Polaroid To Provide Rehabilitative Training To VA Patients
August 8, 1997
Washington, DC -- An agreement to begin a pilot program to provide specialized training to veterans undergoing rehabilitation who are interested in returning to work has been signed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Polaroid Corporation. The agreement, which will train veterans to recycle Polaroid materials, follows more than 25 years of cooperation between VA and the company.
The agreement, signed by VA Deputy Under Secretary for Health Dr. Thomas L. Garthwaite and Kenneth Tacelli, Director of Distribution, Polaroid Corporation, covers veterans in VA's Compensated Work Therapy (CWT) programs in:
Augusta, Ga.
Bedford, Mass.
Hines, Ill.
Portsmouth, N.H.
Polaroid dealers will ship defective cameras, film and videotape to these sites and veterans will receive specialized training in computer inventory techniques and in material recycling. In addition, packaging of Polaroid products will be considered for CWT programs in Bedford, Mass., Oak Brook, Ill., and Santa Ana, Calif.
Garthwaite said, "With this new Polaroid agreement, VA expects to provide rehabilitation opportunities for more than 100 veterans -- many of whom will return to living and working independently in the community. The long-standing relationship between Polaroid and VA has been a model for public-private partnership."
In CWT programs, VA contracts with private industry and the public sector for work to be done by veterans who learn new job skills, relearn successful work habits and regain a sense of self-esteem and self-worth. The veterans are paid for their work, and those in residential CWT programs make a monthly payment toward maintenance and upkeep of their residence.
In 1970 Polaroid initiated its relationship with VA's CWT program in Bedford, Mass., by providing film to be disassembled into basic components and recycled. In the late 80s, Polaroid began to train, in supported employment, veterans at the company's work sites to perform special packaging of film and provided on-site training in forklift and machine operations. In 1994, Polaroid Corporation developed a CWT recycling program with the Lakota Sioux Nation on the Standing Rock Reservation in McLaughlin, S.D. The program was the first CWT program specifically for Native American veterans.
In 1996 there were 103 CWT programs at VA medical centers across the country. Veterans earned $25 million while in rehabilitation and more than 2,600 were placed in employment upon completion of the treatment program.
