CHANGING JOBS:
Way Station helps Brunswick man carve life as craftsman
By JOSEPH M. DELEON News-Post Staff
jdeleon @ fredericknewspost . com
FREDERICK — Ever since Michael Marra took a woodworking class in high school he has been fascinated by the craft. The onset of Schizoaffective disorder and social anxiety phobia when he turned 17 prevented him from making it a career until he learned to start his own business.
Schizoaffective disorder is a chronic mental illness in which depressive and manic episodes occur, with distorted thinking, hallucinations and changes in behavior.
“I've had a number of jobs that have not been successful over time,” said Mr. Marra, who lives in Brunswick. “I either don't have or lose focus of the finished product when I work for other people.”
For the past seven years, Mr. Marra has been working with Way Station in Frederick to follow his dream. Way Station works to improve behavioral health and employment services through advocacy, research and education.
Over the years, he has continued to perfect his craft at Way Station's wood shop and learned to manage his illness with drugs and counseling.
“Three years ago, I was introduced to Paxil,” he said. “It was like a miracle drug for me.”
Mr. Marra later participated in a self-employment project sponsored by the Maryland State Department of Education Division of Rehabilitation Services.
The Reach Independence Through Self-Employment, or RISE, program helps people with disabilities start their own business.
He went to business development workshops, learned how to write a business plan and a Way Station job coach helped set the plan in motion.
RISE granted Mr. Marra $7,000 in December to buy building materials and tools. An additional $2,000 was given to erect a woodworking shed; however, he learned three weeks ago of a Brunswick ordinance that prohibits structures from being built in the front yard of homes.
“Now the Way Station is letting me use the wood shop to build my inventory in the meantime,” he said. “While we figure out where I'm going to have the shed, I've turned my bedroom into a small wood shop.”