SARAH Inc. Redemption Center opens in East Haven

By Evan Lips | New Haven Register

Ricardo Rosa just got a promotion.

Rosa, a New Haven man whose intellectual disabilities haven’t stopped him from working, is the lead employee when it comes to recycling glass bottles at the new SARAH Inc. Redemption Center.

He used to be in the field, working as a can and bottle collector. On Tuesday, he was hard at work at SARAH Inc. Not even the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the front of the store, attended by Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr., state Sen. Len Fasano, R-North Haven, and North Haven First Selectman Michael Freda, could distract him.

“We have 24 people here collecting a paycheck,” said Jim Lamb, the business manager at SARAH Inc. “It’s creating jobs. It supports the environment. What’s not to like?”

According to Lamb, every nickel that comes with recycling bottles and cans goes toward a paycheck. SARAH Inc., founded in 1957, places people with intellectual and other disabilities into a job. Lamb said the 24 workers collect and process an average of 800,000 bottles annually. The East Haven redemption location opened on June 9. Work never stopped during Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“This isn’t even the busiest it gets around here,” SARAH Inc. Executive Director Pat Bourne said above the din of breaking glass, crunching plastic and aluminum being squashed.

The center, located at 694 Foxon Road, is open to the public. People are encouraged to bring their recyclables, Lamb said, as it gives workers the opportunity to collect and process the material. The center employs 29 people — five full-time workers run the redemption shop and the other 24 work in the field, collecting from the organization’s trademark bins that are strategically placed at businesses and in public spaces.

Maturo said he was amazed at how busy the center was.

“I am impressed and I am not impressed that easily,” he said. “I counted at least 20 workers back there.”

Lamb said that while the work is tedious, it is something “that still must get done.”

The workers, he said, benefit from the structure a day-job brings.

“I don’t mean this in a bad way, but it’s nurturing for them,” he said.

As for Rosa, he’s been working at his new job for a little over a week.

“We needed him, he’s a big strong guy,” said Lamb.

Rosa said he enjoys the work, especially the paycheck that comes with it.

“I’m making money,” he said. “I’m buying my own clothes.”

Photo: East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr. and Pat Bourne, executive director of SARAH Inc., share ribbon-cutting duties at Tuesday’s grand opening of a new recycling center on Foxon Road. Joining them were, from left, state Sen. Len Fasano; Justin Lindahl, a member of East Haven Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors; and Jim Lamb, business development manager at SARAH Inc. At right is Frank Gentilesco, the mayor’s assistant director of administration and management.