HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WZZM) -- A cut in government funding is having a trickle-down effect in Ottawa County. Hundreds of workers, many of them with special needs, at the nonprofit organization Kandu are losing their jobs.
WZZM 13 is learning about the growing concern that some of the disabled workers will have nowhere to go.
Brian Dreyer, who's been at Kandu for 13 or 14 years, described his emotions about the organization shutting down.
"Discouraged and depressed," Dreyer told WZZM 13. He's both a client and employee at Kandu. "I do packaging."
The uncommon setup allows Dreyer, who has special needs, to make a paycheck and receive job training.
Kandu case manager Matt Cook said the organization teaches participants job skills, including "to be able to go to your supervisor and ask for help, to know how to follow a break schedule."
"If I'm upset with a client or a friend, the case manager helps me," said Dreyer.
Now, Dreyer is among nearly 200 people with physical or mental disabilities who will lose their jobs at Kandu. Cook is one of about 75 staff members in the same situation.
"I know I'll be able to find a new job, no problem; I'm not concerned for me, but my caseload -- I don't know what they'll all do," Cook said.
Kandu has been around for 62 years. CEO Tom Vreeman says Kandu is forced to close because Ottawa County Community Mental Health cut funding by more than a million dollars.
"Those cuts have impacted us severely over the past year and a half, two years, and those cuts are projected to not only continue but get even worse over the next years," Vreeman said.
Cook is frustrated because employees just learned the news this week.
"I know they've known for a few weeks that it was going to close down, and that's more time that we could have given to our consumers to prepare," said Cook.
Dreyer is already thinking about his next job. He hopes to be bagging groceries. "The other case managers are trying to help me," he told WZZM 13.
In the meantime, some local businesses are relying on Kandu to make products and parts. That could play a role in how long the organization remains open.
The Kandu CEO says it's not exactly clear when they will officially close their doors. He says it could happen in a few weeks, or a month and a half from now.
