Visions Vol III, September 2020

Volume I I I , 2020

VISIONS

Supporting people. Enriching lives.

Staff Appreciatedwith Drive-ThroughEvent CelebratewithFood,Comradery,anda BCArcJacket

Letter from the President & CEO We canceled our golf tournament, the first time after 25 years. We canceled our Legislative Breakfast, which draws some 300 people every year. We shifted our Staff Appreciation Day to a drive-through event, with surprising success, as you will see in the pictures on these pages. We are moving our Annual Meeting online, with a focus on our staff. Our Buddy Walk will also bring the walkers together through the Internet. While it is disappointing to lose the live, in-person element of out signature

events that mean a lot to the BCArc community, the core of our mission remains steady: The individuals we serve are healthy and safe. We tested 388 employees over two days in September, to find that all were negative.

While we are all adapting to our new lives, we continue to make progress. Day programs have opened slowly and welcomed back some individuals. And many families are visiting our residential programs. As things change -- as we know they will -- we will do our best to communicate the new guidelines. Meanwhile, be smart, stay safe, and consider the people around you.

Despite Pandemic, Staff Are Recognized

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VISIONS VOLUME III, 2020

Mike Ferry Elected Chair of the Board Berkshire County Arc announced that Michael Ferry has been elected Berkshire County Arc?s Chairman of the Board of Directors. He has been serving as the Board?s Treasurer for 16 years. Mike brings to the position more than 30 years with Berkshire Bank, most recently as Senior Vice President. ?I look forward to working with the Board and BCArc?s staff to ensure the continued delivery of services to our individuals and families, while maintaining the financial stability of the Agency into the future,? Mike said.

Mike cited that the diverse expertise of the Board members help provide needed vision for the future, and he will look to "widen the expertise of the Board in terms of experience and diversity." ?BCArc staff and the individuals we serve are

fortunate to have someone with Mike?s skills and experience," said Kenneth Singer, BCArc?s president and CEO. Mike said that the passion and commitment of the employees, and their treatment of the individuals, drew him into the BCArc community.

"The individuals are the most unassuming people I know. They do not ask anyone for anything, and they remind you to be humble, thankful, and protective.?

Yaremi Named Supervisor

Employees of the Quarter

Cassie Simmons Residential Services

Amanda Sweet Employment Services

Zak Gratton CommunityAdvocate

Aya Chantal Residential Services

Congratulations to five employees who went above and beyond this quarter, exceeding expectations and putting the needs of their co-workers and individuals before themselves.

Yaremi Ramirez has been named BCArc?s newest Residential Supervisor. She will manage three programs in Hampden County. For the past 14 years she has earned the respect of the people who work with her.

"Yaremi will round out a strong team of supervisors who manage BCArc's 43 residential programs," said Jennifer Rush, Vice President for Residential Services.

Jasmine Ryan Accounting

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IndividualsKeep the Arts,And More,Alive

North Road artists, left, show their summer work. John, above, takes a painting break to exercise on his bike. Below, Co-op art team make decorations for the fall.

Joshua

Lisa

Jim

Robert

Chad

Deb

Eddie has hardly stopped typing since he received a typewriter for his birthday. Along with his interest in travel--he spends time often looking over maps in his room--he is known to type song names on index cards, keep them in his pocket, pull them out and start reading. Occassionally he will sing some of the songs for anyone in the room.

Eddie has his eye on Lake George for his first travel stop -- he hopes to take his girlfriend too -when the pandemic passes.

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Brian

Bruce

BCArc Says Good-bye to Two Leaders at the Heart of the Agency for Decades Summer Volume 3 2017

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Rick Haw es

Rh odor a Higgin s

When Rick started in 1990, BCArc had a total of 14 individuals employed and one primary funding source from the state. Today BCArc serves more than 160 individuals who work at dozens of employers using several funding sources. ?I have been a part of some amazing life experiences with individuals through the years,? Rick recalled. ?I have seen an entire statewide convention of 600 people rise for a standing ovation to four housekeepers we supported as they received an award. I have seen employees cry on the last day of work for an individual. I have seen individuals given the honor of being pall bearers for a funeral of their supervisor.?

When you say the syllable ?Rho? at Berkshire County Arc, 500 people know exactly who you are talking about. ?I grew up at BCArc,? said Rhodora Higgins, who recently retired as Co-Director of Residential Services, after starting with the agency more than 30 years ago. ?A lot of people say that BCArc is their family, well I am definitely one of them.?

Calling the individuals with disabilities her teachers, Rho said, ?They taught me so much. Every time there is a problem, you learn something. You can?t stop growing here.? ?Sometimes you know immediately when someone has leadership,? Ken Singer said about Rho. ?She set a high standard for commitment to our individuals and expected the staff to meet that standard. Nobody had a greater impact on the agency than Rhodora.?

She rose from residential support to co-director of residential services with Chris Melski. ?Chris was my work-brother,? Rho said. ?More like he is my life-brother. I was the sister he never had, and he was the brother I never had. I sure miss the comradery of the job with Chris and everyone.? ?Looking back, I love the fact that of all the jobs in the world, I know that in this job, I made a difference in so many people?s lives.

Every night I laid my head in my pillow and knew I had helped someone. That?s a good feeling to take to retirement.?

This year BCArc introduced a new award to recognize the legacy of her service: The Rhodora Higgins Annual Service Award.

?Helping people succeed in life is what has motivated me in my job.?

As part of growing the program to its current size before the pandemic, Rick integrated Employment Services with the business community through presentations, serving on the Chamber of Commerce board, and engaging with 1Berkshire. ?Helping people succeed in life is what has motivated me in my job,? he said. "I have had an individual?s mother tell me that she never expected to see the day that her son would be Rick at hisfarewell drive-by party. able to get up, make his lunch, take the bus, and go to work every day. That?s why we are all proud to do this work.?

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Friends Remembered Volume 3, 2019 Summer Volume 3 2017

Nick Moore 10-9-81 8-13-20

Michael Kuvent 4-22-51 7-13-20

Michael Sklarski 8-4-54 8-3-20

Paul Bascom 4-9-57 8-26-20

Richard Boschetti 8-4-54 8-1-20

Individuals Zoom In for Dance, Trivia, and Brewing Class Advocacy and Family Support Services culminated in July with a celebration of the 40th anniversary of Harry Potter 's birthday, with a screening, magical brewing class, trivia games and more, led by interns Patty and Morgan (pictured left).

Activity through August and September included wheelchair workouts, sing-along sessions,

know-your-vote workshops, dancing, and more. Popular programs included Theater Group, weekly mindfulness class, Chance to Dance, and a special photography workshop taught by a renowned photographer.

Visit BCArc's event calendar on the website, or its Facebook page, for updates. bcarc.org/events

Newly Named Scholarship Honoring Individuals Goes to AFC Grad of Lee High When BCArc individual Christy Rich passed away late last year, the family decided to add her name to a scholarship at Lee High School.

"The scholarship honored her brother Eric, and now it celebrates both of their lives as The Christy Rich and Eric Monk Memorial Scholarship," said Lori Forfa. "It's traditionally awarded to a student in the Lee Special Education Program who is graduating with the full class. This year we were happy to see it go to Michael Koperek."

Michael looks forward to honing his favorite skills at bowling, swimming, woodworking, and art. He is also an actor who has appearded in numerous theater productions, since age 5.

Michael 6

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Volume 1 2019 Summer Volume 3 2017

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Page 7 BCArc Visits Continue with Success & Rules

Kathy with family.

The rules from the State continue to change for family visits to programs. The guidelines are challenging for both sides? hugs and privacy are replaced by six-feet of distance, masks, and the watchful eye of a staff member.

Safety remains our priority.

Therefore, your visits will continue with mandated guidelines and enforced by BCArc. These are for the good of all our individuals and staff. The rules are working. Our homes are virus-free and healthy.

Please continue to visit, but visit responsibly.

The community stepped up to help BCArc. Countless residents, families, and businesses pitched in. Above, the National Guard delivered 400 face shields and 400 masks as part of the Mass. Emergency Management Act.

Scholar ship Recipients: Futur e of H uman Ser vices BCArc awarded six scholarships totaling $7,000 -- between $1,000 to $2,000 each -- for high school graduates pursuing college in the field of human services. Winners are: Madison Tobin, Pittsfield High to attend Roger Williams University; Victoria Tynan, Taconic High to attend MCLA; Jordyn Gagliardi, Wahconah Regional High to attend Fitchburg State College; Kate Mathews, Wahconah Regional High to attend University of New Hampshire; Michaella Moncecchi, Wahconah Regional High to attend Westfield State; Liana Hall, Lee High to attend Siena College. Winners are selected by their involvement with the disabilities community, the potential to contribute to human services, and academic achievement. An independent panel of community members selected the winners and award amount, raised through fundraising efforts. In total, more Liana Hall than $100,000 for scholarships has been raised over the years.

Jordyn Gagliardi

Victoria Tynan

KateMathews

Madison Tobin

Michaella Moncecchi

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Betsy's Corner

Page 8 with Nhi Ricchi

by Betsy Carlotto

I was a little anxious when I first heard that CFD was opening, but I was mostly excited! I did not know what to expect when I first walked into the building.

Debbie came onto Zoom a few times to talk to us and show us some of the changes at CFD, but I was still unsure. I knew there would be a lot of changes and I was worried, but I know it?s for everyone?s safety. The big changes are social distancing, wearing your mask when you are near people, and washing.

When we first entered CFD, the new nurse, Ann, took our temperature. Our pod staff then met us at the door and walked us to our pods. There are now arrows and signs everywhere to safely guide us around the building. They knocked down a wall between our rooms and made one giant room with lots of space. They are still doing construction, so we work on our goals in the ?Game Zone Room? for now.

We will be getting new furniture, I can?t wait to see!

We stay with the same small group of people all week, and the same staff members. We travel as a group. We have gym time together. After us, the staff clean the gym really well. We try to get our goals done in the morning so we can have free time in the afternoon. Our group goes outside a lot to take ?mask breaks.? There are new picnic tables and tents for program outside. The staff have been really creative with new things for us to do! We put in a long day at CFD with lots of hard work but fun times.

Five months was way too long to be away from my favorite people. While we saw some case managers on Zoom Day, nothing beats seeing our friends in person. Some friend have not returned or attend on a week that we Nurse Ann taking Betsy's temperature. have off.

Change like this can be scary but it has become a happy place by making it our own. We put pictures up in our pod or play music to boost our moods.

Staff makes us feel good to be back. I don?t mind the changes because it keeps us all from getting sick and we can stay healthy!

I just wonder? will the program ever be the same again?

Employees of 5 Years, Plus a Pandemic: They Have Seen it All Abdulrahim Ahmed

Ty'Shae Guity

Eva-Eliaika Mbuya

Julie Sawyer

Stephen Albareda

Tanisha Harris-Yeboah

Rachael McHugh

Crystal Sawyer

Brenda Amuso

Donna Hitchcock

Marta Mejia

DeSean Scales

Albert Armah

Melissa Hunter

Mark Mitchell

Augusto Soberano

Alyssa Barnes

James Ivy

Lori Moore

Fanta Souare

Ellen Bemiss

Maira Jusino

Jelaena Ortiz

Susanne Brelsford

Monique Kutumaka

Gail Perachi

Rocio Velis

Tammy Buck

Christine Langlois

Vicki Richardson

Soncere Williams

Christine Bussolari

Allison Lavigne-Wibby

Adelle Richardson

Steve Wright

Kathy Dowd

Ashara Lindemann

Britney Rogers

Emmanuel Yankey

Ismail Farah

Katherine Maloney

Brittany Gresser

Melissa Matarazzo

Namasaran Samassi-Fofana

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Tara Taliaferro

Volume 3,Volume 2019 3 2017 Summer

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Heather and Jason Get Engaged Shortly after Jason gave Heather her birthday gift ? perfume ? in the backyard of her Pittsfield home, he got down on one knee and looked her in the eyes. ?I didn?t know what he was going to do,? said Heather days later. ?I started to get nervous. I got down on my knee too.? ?I was worried about her saying yes, so I was a little nervous,? Jason said. ?I could also see she was shaking, so I didn?t want to take too long.?

So he got right to the point. ?I said, Will you be my wife? It felt incredible when she said yes. It still feels incredible.?

The two had not seen each other for five months, due to COVID-19, since a night out for dinner. At that time, they had been dating for nearly two years, and have been talking on the phone almost every night.

So what?s next? ?We wait for the virus to pass, and then we will start talking about the next steps,? said Jason, sounding relieved that the hard part was over, for the moment.

A Big Welcom e t o Ou r New est Residen t ial In dividu als

Thomas

BCAr c h ad f o u r in d ivid u als m ove in t o it s h o m es t h is su m m er . Th o m as m oved in t o t h e Ru ssell h o m e, Eu gen ia m oved t o Dalt o n , M er ek m oved t o West f ield , an d M elan ie m oved t o a Pit t sf ield h o m e.

M elan ie, w h o at t en d s BCAr c's So cial Develo p m en t Cen t er , kn ew so m e o f t h e in d ivid u als in h er h o m e, in clu d in g o n e o f h er b est f r ien d s.

Th o m as b r o u gh t h is sen se o f

h u m o r t o t h e n ew h o m e an d h as a kn ack f o r m akin g t h e h o u se lau gh .

He also keep s u p w it h t h e w o r ld 's Melanie n ew s by r ead in g t h e p ap er ever yd ay. He lo o ks f o r w ar d t o f ish in g an d p layin g go lf .

Th ese t r an sit io n s ar e b o t h ch allen gin g an d excit in g f o r t h e in d ivid u als, t h eir f am ilies, an d t h e r esid en t s. We w elco m e all o u r n ew f r ien d s an d f am ilies an d lo o k f o r w ar d t o h ealt h y an d h ap py d ays t o get h er .

Merek

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Day Programs Open, Uniting Friends After Months Closed for five months, day programs opened in August for a small percentage of the individuals it served before the pandemic. The limited number of people and new environment helps to ensure the safety of individuals and staff.

"They returned excited to see their friends and participate in person," said Maryann Hyatt, BCArc's Chief Operating Officer. "Unfortunately, under current state regulations, we can only serve a limited number of individuals, due to the allowed number of people per square-foot of building space, Gary which includes staff."

"The energy is high and people are excited to be there, hopefully we can increase the number of people we serve in the upcoming weeks," said Cybele Kilby, Director of Day and Administration Services. "We want to accommodate everyone.

We're ready to grow when it seems smart to do so, and we're ready to pull back if required."

The programs enforce social distancing, maintain new levels of cleaning and often-used areas, and aligned transportation with state guidelines.

"This pandemic showed us the incredible Tom resilience the individuals and staff have," said Maryann. "We're all proud of the work and results so far."

Lynn

Phil

BCAr c Nu r se Don at es Her Ref er r al Bon u s

Sheri, with her son Matt

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When Sheri received her $300 bonus for successfully referring a new employee--her son Matt--she donated it back to BCArc. "These are tough times and I know BCArc can use the money."

Sheri, a nurse with the Adult Family Care Program, had her eight-year anniversary with BCArc this summer, about the time her son Matt joined BCArc. "I love working at BCArc because I have the opportunity to

VISIONS VOLUME III, 2020

support families each day, and it is truly humbling. Some families support a loved one with intellectual disabilities, while others support medically fragile loved ones. It?s been my honor to work with them all."

Matt, a graduate of Wahconah Regional High, works as residential support in Lenox. "He?s always had a huge heart, and I couldn?t be prouder of him for the work he does with our individuals."

Dennis Radford Says Good-bye with Decades of Memories As I look back at my career with BCArc, I am filled with speak. Because of a sense of pride and accomplishment. I could not everything they taught have done this by myself and I have received a lot of me I have grown in help and support from many people. ways that I cannot I need to thank the individuals who we support. I explain. I can never learned about caring by watching how much they thank these care. I gained coping skills by learning how they coped individuals enough for with many situations including loss, frustration and helping me to become disappointment. I gained I learned the importance of respect from personal strength by seeing people who were not always respected. how strong and resilient they are. I learned how important it the person that I am is to have fun and how we can make each other laugh today. even during difficult times. I learned the importance of I have spent just respect from people who were not always respected. I about half of my life working for BCArc. I take with me learned that the small things in life are not really many fond memories and a lifetime?s worth of small, if they matter a lot to you. I learned about knowledge. Thank you to Berkshire County Arc for patience as the people that we support are some of being committed to assisting and supporting our the most patient people I know. I learned how individuals in their quest to identify and realize their important it is to have some control over your life chosen life styles and for allowing me to be a part of even if you need help with this. I learned how this effort. important it is to be listened to, even if you can?t

BCAr c Boad Elect s Br u ce M ar zot t o an d Er ic Har low Berkshire County Arc has added two new members to its Board of Directors? Bruce Marzotto and Eric Harlow? bringing the total size of the Board to 12 members.

Bruce, pictured far right, has

BCAr c H olds Session on Race I ssues for Staff The BCArc Diversity Committee hosted a conversation about race, led by Shirley Ann Session Edgerton, a longtime Community Activist and Diversity Trainer. The online session, where some 85 staff participated, generated a productive dialogue around issues of race in the community and workplace. BCArc intends to continue the series through the year.

spent four decades in the banking industry, currently the senior vice president of commercial lending at Lee Bank.

Eric is senior sales executive at Health New England, where he has worked for nearly three decades.

Big BCArcWelcomefor Olivia Olivia, granddaughter of Site Manager Toni MIller.

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Non-Profit Org. USPostage Paid Pittsfield, MA Permit No. 121

Do you k n ow som eon e w h o car es f or a per son in t h eir h om e?

Th ey m ay be eligible f or pr of ession al su ppor t , an d a m on t h ly st ipen d.

Con t act Son ja St ew ar t : 413-464-7262 ext .15, sst ew ar t @bcar c.or g Comments?

Questions?

Contact David Singer at dsinger@bcarc.org

Staff members gather for a photo after the first drive-through Staff Appreciation event. Here they model the jackets given to staff.