No matter what the pay is at Black Hills Workshop or similar facilities, it takes a special kind of person to stay on the job.

"They have a deep-rooted love for the business," workshop vice president Brad Saathoff says.

Interviews with a handful of specialists at the workshop's group home on Sitka Street illustrate Saathoff's point.

Gena Bradford, 26, for example, is working as an associate instructor while she's studying to be a registered nurse.

One of Bradford's aunts was a workshop client, and she has worked as a certified nursing assistant and a home caregiver for the disabled.

"It takes two or three months to get used to the job," she said, but it takes more to make it a career.

When she gets a degree, she hopes to be a nurse at the Black Hills Workshop.

Tara Wilcox, who has a degree in psychology from Black Hills State University, already has made the job a career. She supervises four group homes with 60 clients.

Growing up, Wilcox worked at a summer camp for the disabled that her family still operates near Story, Wyo.

Wilcox hopes bigger raises can turn Black Hills Workshop jobs into destination jobs, but she agrees that money will never be the primary motive.

"People stay on this job because of the personal rewards," she said.

Kimberly Corrin, 21, a 2004 graduate of Rapid City Central High School, started as an associate instructor, an entry-level position, and now she fills in as a relief home manager, taking on more responsibilities.

Corrin is the kind of employee Saathoff and Wilcox wish they could clone.

Her first year out of high school she worked at the Radisson Hotel. "This is the complete opposite of that," Corrin said. "I love my job. The rewards are better than I could imagine."

Michelle Findley, 37, is an associate instructor, but with 10 years of experience, she also is qualified to train associate instructors.

Even more relevant, she says, is the stroke she suffered when she was just 19. She still has limited use of her left hand, and she says that helps her empathize with the residents of Sitka Street group home.

"I can see life from their eyes," Findley says.

She has worked at Sitka for three years. "I have far outlived the burnout point for most people on this job," she says.

Why does she stay? "You see some amazing things in this house," she said.

Contact Bill Harlan at 394-8424 or bill.harlan@rapidcityjournal.com