Former Shasta Opportunity Center clients still have jobs, thanks to Siskiyou nonprofit

Earlier this year, when Shasta County shut down a program that had provided jobs for disabled adults for nearly 60 years, there were concerns that people displaced by the closure would have a tough time finding new work.

“We were concerned about that as well, so we came up with a plan that was not going to allow for that to happen,” said Diana Anderson, former associate director at Far Northern Regional Center. She came out of retirement to help find jobs for former Opportunity Center clients.

Through their efforts, Anderson said the 134 people who were displaced were able to keep working, many retaining the job they had as an Opportunity Center client. She said there were a few clients who were not placed in jobs, choosing instead to retire or find a job themselves.

When the decision was made to close the Opportunity Center in Shasta County, Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) officials said they were working with Far Northern Regional Center and Opportunity Center clients who were eligible to transfer to other work-training programs.

HHSA Director Laura Burch said they also made counseling services available to Opportunity Center staff and clients.

Jane Work, a former Opportunity Center program manager who also helped with the transition, said 75% of the people kept their same job.

“A lot of them didn’t want to change jobs," Work said. "They felt very comfortable with the jobs they had, some had been doing them for 10, 15 years."

The Siskiyou County Opportunity Center, a nonprofit not operated by the county, is one of the organizations that placed former Shasta County Opportunity Center clients.

The nonprofit was able to renegotiate contracts with the city of Redding and keep 50 people employed, Siskiyou County Opportunity Center Program Director Kristina Jackson said. The jobs were in the city’s recycling center, transfer station and janitorial services.

“Far Northern Regional Center reached out to us and asked if we could provide support and pick up these projects in Redding, so that we could continue the employment of those individuals,” Jackson said.

Dan Chianello, executive director of the Siskiyou County Opportunity Center, said when Far Northern called, he was interested but needed to crunch some numbers to see if it would work financially.

The Shasta County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously last February to close the Opportunity Center based on the recommendation from the county’s Health and Human Services Agency that the center was not financially healthy.

The center closed in June.

Prior to the supervisors’ decision, HHSA Deputy Branch Director Julie Hope said financial assessments predicted the center's expenses would exceed its revenue by more than $1 million during the 2022-23 fiscal year.

More: High interest rates cooled the Shasta County housing market. More of the same in 2024?

Among the reasons Hope gave for agency's deficit were "mismanagement due to poor financial oversight," along with minimum wage increases, rising costs for staff salaries and fewer referrals during the COVID pandemic.

Chianello could not speak to Shasta County’s financial difficulties in keeping the Opportunity Center open.

But he did say that his nonprofit operates in the black.

“Each contract we have is paying for itself. We price the contracts to meet all the wages, all the expenses and still have a little bit of a margin on top of that. Each contract has to operate that way,” Chianello said.

Of the organizations that placed former Shasta County Opportunity Center clients in jobs, Chianello’s group took on the most.

The other organizations that helped keep former Shasta County Opportunity clients in jobs included North Valley Services in Red Bluff and the Lincoln Training Center, which has locations across California.

David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly "Buzz on the Street" column. He’s part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on X, formerly Twitter, @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 1-530-338-8323. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: What happened to former Shasta County Opportunity Center clients?