Coarc Celebrates Abilities at Our Gift Shop ‘Tradewinds’ in Hudson

Tradewinds is a non-profit retail store in Hudson run by Coarc, Columbia County’s largest service provider for individuals with disabilities and their families. Located at 409 Warren Street, Tradewinds serves as an opportunity to teach retail employment skills in an integrated community setting, providing meaningful work and wages to persons with disabilities. We offer items crafted by individuals who receive Coarc supports, as well as fair trade products from local and global artisans. The shop is the proud recipient of the “Best of Columbia County 2016” honor.

BettyAnn Shook works at Tradewinds. She says, “I love working here. I like all the stuff, I help customers, bag people’s stuff, I work on money skills, and today we did the front window.” BettyAnn Shook’s Job Coach, Danielle Palleschi says, “BettyAnn has the greatest sense of humor and sings to me all the time. We sing and dance before the store opens. She is a wonderful person. She’s super fun to work with and we do a lot together.”

BettyAnn graduated from the Coarc Pathway to Employment Program and the Employment Training Program. She is very excited to have recently become an official Coarc employee. More about BettyAnn, in her own words: “I do arts and crafts – all kinds – and collect frogs and pocket books. We [my fiancé and I] have two kitties. I’m going to Atlantic City in July. I’m a good person, I help people out, and I share things.”

Visit BettyAnn and Tradewinds at 409 Warren Street in Hudson! To learn more about Tradewinds and Coarc please visit www.hudsontradewinds.com and www.coarc.org. To find out how your business can hire people with disabilities, please reach out to Coarc (visit our website or call 518-672-4451).