Have rakes, will travel: a group of individuals served by CHD’s Adult Mental Health-Holyoke program also work for our agency by performing landscaping duties at three of our group residence homes. The outfit is called “HoChi,” a combination of the first syllables of “Holyoke” and “Chicopee,” and the members are simultaneously clients and employees of CHD. In the first photo are (L-R) Jamie, Matt, and Tyrone.

HoChi began in 2019 when CHD was looking for ways to provide employment opportunities for people served in AMH-Holyoke’s Adult Community Clinical Services program. “We were faced with increasing costs for landscaping at several of the houses, and we had a group of folks who could do it,” said Jason Haas, assistant program director of AMH-Holyoke. “Right now we have eight people who work for HoChi.”

Overseen by two staff, they cut the grass, weed, spread mulch, and maintain the residences’ grounds on a weekly basis, beginning work in late April and stopping in November. It’s not an easy job, especially when it gets hot in the summer, but they make sure they stay hydrated! “They like the work—precisely because they are outside,” said Haas.