The Case Against Waiting for Sheltered Workshop Changeover. She became interested in athletics when working at a Red Cross sheltered workshop. As adults, they may work in a sheltered workshop. Of these 270, 100 worked under sheltered workshop conditions. Sedalia is home to the nation's first sheltered workshop, which opened in 1965. In 1954, AHRC New York City established the first sheltered workshop in the United States.