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Recycling gives them a pick-me-up Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Troy Swisher, 24, left, and Mike Johnson, 44, have started Mike and Troy�s Recycling Business thanks to the help of Southern Oregon Lions Sight and Hearing Center. Helping them is their job coach, Nita Land. Medford men use their business as a means toward renewed purpose By John Darling Two developmentally disabled Medford men used to watch a lot of TV while their caseworkers struggled to find ways for them to become part of the community. Finally, opportunity presented itself. Southern Oregon Lions Sight and Hearing Center needed someone to take over a route picking up office paper for recycling. The Oregon Commission for the Blind had just the man � Mike Johnson, 45, who has Down syndrome and is legally blind. The State Vocational Rehabilitation office here had another candidate, Troy Swisher, 24, whose genetic condition has left him frail and almost non-verbal. The two have been training over the last year and a half with driver and job support worker Bernadette Simpson. The result: Mike and Troy�s Recycling Service, which started weekly pickup service for 58 clients. The two men got their first paycheck last week. "Mike was tickled pea green," said his sister and guardian, Maxine Winkleman, of Central Point. "He was happier than a little clam. The job really gives his life a lot of meaning. He was just watching TV and playing Nintendo a lot. He wasn�t that outgoing, but now he�s getting to be quite an extrovert." Swisher�s mother, Pam Swisher, of Eagle Point, said they took his first check to the bank and took pictures as he gleefully endorsed and deposited it. "He was just bumming around the house before this job and watching a lot of TV. He wasn�t motivated. But now, everyone�s so excited. He loves his job. He knows what days he works and doesn�t need an alarm clock to get up. "He loves the routine and being socially integrated into the community." The two men "look out for each other" and fill in for each other�s disabilities, she said, with Swisher serving as Johnson�s eyes and Johnson helping out with Swisher�s lack of muscle. They also share in fun together: Both are Special Olympians in bowling. Using a Lion�s Club pickup truck, they pick up waste office paper Wednesdays through Fridays at businesses in Medford, Central Point and White City, dropping it off at Two Dogs Foundation in White City, where it�s picked up by Rogue Recycling. The two are paid by the pound. The service will expand to Eagle Point soon. "They�re doing so wonderfully," said Simpson. "It was a difficult time for them learning to follow the route. I watched them grow and become independent, learn to walk in a business, to sort paper and unload it. "They�ve gotten in better physical shape. They came to realize they�re making and handling their own money." Mike and Troy�s Recycling Service on Wednesday will hold a grand opening celebration at Two Dogs Foundation, with ribbon cutting, refreshments and tributes from Lion Club director Sherrie Messer. "It�s a real terrific partnership," Messer said, "with groups that all came together to create a positive service as well as meaningful, long-term employment for two wonderful guys." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.