Orange Grove Center Faces Transition After Recycling Contract Ends

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — For decades, the Orange Grove Center has helped keep Chattanooga clean while creating meaningful jobs for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Now, that long-standing recycling program is in transition following the end of its contract with the City of Chattanooga.

The nonprofit has provided recycling services for the city since the late 1980s, offering steady employment, job training, and community inclusion for people with disabilities. Leaders say the program not only supported the city’s recycling needs, but also helped workers build confidence and independence.

Heidi Hoffecker, Director of Development at Orange Grove Center, said the pause in the contract has already impacted those employees.

“I don’t know how long their process will take to evaluate what proposals they do get in, and so in the meantime, it means that 26 people with disabilities have lost a job,” Hoffecker said.

Orange Grove leaders say inclusion has always been at the heart of their mission—ensuring people with disabilities are fully integrated into everyday community life.

“Our goal was never to segregate the people we support but to find ways for them to participate fully in the community just like you do and just like I do,” Hoffecker said. “It’s important on so many levels. Having a job matters to people with disabilities, and they gain so much from that experience.”

Through the end of the year, Orange Grove continued operating the city’s recycling and refuse collection sites. The City of Chattanooga plans to manage those locations while preparing a new solicitation process.

Orange Grove Center says it hopes to bid on a future contract and continue providing workforce opportunities for people with disabilities across the community.