the organization together through their clubhouse model support program for people with mental illness can now get moved to their new programs.

"Those belief systems will stay intact regardless of who we're working with because they're people-based. They're not diagnosis-based. They're not disability-based. They're people values. So I think that's kind of where I'm going … and really getting people to be stakeholders in the process," she added.

For more information about Employment Options or to sign on as a fiscal friend, call (508) 485-5051, ext. 225 or visit www.employmentoptions.org.

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