There was excitement everywhere when the Ashtabula Mall — now Ashtabula Towne Square — opened in 1992. No one was more excited about the mall’s opening than Ron Cole. And, it could be, no one was more apprehensive about it than Ron Cole.

The day the mall opened, Cole’s name went on its payroll. Then in his early 30s, Cole had worked in the Ash/Craft Industries sheltered workshop since graduating from Happy Hearts School. He was living in a large residential facility, where he had resided since his teenage years after spending several years at Apple Creek State Hospital.

“Ron was scared to death when he started at the mall,” Ashtabula County Board of Developmental Disabilities community employment specialist Jan Church said. “He was just so nervous. He was always on the verge of panicking.”

Seventeen years later, Cole is still wiping tables and mopping up spills in the food court. The list of mall employees who can match his longevity is very, very short.

“Now he’s the face of the mall,” ACBDD community employment specialist Debbie Nelson said.

Nelson was also there when the mall opened. Working for Goodwill Industries at the time, she was Cole’s job coach. In her job with the ACBDD, Nelson continues to provide support for Cole and other ACBDD consumers working in the community.

“We always try to match the people with the best chance of success at the available job,” ACBDD adult services director Lynda Perry said. “Still, you just never know how it will work out. But Ron just blossomed in this job.”

Cole’s life is now filled with all the mundane things that occupy the lives of most people. He shares an apartment with three roommates, he commutes to work on public transportation and he punches a time clock when he gets there. Some of the everyday tasks were harder to learn than others, and he still receives support from the ACBDD and his residential provider, but most of the tasks are second nature to him now.

“I have to get our cart ready when I come in,” Cole said. “Then I bus tables, sweep, pick up stuff off the floor and mop up spills.”

Nelson makes sure Cole gets his work schedule.

“Me,” Cole said when asked who arranged his transportation. “And I pack my own lunch.”

“Ron knows exactly what needs to be done on the job,” Perry said. “He’s just so dependable. He’s there every day. I can’t recall the last time he called off.”

Cole has been good for the mall, and the mall has been good for Cole. Church said Cole is still “a man of few words,” but if a shopper has a question, he will answer it if knows the answer. And if he doesn’t know the answer, he will point the shopper toward someone who does.

“He just loves his job,” Church said. “He’s always smiling, he knows everything that’s going on at the mall and he knows the other employees and a lot of the regular shoppers.”

Cole is a seasoned veteran now, and he looks like one going about his job in the food court. When he started his job 17 years ago, however, Cole was something of a pioneer. Community jobs for ACBDD consumers were very rare in the early 1990s. Now, 40 or so consumers work outside the Ash/Craft workshop. Some, like Cole, work directly for their employers. Others work in enclaves, remaining employees of Ash/Craft but working at the outside company’s site under the supervision of ACBDD community employment specialists.

“The mall opened a lot of doors for us,” Perry said. “People were able to see our consumers working — see that they could do the work just as well as anyone else. And, of course, our consumers had a chance to talk to people and make friends.”

Community employment begins with the ACBDD staff assessing the consumer’s abilities and matching him or her with an available job. Once on the job, an ACBDD job coach trains the consumer in his new job. As the consumer learns the job, the job coach fades into the background. Eventually, the job coach comes in just once a week to check with the consumer and the employer.

The job coach works to make sure little problems or misunderstandings don’t become major issues. If the consumer experiences difficulty with some aspect of the job or if the job duties change, the job coach returns to do the necessary training.

“People with disabilities do so many things. They have various talents and abilities, just like everyone else,” Perry said. “Our goal is help them achieve the best they can achieve. To help them do that, we provide the necessary supports along the way.

“We’ve built good working relationships with employers. They know that we provide quality services, and if a match isn’t working, it isn’t working and we move on from there.”

“Ron has seen a lot of people come and go at the Mall,” Church said. “It’s hard to imagine he ever worked at Ash/Craft.”

Harris is a freelance writer from Ashtabula Township.