Road to Responsibility’s expanded facility is now 28,000 square feet, nearly double its original size. (File photo)

By SYDNEY SCHWARTZ
The Patriot Ledger

MARSHFIELD - In the summer of 1989, Richard and Catherine Walker took over workshops and housing for developmentally disabled adults from their former employer, St. Coletta’s of Massachusetts.

The Walkers had worked for St. Coletta’s, a nonprofit that served disabled individuals, for five years before founding their own organization, Road to Responsibility, in November 1988. Richard Walker, the director of adult services at St. Coletta’s, directed the workshops. His wife, Catherine Walker, served as program director for South Shore Industries, a St. Coletta’s workshop in Marshfield.

In July 1989, after St. Coletta’s said it could no longer afford to provide housing, the state Department of Mental Retardation put out to bid a state contract to administer four sheltered workshops and 11 homes where retarded adults who worked in the workshops lived.

The Walker’s nascent organization won that $5 million state contract, several months after they began operating out of their Marshfield home with a budget of $125,000.

In those days, most of Road to Responsibilities’ money came from an $80,000 state grant to provide recreation, continuing education and transportation to an estimated 450 mentally retarded people served by the state Department of Mental Retardation.

The Walkers organized visits to Boston museums, evening dances, bowling, dinners and movies, as well as trips to Montreal and Disney World.

In the last 18 years, a lot has changed. The organization has expanded its services to include employment, residential services and rehabilitation programs. Today, Road to Responsibility supports more than 1,000 people in 22 cities and towns from Boston to Cape Cod with a staff of 400.

The organization received about $15 million from the Department of Mental Retardation in the 12-month fiscal year that ended in June, 2006, and had a total annual budget of about $22 million. It operates about 30 residential facilities, five employment centers and five day support centers for clients.

‘‘Our services are always evolving, depending on the needs of the individuals,’’ acting Chief Executive Officer Catherine Walker said last month in her office in Marshfield.

In 1992, the organization bought the 12-room Ocean Village Motor Inn in Marshfield, the first step in its plan, called Ocean Village Ventures, to open self-supporting businesses to create permanent employment for its clients.

Five years later, it opened Ocean Village Bookstore in Library Plaza in Marshfield, a used-book store. The success of that venture led it to open Ocean Village Bookstore in Plymouth, followed by Ocean Village Books, Books, Books in Falmouth.

Out of its Marshfield bookstore, Road to Responsibility also runs Jan’s Ocean Village Ice Cream. The agency also runs a food kiosk at a Braintree car dealership and a consignment shop in Cohasset.

The business ventures provide vocational training and employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities, including mental retardation. They support the organization’s mission statement: ‘‘Citizens with Disabilities Belong ... supporting them is our privilege.’’

In July 1989, Catherine Walker told The Patriot ledger that clients would notice ‘‘only good changes’’ in the switch of administrators from St. Coletta’s to Road to Responsibility.

‘‘We’re not saying that Ocean Village is an end for people,’’ she told The Ledger 10 years later. ‘‘We’re just here to pave the road for them.’’

Sydney Schwartz may be reached at sschwartz@ledger.com .

Copyright 2007 The Patriot Ledger
Transmitted Saturday, October 13, 2007