Tommy Nobis Center Newsletter

Our mission is to develop and provide job training, employment and vocational support for youth and adults with all types of disabilities and other barriers to employment. In fact, we've helped more than 22,000 individuals throughout Metro Atlanta and the South to find independence and workplace success since opening our doors in 1977!

Putting People To Work

Rehab Services Team Welcomes Sandra Trifiro

A warm TNC welcome to Employment Skills Training Instructor and Program Manager Sandra Trifiro. Sandra joined the Rehab team in June as technology instructor. She has a Microsoft Office Specialists Master designation and will teach and certify clients in Microsoft Office Suite and Accounts Receivable.

Sandra Trifiro

Sandra has a B.S. in Industrial Management from Georgia Tech and a Masters of Science in Technology Management from Mercer University. In the last 10 years, she has worked in the non-profit industry as an employee and a volunteer promoting vocational needs of at-risk populations.
Welcome, Sandra!

Rehab Clients Served

12 Months Ending 6/30/11: 951

Rehab Client Job Placements

12 Months Ending 6/30/11: 116

Dedicated, Determined and Dependable

"Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible." Helen Keller

Blind and deaf from infancy, Helen Keller went on to graduate from college, become an author and lecturer, and forerunner to modern activism for people with disabilities. That would not have been possible without a great teacher. Anne Sullivan saw the intangible potential in Helen and cultivated her abilities to achieve the impossible (to read, write and speak) and to give her hope. At Tommy Nobis Center, we also strive to see the intangible and give hope to our clients with disabilities through training and employment services.

One such client with a hearing impairment is Theresa Harp Dewalt. She entered the training program in April 2010, and began evaluation and adjustment training. Theresa successfully completed her work evaluation and community adjustment program and expressed her desire to secure a job as a laundry attendant.

Based on her training success and work-readiness, Theresa's job coach contacted Embassy Suites Hotel in Kennesaw, a TNC employer partner. After a 40-hour job sample, she was recommended for hire. With Theresa's ability to read lips and a minor work accommodation of adding a white board so that co-workers could communicate with her, Teresa joined the Embassy Suites team and has successfully completed 120 days of work.

Theresa's supervisor at Embassy Suites says, "Theresa is dedicated, determined and dependable and always on time. She is a people-person and a very hard worker." Theresa says, "Tommy Nobis Center gave me support and helped me find employment. The job coach helped me learn my job. I love my boss Keri and all of my friends here."

Hope is tangible and achievement is possible when we see the abilities of our clients, and combine that with excellent training and employment opportunities.

Theresa Harp Dewalt

Tommy Nobis Enterprises Representatives Attend
NISH Conference in Washington, DC

EPA mailroom clerk Patrick Haight and Dobbins ARB Recycling Center associate Eugene Shelly represented Tommy Nobis Enterprises (TNE) at the NISH Grassroots Advocacy Conference, June 20-23 in Washington, DC. Accompanied by TNC vice president Karen Carlisle, Patrick and Eugene joined teams representing programs like ours from across the U.S. that work with NISH to provide federal jobs for people with disabilities.

After training to tell their stories, Patrick and Eugene visited the offices of U.S. Senators Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss, and U.S. Representatives Phil Gingrey, David Scott, John Lewis and Tom Price. Their message: a great big thank-you for being "Champions" of the AbilityOne Program which provides employment to individuals who have significant disabilities.

Patrick told how much TNE had helped him to learn job skills and find employment. He has worked for TNE the past eight years as a clerk in various federal mailrooms. Eugene, a 28-year TNC employee, made sure everyone he met knew this was his first time on an airplane.

The AbilityOne Program provides employment for individuals who might otherwise not find meaningful employment. Washington may have made an impact on these two TNE employees, but they surely impressed those they met on Capitol Hill!

Karen Carlisle, VP, Corporate Communications & Development, Tommy Nobis Foundation; Eugene Shelly, TNE employee; U. S. Rep, John Lewis; Patrick Haight, TNE employee

Foundation News and Events

26th Anniversary Tommy Nobis Center Celebrity Golf Classic - September 26

Registration is Filling Fast!

The tournament hosted by founder and former Atlanta linebacker, Tommy Nobis; Most Valuable Title Sponsor, ProCore Solutions; and Club Level Sponsor, WellStar Health System, will take place Monday, Sept. 26, at the scenic Marietta Country Club.

Registration will begin at 9:00 AM, with a 10:30 AM tee time and an awards reception to follow. The tournament features 18 holes of competitve golf, a boxed lunch provided by Carrabba's Italian Grill, golfer gift bag for each player, prizes for foursome and fivesome flights, and a silent auction and raffle.

Only a few team spots and hole sponsorships remain. Great prizes, auction items, celebrity fun, and it all takes place in just seven weeks. Pre-registration is required.

Contact Stacy O'Reilly at 770-427-9000, ext. 5120 for more details or to register your sponsorship.

2010 Celebrity Golf Guests (l-r):

Fulton Kuykendall, Roger Kaiser, Ken Rodriguez, Mike Haynes, Tommy Nobis, Clark Howard, Terance Mathis, Steve Bartkowski, Dan Reeves, Greg Brezina, Buddy Curry, Jerry Rhea

What does R2 Mean to You?

R2 is the abbreviation for the Environmental Protection Agency's 'Responsible Recycling' certification program. Recycletronics completed the R2/ISO 14001 audit the week of June 20. The auditor has recommended certification. Mike Daniels, COO, Recycletronics, stated that these certifications should be received by early September. Recycletronics will be the first home-based electronics recycler in Georgia to receive these certifications and they are the only e-recycler in the country serving our population to receive these distinctions.

Many corporations and industry organizations look to such a certification for their assurance that the recycling processor uses best practices for security, safety and environmental protection. Recycletronics' Dan Giles, who spearheaded the initiative in his role as Safety and Facilities Director said that the initiative is a crucial step in the development of more and stronger industry ties.

Sales Representative Paul Yarbrough called it an important milestone in the growth plans of Recycletronics. Yarbrough commented that many customers see this as the validation of their selection of Recycletronics as a partner.

Recycletronics Post-Audit BBQ Celebration

More Recycletronics Milestones

Recycletronics completed the second fiscal year of operations in June and reports the following for FY2011:

Received 9,733,214 pounds of electronic material & equipment
Created employment for 42 full time employees with an average wage of $8.95/hour and a direct labor ratio of 81.84% (persons with disabilities & barriers versus non-disabled.)
Ended the year with a positive bottom line
R2/ISO 14001 Audit complete; certification Sept. 2011
Awarded Hall County contract for Computer and Electronic Material E-Waste Collection and Recycling Services
Started HVAC equipment recycling for Moncreif Heating and Air in early June

Tommy Nobis Center Welcomes New Staff

Jennifer Smith

Jennifer Smith, former IT Manager for Crowne Plaza Ravinia in Atlanta, has been named Information Technology Manager for Tommy Nobis Center. Prior to her employment at the Ravinia, Jennifer worked as both the IT and Facilities Manager for Allied International Credit Corporation. The Center and staff are delighted to have a full-time IT Manager to maintain and manage the network systems of the various locations.

Welcome, Jennifer!

Felicia Carter

Felicia Carter joined TNC's Human Resources department as Payroll Benefits Specialist. Felicia has prior payroll benefits experience at Allstaff Technical Solutions and has earned a business administration degree from American Intercontinental University. She is a native Atlantan, living in Cobb County where she is raising two sons and a spoiled Labrador Retriever.

Welcome, Felicia!

Foundation Friends

Thank You To Our Donors!

We are grateful for the many ways individuals, companies, and foundations support the mission of Tommy Nobis Center to provide job training, employment and vocational support for youth and adults with disabilities and other barriers to employment.

Financial Donors:Virginia Conover; Cobb County Friendship Club; Robert & Polly Dunn Foundation; Allan & Lynn Esptein; Chris Hanley; CHH Properties, LLC; Sherri Hopkins; Hazel Koch; Gayle Lee; Laura Murphree; PeachState Porsche Club of America; Jeri Lynn Wilson

Vehicle Donors: Robert Alderson, Timothy Bailiff, William Barker, Earl Boston, Melinda Branam, Lynne Carr, Doug Carter, Joan Carter, Phillippe Casimir, Mary Chilcoat, Lisa Clark, Ruth Cook, Charles Cordaro, Lynne Crabtree, Samuel Dowling, Stephen Earnest, Sandra and Jack Engberg, Charles Esserwein, Abraham Fertig, Heroline Frazer, John Fuchko, Mitch Halpert, Charles Hamrick, Debbie and Gordon Harris, Dorothy Harrison, Robert Hatcher, Thomas Henninger, Jamie Hoffmeyer, Barbara Humhreys, William Hunt, George Imarhia, Teresa Wilson-Ives, William Jones, Lee Keeler, Kenneth Kligman, David Lester, Robert Littler, Lorna Loushin, Thomas Mark, Alan Massello, George Messic, IV, Anne Miller, Ndaya Mukenge, Tammy Parker, Alex Perkins, Richard Pierce, Marianne Pomponio, Carolyn Sheppard, Ken Stanton Music, Melanie Thomas, Ronda Thomas, Tom Thoms, John Thornton, Dorothy Toal, Lee Ann Utley, Kenneth Weaver, Weaver Distributors, Dennis Williams, Teresa Bishop Wilson

Recycletronics Donors: Walter Butler, M. Guyton, S. Anderson, Susan Argo, Noel Bingham, Phil Buggers, Joe Butler, Wanda Callahan, Steve Carroll, David Chadwick, Deshmys Childine, Doreen Davey, Nancy Enis, Peder Fagerholm, Charlene Gazdik, Elizabeth Hagman, Pat Hall, Hector de Jesus, Jonn Kone, Peter Leafman, Cindy Lee, Dan Makuch, Carolyn Miller, John Mills, Kellie Morgan, Roy Myers, Bill Nager, Sharon Patrick, S. Sanders, R. Shewmaker, Claudia Suggs, Brian Waugh, Barbara Willingham, Lee Wilson, Charles Wood

For more information on donation opportunities,

please see our website at: www.TommyNobisCenter.org

Tommy Nobis Center
1480 Bells Ferry Road
Marietta, Georgia 30066

770-427-9000

www.TommyNobisCenter.org

The Tommy Nobis Center is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization under the IRS ruling for 501(c)(3) corporations.

The Tommy Nobis Center provides equal employment opportunities to all qualified persons and

does not discriminate in the delivery of services to consumers.