Attitude & Skills Open Doors for VR Client
Who says video games are a waste of time?
Vocational Rehabilitation client Robert Berry started playing Atari when he was 4 or 5 and built his computer skills from there.
But he didn’t realize how far they would take him until he was assigned to the North American Rescue Products warehouse to sharpen his work skills.
Clients at the S.C. Vocational Rehabilitation Department’s work training center on Pelham Road in Greenville assemble and pack combat medical supplies for Unconventional Medic, a division of NARP. The center also provides adjacent warehouse space for the company.
Berry previously had worked in a pizza parlor and a grocery store bakery, both minimum wage jobs.
“I liked making pizza, but you can’t go very far on $5.75 an hour,” he said. “I came to VR to get marketable skills.”
He worked in the warehouse from October of 2006 until June of this year and “was able to pick up everything,” said Larry Giddings, warehouse supervisor. “He became indispensable to me.”
The majority of NARP’s products go to combat units in Iraq and Afghanistan. International shipping has become a much more complicated process than it used to be. Good computer skills are essential.
Giddings said when his mother died and he had to go to California for a week, Berry and another VR client managed the warehouse.
“The place ran pretty smoothly,” Giddings said.
Then Berry left to take a warehouse job at Span-America, which makes polyurethane foam products in Greenville.
“When he left, things didn’t go as well,” Giddings said. “It’s hard to find a client with the skills that he has. And he has a good attitude and a good attendance record.”
He said NARP also is moving into a new phase, which will require that he have reliable backup.
Giddings wanted Berry back and made him an offer. He accepted.
“When I’m gone, he can take care of all my responsibilities,” Giddings said.
Berry also is happy with his new job as warehouse receiving/shipping clerk.
“I enjoy shipping. I think it’s neat to take an order, pack it up and send it overseas,” he said.
Jim Carino, NARP chief operating officer, said, “Robert is an example of how well the SCVRD system can work, and we are delighted to have him with us.”