SUCCESS STORIES
GET INSPIRED.
Work Skills Corporation is multifaceted. From Employment & Training to Home Care, we've been grateful to work with a wide variety of children and adults to overcome barriers. These success stories demonstrate how WSC has contributed to the success and independence of their clients.
Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and shadows will fall behind you."
~ Walt Whitman
BONNIE GRABER
Volunteer of the Year
WSC is pleased to honor Bonny Graber as our 2022 Volunteer of the Year.
Bonny started volunteering at Artisan Corner in March of 2021, when we were located at Studio West Gallery. Her calm demeanor and warm smile are the perfect combination, and the artisans welcomed her from the start. She encouraged their creativity, helped them with their projects, and purchased more than a few of their items – for herself and as gifts.
Six months later, the classroom and the boutique moved back to WSC headquarters on Summit Street. To say that Bonny was involved in the transition would be an understatement! She helped pack finished paintings, ceramics and jewelry as well as art supplies and materials. There were literally hundreds of boxes. Once everything was moved, Bonny got to work unpacking and organizing things as we settled into our new space. Staff were busy working with the artisans, and were so grateful that she put things in places that made sense and were easy to find.
Artisan Corner volunteers set their own schedules. Bonny was onsite several times a week for three or four hours at a time, and became an integral member of our WSC family.
In addition to her volunteer support, Bonny is also a member of the Women of Work Skills Foundation, (WoW), our philanthropic group.
Congratulations, Bonny, and THANK YOU!
ANN ARBOR SPARK
Collaborator of the Year
Work Skills Corporation (WSC) is proud to honor Ann Arbor Spark as our Collaborator of the Year.
AA Spark collaborates with WSC on multiple fronts focused on providing area employers with resourceful and innovative training and grants to develop and retain critical talent in Livingston County.
This past year WSC and Ann Arbor Spark partnered to train 17 employees from four area employers on a fast-track Leadership program developed specifically for our Livingston Manufacturing Talent Pipeline Management (TPM) cohort to work on the skills gap of new leaders.
We also worked together to educate employers on resources including grants available to businesses. Thank you to Ann Arbor Spark for partnering so well with WSC to develop and grow businesses in southeast Michigan!
RANDY KOTARSKI
Participant of the Year
Randy Kotarski came to the Artisan Corner Art Program from WSC Home Care in early 2017 with a desire to earn a paycheck using some of his skills and the love he has for art.
With coffee in hand, Randy became a shining light in the art studio; a regular who rarely missed a day, working diligently on his canvases and ceramics that have sold so well.
Over the past 5 years, Randy has grown alongside his fellow artists and has become a source of understanding and tolerance for the barriers and difficulties they may be experiencing. Randy’s contribution has informed the program’s ethos of providing skill build-ing and artistic training to artists with barriers in a way that brings forth their authentic, individual talents and styles while introducing them to new techniques and mediums. Randy has never hesitated when given an assignment and readily dives into anything Art Instructor Michelle Acevedo puts in front of him.
“Randy has been an invaluable source of inspiration to both the staff and the students over the last 5 years,“ she reports. “He’s like our Norm from Cheers; everyone looks forward to seeing him here and being greeted by him when they walk in.” Randy is tenacious and versatile, and is a sought after commissioned artist.
WSC is honored to be part of Randy’s creative vocational journey and we wish him continued success!
