Tours of the building are offered the second Tuesday of every month at 5:30 p . m , or by appointment . Contact the organization at tours @ solidgroundmn . org to sign up .
Solid Ground
East Metro Place 3521 Century Avenue North . White Bear Lake , MN 55110 Phone : 651-773-8401 Fax : 651-773-1492 www . solidground . org E-mail : info @ solidgroundmn . org Volunteer E-mail address : volunteer @ solidgroundmn . org Donor E-mail address : donate @ solidgroundmn . org Office Hours : 8 a . m . to 4:30 p . m ., Monday through Friday , and by appointment
Merrick , Inc .
Merrick , Inc ., based in Vadnais Heights , has been providing day services for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities in Ramsey County since 1964 . Executive Director John Wayne Barker shared that 2022 started typically for the program that serves 350 people , but mid-year the nonprofit moved into an expansion mode by adding three services to its offerings .
First , Merrick secured a vendor contract with the Vocational Rehabilitation Services office within DEED to provide job placement and ongoing support to people with disabilities seeking jobs in the general workforce . Merrick , Inc ., also created a new professional position to offer both In-Home Transition Services and Positive Support Services that are intended to stabilize a client ’ s placement at their home and / or day program .
“ We ’ ve also sharpened our fundraising and social media actions to be more effective in both the long- and shortterm ,” said Barker , “ and we ’ ve made investments in our main building to replace aging equipment , improve safety , and beautify the space .”
In addition , Merrick , Inc . has added a new location . “ Everything was going well for us , and we were humming along . However , due to the closures or downsizing of other programs , our waitlist had grown to 125 people seeking day services . We felt it was unacceptable that so many people in our community were at home waiting for services . Fortunately , fate , luck , or maybe destiny provided a solution ,” Barker said .
“ We became aware of 17-thousand square feet of space less than a mile from our main site and saw its potential to provide a level of life enrichment services that we couldn ’ t do at either of our existing locations ,” said Barker . Once they secured the new space , Merrick , Inc ., closed its North St . Paul location and transitioned all its life enrichment program services to the site at 1239 Willow Lake Boulevard in Vadnais Heights . These 40 clients were soon joined by another 40 clients from the main site . Clients enrolled in the program will enjoy a wider variety of life enrichment activities at the new location including art , music , physical activities , recreation , and community inclusion activities .
About 80 clients are being served at the new location , even as renovations are underway to add a sensory room and five studios : pottery , painting , sewing , crafts , and music . “ We anticipate serving 160 clients at the 1239 Willow Lake Blvd . program by July 1 , 2023 . This will bring our total census to more than 500 clients ,” said Barker . “ Our goal is to have exceptional work services at 3210 and remarkable life enrichment programs that are uniquely suited to best support the needs of the clients we serve .”
Merrick , Inc .
Work Services Program 3210 Labore Road Vadnais Heights , MN 55110 Phone : ( 651 ) 789-6200 E-mail : Info @ MerrickInc . org
Life Enrichment Program
1239 Willow Lake Boulevard , Suite 101 Vadnais Heights , MN 55110 Phone : ( 651 ) 788-9107
Newtrax
Newtrax , which is headquartered in White Bear Lake , has been providing transportation services for seniors and people with disabilities in the Northeast Metro since 2011 . Newtrax was founded by member organizations Merrick , Inc . and PAI , Inc . Both are non-profits that provide vocational and life enrichment services to adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities .
Executive Director Mike Greenbaum said operations were pretty much back to normal in 2022 , but new challenges that started prior to the pandemic were evident throughout the year . “ We now have a huge challenge in finding employees — drivers , specifically — to be able to carry out the needs of the community from a transportation standpoint ,” he said .
“ We ’ re having a hard time finding buses as well . There ’ s a big backlog in the ability to get the types of buses that we utilize .” vhedc . com 29