Couple share their devotion to caring vocation

Corey and Kelly Maggiolo may have more appreciation than most married couples for each other's "how was your day?" stories.

The Maggiolos both work at Achieve Services Inc., a Blaine nonprofit that offers work experience, training and support for more than 150 folks with developmental and physical disabilities.

"When we tell each other a story, we really get it," said Kelly, because their stories share the same characters.

Kelly and Corey met and courted at Achieve. Both say they love their work; their emotional and practical dedication is apparent.

As Kelly walks around Achieve's offices, in the Anoka County Human Service Center, she's the recipient of hugs, handshakes and inquiries about their son, who had been sick. Corey knows which clients like a fist-bump; he hits the timing of their perennial jokes and inquires after favorite T-shirts.

Achieve has been a private nonprofit since 2004. It receives county, state and federal funding for each client's training and support.

Kelly's been at Achieve 11 years; Corey's been there six years. The agency employs 52 people, including the training specialists and assistants who work with the agency's 153 clients. Of those clients, 74 work out in the community, in the mail rooms upstairs in Human Services, at Medtronic and the Anoka County Government Center, at McDonald's, at a Holiday Station.

They're paid based upon how quickly they work compared with an average worker. The piecework, they do on site. On a recent day, they were assembling switches for New Hope-based E-Switch; they're paid per piece.

On this day, the last before a five-day holiday break, clients buzzed about a noontime party. Some were off decorating gingerbread men and sugar cutouts. Kelly helps clients get settled into their jobs, and makes sure that they have the tools and support they need.

In Corey's red room, which he's accented with painted white and blue stars, clients have goals to meet each day, ranging from simply deciding what to do next, to delivering mail and collecting recycling around the Human Service Center, or completing the task of washing and folding laundry for the on-site Learn and Grow Child Care Center.

Achieve program director Carol Donahoe said the work program gives clients a chance to have meaningful work.

"It makes them feel like part of society," she said. "It makes them feel like everybody else."

The Maggiolos have taken their vocation beyond the confines of the agency's 24,000-square-foot office, striking up friendships with clients and their families, and occasionally taking special friends home with them. Corey's eyes light up when he describes the brotherly bond between his 8-year-old son Brandon and Dave Mohler, with whom Corey has worked as a personal care attendant.

Mohler splits his days between Corey's room and with Kelly in the work room.

Since Mohler moved into a group home recently, the Maggiolos have been visiting him more at his new place.

Mohler, 31, has Down syndrome. His mother Mary's voice breaks with emotion when she describes the blessings she's found in the Maggiolos.

"Life is hard, and when you're handicapped, it's much harder," she said. "Dave's always wanted a friend to go over to their house, and that's what Corey and Kelly were for him. ... I don't know what we would do without them."

Maria Elena Baca • 612-673-4409