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MARC Workshop, Inc.
In 1962, the Martinsville-Henry County Women's Club and the Martinsville-Henry County Mental Health Association combined efforts and formed a committee to assess the educational and vocational needs of mentally handicapped citizens in the area. As a result of the study, the Martinsville Association of Retarded Citizens was formed. The Martinsville Association of Retarded Citizens (MARC) undertook a three-phase program to meet the primary needs of local mentally handicapped citizens: 1.) Classes for trainable children, which became the MARC school. 2.) A sheltered workshop, which became MARC Workshop, Inc. 3.) A sheltered living facility, which is still in the planning process. The MARC School opened August 20, 1964 at the First Baptist Church of Martinsville, and continued successful operations for five years until the county and city school system assumed responsibility for public instruction of students in need of special education. MARC Workshop, Inc. opened its doors to three individuals in April 1969. (Of the three original individuals to receive employment services from MARC Workshop, two are still enrolled in employment service programs at the workshop.) The mission of the workshop was and continues to be to provide rehabilitative training and employment opportunities to persons with verifiable disabilities.The workshop has provided teaching, training, and sheltered employment to over 450 individuals, with over 70 individuals eventually achieving competitive employment. MARC Workshop, Inc. is currently serving 66 individuals in employment services, work-adjustment training, pre-vocational services, student-to-work transition services,and brain injury services. MARC Workshop, Inc. is located at 1005 Jordan Street, with three buildings in operation at this site, and a warehouse located on the south side of the city. Since its' founding in 1969, MARC has operated facilities in the former East Martinsville School. The original East Martinsville Schoolbuilding opened for African-American children in the eastern part of Henry County in 1929. In 1948, the city of Martinsville annexed a portion of Henry County, which included the school. In 1958, the Martinsville City Public Schools constructed a second building. The facility closed as a school in 1968,and in 1969 MARC Workshop, Inc. moved into the facilities. In 1985, MARC Workshop, Inc. added additional space to the second building. In 1974, the Tultex Corporation gave the organization a 6,588 square foot warehouse, located in the south side area of the city. On September 15, 1999, the MartinsvilleCity Council deeded the East Martinsville School property to MARC Workshop, Inc. The deed conveys to the workshop unrestricted title and absolute ownership of the property. These facilities were in critical need of renovations, both for modernization of faicilities and to meet service needs of individuals in the Martinsville and Henry County area. To meet these needs, the Board of Directors undertook a campaign to solicit funds for a much needed additional building. The fundraising campaign was the first-time in MARC Workshop's history that the public financial support had been solicited. As a result of a successful campaign, the Lucy Pannill Sale Building, a 7,500 square foot facility, opened in July of 2002 What We Do: MARC Workshop, Inc. takes pride in striving to be as self-sufficient as possible. In addition to maintaining contracts with Piedmont Community Services, Department of Rehabilitative Services, Henry County Public Schools, and Department of Medical Assitant Services for program services, the workshop supports itself by producing and selling plastic tableware, commercial sewing, and a wide variety of packaging jobs. In February of 2004, MARC Workshop, Inc. was the recipient of a grant from The Harvest Foundation to establish much needed services for individuals in the area with traumatic brain injury. MARC Workshop's longest term of support comes from the United Way of Henry County and Martinsville, having been a United Way Agency since 1969. The primary mission of MARC Workshop, Inc. has always been to provide rehabilitative training and employment services and opportunities to disabled individuals in the Martinsville and Henry County area, thus assisting them in achieving their maximum potential within a work setting enviroment. In maintaning this mission, MARC Workshop, Inc. offers a wide variety of employment services:
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