People First of Oregon         

Fairview's Closing Chapter

The Worker

Jerry Oakley has seen and done it all at Fairview Training Center since he began working there in 1963.  He's worked in several of the center's houses, including Hoff (behind him) one of the oldest on campus. When Oakley began, there were more than 2,000 residents with mental and physical disabilities at Fairview

Except for a four-year period, Jerry Oakley has worked at Fairview since 1963, ending as housekeeping director. The 58-year-old, whose parents also worked at Fairview, retires at the end of the month.

On one of his first days at Fairview, Oakley was sent to Byrd Cottage, an intensive-care unit with older, bedridden men. There were eight wards; he was one of two workers assigned to a ward of about 30. "The beds were just far enough apart you could get in to change the diapers," Oakley said.

He started changing and bathing residents at one end of the ward, a coworker at the other: "As soon as we met at the end, then we started over again he said.

He lasted a day in intensive care.

At Pierce Cottage, he was in charge about 30 boys who were considered too disabled to attend school or work. They couldn't tie their shoes or button their shirts.

During a typical day "we got 'em up, got'em dressed." Then the group headed out to the campus dining hall. "They walked in pairs, they always walked in columns of twos," an adult in the front and rear, Oakley recalled.

After breakfast, the boys returned the cottage. Oakley stood at one side of the door, a co-worker at the other. Both held washrags as the line of youngsters advanced. "I would wash their face first and then their hands."

Afterward, the youngsters moved to wooden benches in the basement to have their teeth brushed. The toothbrushes were labeled by name. "I'd say 60 percent didn't know their name, so if you were a new employee, you were in trouble," Oakley said. After brushing, the boys remained on the benches, sometimes until lunchi With just two aides for 60 boys, activities were limited.

Workers used a leather restraint to shackle problem youngsters to a post until they promised to be good. Residents could be put in small time-out, rooms, with foam-padded walls and furniture, for up to an hour, Oakley said."

He said new abuse policies eventually changed all that, for the better. "I have seen so much abuse," he said.