It’s been around for more than 50 years and is one of Oconto County’s best-kept secrets.
New View Industries is a community rehabilitation program that is a division of the county’s health and human services department. It serves disabled adults and youth as well as individuals with mental health needs.
Will Kline is the department’s vocational services manager and oversees New View Industries, 222 W. Park St., Gillett.
“We’re part of Oconto County, and our facility is directly connected with Oconto County Human Services,” he said. “We do a variety of programs here. One of the main things when we started many years ago is to have this as a work program. We do prevocational training and provide work opportunities for clients in our facility and outside our facility.”
Besides employment and vocational training, New View Industries’ other services include day services, youth services and community employment.
Clients are referred to the facility.
“The majority of our clients are disabled or (have) mental health issues, things like that,” Kline said. “They’re mostly enrolled in a state program called Family Care, a Medicaid program. The ADRCs (Aging and Disability Resource Centers) around the state basically will do an assessment on individuals to see if they’re eligible for Family Care. You have to be on Medicaid and certain limitations or disabilities, and they approve the funding. Once you’re enrolled in Family Care, other managed care organizations get involved.”
Kline said it can be difficult for people with disabilities to find employment in a rural county with limited opportunities.
The community employment program aims to provide those opportunities, he said.
“(Jobs) can be very limited, especially for full-time work,” Kline said. “Things that are available a lot of times are seasonal. Through that program, we can get people paid internships; I believe it’s up to eight weeks. That’s just for them to gain some experience, and we use that sometimes for clients to get a foot in the door. If we get an employer who’s willing to do that and (the client) does a good job during the internship, they might hire them.”
Many of the clients who get assistance from New View rely on benefits such as Social Security Disability or Medicaid.
“That program also allows us to do a report for clients and helps explain to them that if you do go back to work, here’s what could happen to your benefits,” Kline said. “A lot of people are afraid of losing their Medicaid insurance and Social Security. It’s important for them to be able to understand what’s going to happen if they do get a job.”
New View initially focused on providing services for disabled individuals and those with cognitive disabilities. Mental health issues are now added to that list.
“Because we’re connected to human services, there’s a program in the county called Comprehensive Community Services,” Kline said. “The focus on that program is adults and children with more mental health issues. We’ve served a few clients in that program. Our focus is more work-related for people. Mental health cycles for people. We just try to get them some structure, get them back on track and get them back out in the community.
“It’s more of a shorter-term program to get them back on their feet. If somebody’s down on their luck for some reason, it’s possible for us to serve them in a work program and get them stabilized.”
Assistance through the work program depends on the client. Some of them might not be able to hold down a regular job.
“We have some shorter-term individuals who maybe just need some job training,” Kline said. “They might have the ability to work out in the community. It’s really a mix. The important thing for the clients we have is for them to have that choice of whether they want to try to work in the community or work in a facility like ours.”
New View Industries currently serves about 70 clients.
“That’s mainly with adults in our day services and work programs,” Kline said. “In the summer, we have a kids’ program. This past summer, we had about 25 kids in addition to the 70.”
The facility has been based in Gillett since it opened in 1974.
“Originally, it was in a building in downtown Gillett,” Kline said. “It moved to this facility in 1980. They added some space in 1990. We added an additional break room and bathrooms in 2003. We added New Heights, the building across the street, in 2022.”
New Heights is located next door to New View Industries on Park Street.
“We started the kids’ program six years ago,” Kline said. “The first year, we had about six kids and hired a couple extra summer staff. We did that in our facility here, and there just wasn’t enough room. A couple of years after that, we rented the community center in Gillett that the bank owns.
“We wanted our own space. An opportunity came up to get a Community Development Block Grant, and that really started back around 2020.
“We were able to receive funds through that to build our new building,” Kline said. “We primarily use it in the summer for our kids’ program, but we also use it throughout the year with adults as well. There’s a little gym in there and nice kitchen facilities where we can do cooking groups.”
Besides working, some clients also volunteer at a local humane society or pack meals at the Oconto Falls Senior Center.
“Without us, they wouldn’t have a whole lot to do,” Kline said. “It needs to be meaningful, too. The individuals that work here enjoy their work and are very proud of what they do.”
While some clients receive short-term assistance, some New View Industries clients have worked at the facility for 30 or 40 years.
“They enjoy it, and they have the opportunity to do other things if they choose,” Kline said. “The choice is there.”
Kline said it’s important for Oconto County to offer the services that New View Industries provides.
“If you look at some individuals who wouldn’t have these opportunities, they’d probably be sitting at home, be idle and not be active in the community, which is no good for anybody,” he said. “It’s important to be active. We offer those opportunities, whether it’s a work opportunity or a day services opportunity. Day services is a program where we work on different skills: life skills, communication skills. We get out and do different things in the community. Individuals wouldn’t have the opportunity to do any of that if facilities like ours didn’t exist.”
