Keith McKeever 0:24

Hey there, welcome back to another episode of mission 309. Today I'm joined with Ashley Shrek from Epic, and we're going to talk about all the awesome things that they're doing. So welcome to the show. Ashley,

Ashley Schreck 0:34

thank you for having me. Thank you for the invitation.

Keith McKeever 0:37

No problem. I'm excited to learn more about your organization like I was telling you a few minutes ago. Best thing about doing this is learning about organizations that you're aware of, but not like super aware of so I've heard of epic. The Your logo is distinctive, you know, you can spot it anywhere, but to kind of pull back the curtain a little bit, and spread some some light on everything that you're doing. I'm excited about. So we love that. First of all, what is

Ashley Schreck 1:03

epic? Absolutely. So Epic is a local nonprofit headquartered in the Peoria area. And we are a human service organization, with a focus on people with disabilities. So our mission is to empower people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. And that's really through all aspects of their life. So we started in 1950, we just celebrated our 72nd or 71st anniversary. Now, with a big celebration. We started grassroots, it was a bunch of parents who got together, because they were told their children would amount to anything. And they weren't allowed to be at school at that time. So they pooled their money together, hired a teacher, to educate their their own children, to show the community and everybody else that they were worth something. So grassroots effort started with parents, as those children got older, the services changed a little bit, the times changed, you know, we were able to then be in school a little bit longer. And now here we are somebody wanting years later. And we're kind of what happens after high school after they age out of your typical programs. So we're like, what's next, going on to college going on to a career or a career going on to living independently, whatever that may be, we are the next step for them.

Keith McKeever 2:23

That's awesome. And I'm just blown away that the history goes back that far, like, kind of surprises me.

Ashley Schreck 2:30

Yeah, ever get a chance to come out to our headquarters in Peoria. Although we cover 15 counties. Right now. We are headquartered in Peoria. And we just got done with a big history wall unveiling. And you can see some of the amazing things that we actually were milestone innovators with. So for example, we actually started one of the first pilot programs in the nation for birth to age three support. So we were diagnosing people, we were giving your parents support, we were one of 10 in the entire nation, way back in the day. So lots of cool things that we've been the first of and we continue that practice and that history of innovative projects and services for people.

Keith McKeever 3:14

That's awesome. Because, you know, I can't imagine being a parent and facing this unknown road ahead of what does life look like for my child? What will they be able to do? What won't they be able to do? What support will they have? Because you go back to 1950? Like,

Ashley Schreck 3:33

you couldn't even like Google? Anything. So yeah, what was in your own backyard? And so epic started that service and that support system?

Keith McKeever 3:42

That's awesome. Because that's a wildly different time than what what we are today and long before our time, right? Oh, absolutely. But I can only imagine the complete lack of resources, I'm sure. Not only lack of resources, but a lot of people probably just didn't want to talk about it, you know, and stuff like that. So that's awesome. And I see on your website, you do kind of focus on educational, residential, and employment is that kind of like the three areas that you really focus on?

Ashley Schreck 4:10

Yeah, those are our three big pillars. And then there's also pillars within that. So for example, behavioral health, mental health is a big one as well. But that really encompasses the entire agency, and all three of those pillars. They all have mental health, therapeutic capacities along with it. So those are the three that we really focus on, because that's really, if you think about what happens after high school, those are kind of your paths, you know, we might have a person that's just on one of those paths, we might have a person that's with us for all three of those paths. So we really are everything to everyone. So everybody that comes through our doors, their support is going to look different.

Keith McKeever 4:48

So what does that kind of look like on each one of those paths? Then, like, you know, the continuing education, I guess first

Ashley Schreck 4:55

Yeah, so we've got a couple of different programs that you can go through that. So first of all, we have our Epic Excalibur epic exploration program. And we've partnered with the local high schools to get the students acclimated with what Epic is and get their families acclimated with what comes happens next. So there's a whole transition process of what happens when you're done with high school. For those listening, who don't have someone with a disability or kind of know that platform, when you are in school, you're only allowed until the age of 22. But that is where you cut off. So as soon as you turn 22, you're not allowed to finish the year, you're just completely done. So we don't want people to just have their lives uprooted. When they turn 22. We want to make sure they have a transition plan into what happens next. So that's part of education, we've got certification classes, we partner with ICC and host some classes at ICC. So educational as in what's your next skill level and growing those skills. But then we also have classes that people can come to every day where they're learning about the world around them, they're learning life skills, they're learning pre employment skills, what that looks like, for everybody is going to be a little bit different.

Keith McKeever 6:08

I was actually aware of the the ICC partnership because I, I just finished my bachelor's degree so but two years ago, two, two and a half years ago, something like that I was at ICC on the ground, of course, before the pandemic hit. And so I remember seeing people with T shirts and signs and stuff for Epic. So I knew that there was some things going on there but wasn't exactly certain what was going on there.

Ashley Schreck 6:32

Yeah, so we're back at it, we actually have a contract to have a classroom there. So we have an educator on site, working with their disability services to make sure that students there who happen to have a disability are getting the support they need, but also to work as a funnel in between the education and the families. So how can we get more people with disabilities into that next level of post secondary education?

Keith McKeever 6:58

That's awesome. And I assume the residential is more of a long term care, kind of kind of thing.

Ashley Schreck 7:03

Yeah, it just kind of depends. So we actually have two different pillars, technically three different pillars within our residential. So first and foremost, we have our group homes, and that's what most people are going to be familiar with. We actually own several homes in Peoria, and East Peoria, and those homes are staffed 24 hours a day. But the people might be going to work during the day, or might be coming out to Epic during the day or might be going to class during the day. But there are some people that live in those houses all the time. And so that's our most heavy fat residential program. But then we also own two apartment complexes. And those are for people who want to live more independently, but need 15 hours or more support a week. So each week might look a little bit different, they might need support with going grocery store or managing their finances or some medications that they take, maybe what that support system looks like is a little bit different. But they're able to get up to 15 hours of support and those apartments. But then we also have the most independent, the least restrictive residential situation is called a host home. And we've been doing that for over 35 years. And we are not only a pioneer, but we are one of the largest programs in the state. That's the program that most people haven't heard of yet. It's it's comparable to foster care. Tom's concept, but it is a little bit more long term. So we are looking for community members to be paid providers by Epic, we give them all the training they need. And then we have someone with a disability live with them, like much like a roommate. So depending on the situation, the individual might be coming to live in their home with them. Or in some systems situations, the individual owns the home. And the provider is coming in like a roommate. So that really runs the gamut on on different ways that it can be set up. We've got one host home where it's two young ladies, they each are a provider for another young lady. So it's for young ladies living in a home like Bachelorette, and they're you know, going shopping and going into movies and having nail nights and just having a great time living as roommates would any other 20 some year old would be living just to have them happen to have a disability. So

Keith McKeever 9:24

that's awesome. Well, you said earlier, you know something for everybody. That certainly certainly is something for everybody. And there's a lot of flexibility to I did not expect the whole this the second arrangement you said of somebody owning the home and then somebody coming in they're like that's a lot of flexibility to fit just about every need I could think of yeah,

Ashley Schreck 9:43

in that program. We really do that across the 15 counties because you don't have to have a physical office location to be present to do that. So we can set up a host home anywhere. It takes someone who's willing to open their heart and maybe their home and it takes a matching program that is an indicator Who wants to live a little bit more independently. So there is a matching program. So for example, if you're a night owl, and the individual is a homebody, that's probably not a good match. But then also with our, our group of providers that we have, there's also some moving around that we can do. So maybe you try it for a little bit, and it doesn't work out, that's okay. There might be another individual that comes along that that works better. But the problem is, the program does fluctuate. So we might have providers waiting for an individual but no individual wanting to live in that residential situation. But then it might be the other way around, we might have a bunch of individuals that are ready to being a provider situation, but no providers who want to step up and do that. But you can make up to 60, some $1,000 a year, depending on how many individuals you are taking, and what their their behavior looks like, and things like

Keith McKeever 10:52

that. Yeah, I'm sure you have quite a comprehensive matching program on skills, hobbies, personality, kind of things like that,

Ashley Schreck 11:00

yes, we do something called the host home huddle. And it's providers getting together at places in the community like coffee shops, and things like that, to really sit down and talk to other providers and potential providers on what the program really is. So they're going to be the ones to tell you exactly what it's like for them, how they benefit from the program, what they get out of it. So some people use it as supplemental income. So that might just be they have their full time job. And then they're also paid to be an epic provider. But then some people use this as the as their career. And they're basically just a stay at home person who happens to have payment for a roommate. And that host home individual is probably going to be at work during the day or class during the day or doing something during the day where they're outside of the home. So the caregiving is very minimal, but you're there in case they need it. Yeah,

Keith McKeever 11:57

well, I'm sure you get a lot of benefits both ways around, you know, somebody else around your home, especially, you know, maybe if you're a single person, you know, your home doesn't have to be as lonely. You have somebody else to talk to, to watch TV with to, you know, to do chores around the house with and stuff. But I can imagine that would be glad that there's a program for people to figure out more about it, because that's one of those things that would be like, you'd have to do a lot of soul searching. Yeah, really know what you're getting into a lot of research. Before you want to open up your home to some to some stranger and bring somebody in and what's in store for you.

Ashley Schreck 12:32

Yeah, and there's not a lot of like, one of our biggest questions is, do you have to have experience? And the answer is no, because we'll provide you with all the training. And then we've got a whole team of staff that are behind people making sure that it's a good fit, and that, you know, they're living their best lives. And for some of the individuals, this might be a stepping stone. So they might go from living with mom and dad to being in a host home where they have that support system, but then maybe they can learn the skills them to be living in their own maybe in one of our apartments, or even somewhere else. So

Keith McKeever 13:05

do you find a lot of people just just kind of hidden because I've got two young kids at home? Like that wouldn't work with our lifestyle, but I'm thinking, do you find a lot of people who, you know, once they become empty nesters, they're like,

Ashley Schreck 13:20

there are some but yeah, we get that question a lot too. Like, I've got kids at home? Well, that's fine. We've got a lot of providers that have kids and the, you know, the individual ends up being like an uncle or best friend or is just, you know, someone who is ingrained into the family. But a lot of people will call it a host family. But we call it a host home because we're not replacing the individuals family. We're just expanding it.

Keith McKeever 13:46

That's a good point. And Home is where you live. So there's there's something to that. That is awesome. Yeah. So you kind of answered one of my questions earlier about the host home stuff. I was gonna ask what, what does your organization need right now?

Ashley Schreck 14:02

Well, funding number one, that's always the big one. We are 80% funded by the government. So what that means for us is rate reimbursements. And things like that is how we pay our staff and how we pay for their services provided. So we always are looking for support financially, but also advocacy as well. So recently, the funding is on the table from the state of Illinois. And right now, Illinois ranks 47 As far as investing in services for people with disabilities, so they are very, very low in that support. They recently did a third party study. And that study gave them 10 recommendations of what the state needs to be doing to properly fund and support organizations such as ours. And there was just a call to action where we needed witnessed flip side and we needed people to be sending emails to legislators on our behalf because we're nonprofit, we can't lobby. So we really were looking forward to the community to making their voices heard to say A Yes, you need to be doing the right thing for people with disabilities. Right now there's a caregiver crisis, there was a caregiver crisis before COVID. And now it's even worse after COVID hit. So I was looking for staff, we could hire 60 People walking in the door today. But they can't just be a warm body, it's got to be someone who can, you know, have the heart and the passion for helping someone live their best life. So that's where we kind of struggle there. So not only funding and advocacy, but we also need staffing. So if you know anybody looking for a job moving to the community, that's a great way to do it is to join our team and be part of that big family.

Keith McKeever 15:41

I will definitely keep that in mind. If yes, if I run into anybody looking for a job, because there's tons of jobs out there right now. And, you know, not all not all jobs can give you a nice, good, warm feeling in your heart, knowing that you're helping somebody else out and make an impact in somebody's life.

Ashley Schreck 15:56

Yeah, and part of that part of that funding that we get, you know, with increased funding, the more we can support our staff. So right now we're having to compete with the way that we get reimbursed. We're having to compete with the targets of the world. And you know, some people are gonna go choose bagging groceries before they're gonna do caring and helping someone who is eating, living, breathing person. So that that giving people a fair wage and a professional wage versus a minimum wage is one of the things funding can help us do so. Volunteering is also great, we all always have awesome volunteer opportunities, anything from playing bingo, to getting your hands dirty in our heart, harvest garden, to painting in our avocado art studio. There's lots of ways to connect and interact with people with disabilities.

Keith McKeever 16:47

You take people who are who can only paint and draw stick figures. Sure, no. It's not me. Definitely not.

Ashley Schreck 16:56

We won't be asking you to do the drawing. You're just helping an art.

Keith McKeever 16:59

Okay. All right. That's a relief. My artistic ability is just non existent is bad. Okay, that's, that's a relief. Because that sounds fun.

Ashley Schreck 17:12

Art, if art isn't your thing, we've got a garden, we've got classrooms, we've got bingo, we have those group homes, maybe it's cooking a meal and giving the staff a little bit of a break that day, lots of different things we can be doing. following us on social media, that's that's a great way to also be an advocate. Seeing people out in the community with a disability, the more we see people on TV and in advertisements, and in our everyday life, the more support people with disabilities are going to get. If you know an employer who is looking to hire, maybe suggest they look to hire someone with a disability. So part of our employment services are not only that pre employment skills class that I talked about, but it's also finding placements for people. So right now we've got about 100 people placed in jobs in the community. And that in allows us to go to that employer and say, here are the benefits of hiring someone with a disability, have you thought of it, they are capable, they can do X, Y, and Z. And here's a job coach to help them along the way. So that job coach is an asset to the employee that has a disability, but it's also an asset to the employer, they're basically getting someone to train them for free. So the job coach will follow along with the individual on their job and make sure they're comfortable. Make sure they're understanding it, make sure they're getting all the support, they need to be the best employee that they can. And it's at no cost to the employer or the employee.

Keith McKeever 18:42

That's why I was I was just thinking that's a that's a win win for everybody. So yeah, it'd be great if more employers would consider that, especially with as many positions that are open. Everybody needs sound really. So

Ashley Schreck 18:57

we've got if I can remember off the top of my head, we've got about 32 people right now who have some sort of degree or post secondary training. We placed 74 people during the pandemic. So some of those were new placements. But some of those were, you know, they lost their job because of the pandemic. So we help them find a new one. And at any one time, we've got about 20 people in the waiting list waiting to get funding to get services. And then we probably have another 20 that are that have the funding but are looking actively seeking employment.

Keith McKeever 19:31

Awesome. So if there's an employer out there listening, is that available on your website? Yeah, absolutely.

Ashley Schreck 19:37

Yep. So we have a whole team for our employment, job placement. So they go out in the community, and they're working with employers to say, Hey, what are your open positions open? We've got people who can fit XY and Z. But we also do something called job shaving. So there might be a position where we know an individual could do X, Y, but not z will work with the employer to Say, Hey, can we change this job description a little bit and make this job work for this individual who might be overlooked otherwise?

Keith McKeever 20:06

Sure, I mean, there may be another position, say in an office that you could cut a couple of tasks off this person's and assign it to another staff member, and take something off their plate and give it to them. And, yeah, it makes sense. It's be flexible.

Ashley Schreck 20:23

And that's another position that we don't have to do out of our headquarters. So we can do that job placement across all 15 counties.

Keith McKeever 20:31

Awesome, awesome. Wow, this is a lot of good stuff. I've got the website scrolling at the bottom. So I have it in the show notes for everybody too. But you really need to go check the website out, especially if you're an employer, if you're looking to volunteer, donate whatever the case may be, you gotta go check it out. So I appreciate you actually stopping by and, and telling us about epic and everything that's going on.

Ashley Schreck 20:53

Yeah, thank you so much for having us. You know, we just look for ways to make ourselves seen. Because how many people interact with someone with a disability that they know of, in their everyday life, we're going to make sure that you get that interaction. And we're going to make sure that the people of our communities that happen to have disabilities are respected and engaged in that communities

Keith McKeever 21:14

as a darn good point, because not all visitors, not all disabilities are visible. You just You just can't tell you know, like you'll say, Don't judge a book by its cover. Yeah, absolutely never know.

Ashley Schreck 21:26

And we're all about changing the narrative of how they're seen in the community. So they are capable. You know, that it's not always something physical. It's not always something extremely handicapper or perverse. So anybody with a disability we we help them out in whatever they need.

Keith McKeever 21:45

That's awesome. Like I said, I appreciate you stopping by and sharing.

Ashley Schreck 21:49

Yeah, we always have lots of stuff coming up. So you know, follow our social media to see what events are happening. For example, this Saturday, if you want to head out to the shop to Grand Prairie, you're gonna see us with our store open selling artwork, but we've got lots of things. We've got golf outings, we've got pop up shops, you know, farmers markets are going to be happening soon. So we're literally everywhere doing everything. So come check us out.

Keith McKeever 22:12

I will actually be in Peoria tomorrow. I may swing out there, check out some art. There you go to many places to hang out, but I can at least check it out.

Ashley Schreck 22:22

Also do commission work. So if you see something like I see your American flag back there, if you want to do something to match your decor, we can try to work that out.

Keith McKeever 22:29

That is good to know. Yeah. Awesome.

Ashley Schreck 22:34

Thanks so much for having me. No problem.