Cushing Community Newsletter - Winter 2024-25

Winter 2024-25

Cushing Community News

A message from President & CEO Michelle Markowitz Winter is Upon Us! While some might think that winter is a time of rest here at Cushing, it is also an incredibly busy and energetic time – especially at the holidays – and then it is a time to reflect.

As I reflect, I’d like to thank those staff, volunteers, donors, and Cushing champions who helped make our many festivities shine even brighter this year. Those included the annual Live Nativity, thanks to St. Mary of the Portiuncula Secular Franciscans and Our Lady of the Angels, a special holiday performance at the Boston Pops specifically designed for sensory sensitivities, the 36th year of the Scituate Rotary Club hosting a festive holiday gathering for our students, and our MarketPlace once again selling wreaths, Christmas trees and Holiday décor. A busy time indeed!

While the Holidays are over, these and many more events light a spark in me to continue the great work we do at Cushing, to continue to integrate our special population with the greater community, and to promote the idea of peace on earth and good will to all.

Sincerely,

Michelle Markowitz President & CEO

New Adult Services Role Focuses on Community Involvement Dave Babcock has been serving in many roles since he joined Cushing. He began his journey in 1999, working in student residential. In 2011 he switched to Adult House Manager at Sabrina Lane, and then decided to join the SSI team in Braintree for 2 years.

Dave rejoined Adult Services in 2019 and did an amazing job at Highland St. – where as a chef he made wonderful meals every day. Now, Dave is the Community Integration Coordinator for Adult Services – where he coordinates events that encourage both the adults that Cushing serves and people from outside of Cushing to come together to create a more diverse, welcoming and inclusive community. This includes monthly movie nights at Cushing (free to Cushing participants and the greater community), Bingo nights, field trips, weekend hikes, wellness retreats, volunteer opportunities, and so much more.

Cushing Vocational Students Spotted Out and About When Cushing vocational students aren’t in classes, they are out in the community learning hands on! They are at the MarketPlace shops in the Cushing neighborhood, training in the fields of retail and restaurant management.

At Type One Fitness in Norwell, you’ll find them cleaning the floors and equipment, and then enjoying their own workouts!

At the YMCA Farm located at South Shore YMCA Early Learning Center, our students tend to the plants in the greenhouse, the chickens and bunnies, and help to grow food (in season) for the Hanover Food Pantry. You might have spotted our students cleaning at Interior Details home design showroom, or packaging candy at Peppermint Twist in Marshfield, or folding pizza boxes, cleaning tables and rolling napkins at Blue Moon Pizza and Tinkers Son in Norwell. Wherever our vocational students are spotted, they get fabulous feedback of a job well done!

A Custom Woodshop Order with an Important Deadline Tom Phair and his extraordinary team of vocational adults at Cushing’s SSI (South Shore Industries) wood shop have been known to whip up some extraordinary treasures, but this commission takes the cake. The team, including Nick Hanson, Mark Milton, and Meredith Ortiz, was asked to build an 8 foot long, massive farm table out of rough cut pine, including a finish and stain. With no task above the team’s determination, they spent weeks measuring, sawing, sanding, screwing, and staining this one-of-a-kind beauty! The person who commissioned the table, Barbara Bezanson of Pembroke who has a Cushing adult living with her through the Shared Living program, was overwhelmed with the result.

Because she lives in an antique home, she wanted something vintage-looking – but with one caveat. She needed it in time to hold a large Thanksgiving dinner! Phair and his SSI team delivered the table just in time.