“Where are we? Work.”

“What do we do at work? Doughnuts.”

The short sentences that Brittany Deits reads from a board propped near her wheel chair in the Stephens House living room aptly describe the social access and vocational program for disabled youth.

Deits and other disabled young people are finding dignity in useful work at the center, where Devin Ruffini, Ryan Walkowski, Trepp Hanseth and Deits make and sell mini-doughnuts.

“It is fun. We have fun in here,” said Chris Power, volunteer coordinator and self-described “chief doughnut-maker.”

“We have the radio on. We dance around. It is not boring.”

Every weekday morning, Power fires up the mini-doughnut maker, a compact machine that cost the center, with supplies, $17,000. The assembly line can produce 1,000 doughnuts in two hours.

“The kids don’t get near the heated oil,” Power said, “but they do a lot of the work involved.”

After hot doughnuts tumble down the chute, the young adults scoop them into a Tupperware tub and add cinnamon and sugar. They count the pastries and pack them into the small bags they have labeled “Bainbridge Island Special Needs Foundation and Trepp Hanseth’s Fresh Mini Donuts.”

Commuter Comforts has a standing daily order for the doughnuts, Sterling Bank buys them once a week.

The business also fills special orders and sells doughnuts to walk-in customers for $3 per dozen.

Although the business runs like an established enterprise, the venue just opened doors this month.

Stephens House was conceived last year by Bainbridge Island Special Needs Foundation members Paul Deits and Jay Hanseth as a way for profoundly disabled children to have meaningful work.

The center was also planned to give relief to the young adults’ care-givers, who typically receive only six hours of respite care per week subsidized by Easter Seals.

In 2001, Deits and Hanseth approached Eagle Harbor Congregational Church to rent the 50-year-old building, located between the church and the Marge Williams Center. They signed a five-year lease with an enthusiastic church board of directors.

Through spring and summer, the 1,500-square-foot building was renovated. But costs more than quadrupled, from $10,000 to $40,000, by extensive foundation work and damage from an an exploding water heater.

“Some of that money was earmarked for operation expenses,” Deits said. “Now I need volunteers, coordinators and additional money, all at the same time. We would like to be able to help individuals who have already contacted us, but we’re at capacity based on staff limitations.”

Opening doors

The Stephens House doors finally opened to four clients this month.

During hours of operation from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day, Stephens House supports other activities besides doughnut-making.

The young people go swimming and bowling. Once a week, they go for lunch at an island restaurant. They also listen to music, play games and do jigsaw puzzles.

Ryan Walkowski has already assembled several large jigsaw puzzles and has just a few remaining holes in his current puzzle depicting a lighthouse. He also does yardwork for the center.

“Ryan loves puzzles,” Power said, “and he loves to come here, because it fulfills his day, doing something.”

Shelley Long, a para-educator in Bainbridge schools, works on art projects with the young disabled young adults. The current project is using dried flowers to make bookmarks.

The Bainbridge Island School District has formed a partnership with Stephens House as part of the schools’ “transition plan,” to help move disabled high school age young people into productive lives within the community as mandated by federal law.

Future plans at Stephens House include a yard-care business, personal hygiene products, an art gallery, welcome baskets and a retail outlet for products made by handicapped individuals not associated with the house.

Another goal is keeping doors open in the afternoon, to give Stephens House clients 40 hours of care per week. The key to longer hours and more activities is the availability of volunteers.

The center is currently the only nonprofit work program supporting profoundly disabled young people in North Kitsap. All the plans and hard work are aimed, Deits says, at supporting the young adults in living a productive, meaningful life.

“There is no model near enough for us to look to,” Power said. “We’ve just had to figure it out.”

Meanwhile, Stephens House is beginning to make its presence felt in the community-at-large.

“We are already delivering doughnuts to managed care facilities in Seattle,” Deits said. “This thing is moving so fast, we can’t keep up with it.”

To purchase doughnuts, volunteer or make a donation, call the center at 780-1211.