New Website Launched!

The Arc of Delaware County is pleased to announce the launching of its new website http://www.delarc.org/ The new site features a variety of videos, as well as links to a several tools you can use to stay connected and up to date on what is happening at Delarc, including joining Delarc's new Community Forum which offers a place to post questions, have discussions and network with others. You can also sign up to receive Delarc's new e-newsletter simply by entering your e-mail address in the space provided on the homepage. Visit our new website today and find out how you can stay connected!

Shout It From The Rooftops!

The Arc of Delaware County is totally committed to a positive, proactive approach in our care and treatment of people with disabilties. Unfortunately there are many agencies across the country that don't share our beliefs; please take a moment to check out the link below and you will see just one more example of such. We frequently hear of physical abuses and even deaths of people with disabilites because of the care and treatment they receive by the people whose care they are entrusted to. Though the information in the link is very troubling to hear, it's important for us to keep this in front of people - it's time for America to get their heads out of the sand and really know what is happening in this country to people with disabilities.

Our agency spends a great deal of time and engergy trying to spread the word that there is a better way; our CEO does trainings for any agency in the country who is willing to listen. We need your help though - together we can raise awareness and help people know there really is a better way. I encourage you to help us spread the word - share this information with everyone you know. I'll leave you with one thought:

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the
world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." ~ Margaret Mead

Link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101937985

Thank you,
Catherine Tweedie,
Director of Community Relations, Delarc

Delarc's Nominee for the 2009 DSP Award

Margaret Condon, Assistant House Manager at one of Delarc’s community residences, has been nominated for a National Direct Support Professional Recognition Award, sponsored by ANCOR (American Network of Community Options and Resources.) This award gives organizations such as Delarc the opportunity to recognize its direct support workforce for their dedication, hard work and commitment to serve those with disabilities. Winners of the award will receive national recognition and be featured in a special photo-packed supplement to LINKS, ANCOR's monthly electronic newsletter.

Margaret is a phenomenal woman with over 21 years experience in the field. She wholeheartedly believes in our agency’s mission and ensures quality of life for those we serve. She’s consistent with her positive approach and those she cares for thrive as they feel nurtured, loved, and supported in their decisions. They in turn want to show care and love to others.

For example, one of the people Margaret supports is a woman who had lived in institutions a majority of her life. She came to our agency 13 years ago with a long history of severe outbursts which included biting, often resulting in injury to herself and others. Margaret was determined to develop a positive relationship with her and to teach her to care and respect herself. Margaret showed her that she loved her unconditionally, despite setbacks and at times aggression taken out directly at her. She taught her how to make her needs known without aggressive action. Today, her aggressive behaviors have nearly vanished, as she has learned to talk things through and to care for herself, develop self-esteem, and to take pride in her accomplishments. She has friends at her day program, as well as in the community where she attends a local church regularly. As a result of Margaret’s unwavering dedication to her success, this woman has experienced a remarkable transformation in her quality of life.

Throughout her DSP career, Margaret has inspired others with her unwavering dedication to those we serve and her commitment to excellence. In her most recent promotion to Assistant House Manager, Margaret not only provides direct care support to those we serve, she also supports and mentors other DSPs. Additionally, Margaret has helped teach proactive behavior management strategies to other agencies serving people with disabilities, alongside our CEO and Executive Staff.

Not only is Margaret an excellent role model for others in the field of Human Services, she has also been an inspirational role model to her children, Meaghan and Brandon, now young adults following in their mother’s footsteps with DSP careers.

Whether at work or at home, Margaret is helping to mold the next generation of DSP’s and we couldn’t pick a better person for the job. For these reasons, and many others, we are honored to nominate Margaret Condon for the 2009 Direct Support Professional Recognition Award.

Thank You Message from Delarc Employee

This started out as a quick thank you note to George and turned into a reminder of what a huge impact so many people @ Delarc have had in my development. It's impossible to thank just one person, when we work for such a great agency. Thought you all would enjoy!

Hope Townsend
Program Director
The Arc of Delaware County
Community Living Skills, Arkville


George,

Thank you very much for the recognition of CLS-Arkville’s growth, at the Admin. Meeting yesterday. I truly appreciate all that this wonderful organization has done to assist with my development. I left the meeting thinking about all the support that has been provided to me and all the individual staff members who have assisted in my growth over the years. Each one of them should be deeply thanked and recognized. Without everyone’s support, none of this would have been possible. I drove home and then began making a list of everyone who deserves recognition. My list grew extremely rapidly.

Thanks to Molly L. and the CLS-Walton staff for my awesome start with Delaware County ARC. Thanks to my first supervisor at Del. ARC- Margaret Condon. The classroom support and training I am able to provide to staff was learned during my time at CLS-Walton. Also, I recognized my commitment to the organization while in Walton. Very early on, I noticed the tremendous support that all levels of staff members are willing to provide to each other.

Thanks to Lisa N. who motivated me to work hard to achieve. Lisa’s positive attitude and commitment to a challenging classroom/individual was very inspirational to me. This made me strive to be successful working with this same group.

Thanks to Christine F. Chris taught me leadership skills. She gave me a new level of self-confidence. Chris challenged me to be more independent with decision making and she trusted my judgments as a new supervisor.
Thanks to the Elm Street staff that I supervised. What a pleasant team! This group taught me a very important leadership lesson: never ask anyone to complete something you wouldn’t complete yourself. This group trusted my supervision and we all worked together to achieve.

Thanks to all the Program Directors. You have answered many questions for me, provided me with tools and are always willing to assist.

Thanks to Annette P. and Joe G. who always provided encouragement and fun to me during my residential years.

Thanks to Terri B. for all the trainings and work she has done with CLS-Arkville staff. Terri is the finest classroom trainer! Every time Terri provides training, staff are very appreciative.

Thanks to the current CLS-Arkville team. This team’s future is so promising. I get very excited when I think about Arkville’s potential. I witness lots of dedication and hard work daily. I also recognize each staff’s openness to new learning, especially while we prepare to meet 2009 OPTS milestones. What an exciting year it will be for all of us!
Thanks to all the individuals we serve. I have learned so much from them. They make my job fun and rewarding daily.
Thanks to my family for always supporting me, and my sometimes lengthy working hours. My son recently said, “He hopes when he gets older, he will like his job like I do.”

Thanks to the agency as a whole. When I interviewed for the Program Director position, I was asked what tools I felt I would need to be successful at CLS-Arkville. I responded time and support. I felt that I needed to train staff members in every classroom and provide a fresh start to the program. I needed to get to know everyone and build relationships with all. Del ARC has been committed to my success. Each program has given up their time to allow
Barbara to work with me and the CLS-team. I am certain that there is not another organization that would be able to or willing to devote their COO to one program for the length of time and energy that Barbara has put into our program development.

The biggest thanks goes to Barbara! She has been such an inspiration to me. She is so dedicated to my own and the program’s development. Barb has so many gifts. There has never been a day when I haven’t learned something new from Barb! All CLS-Arkville staff and I recognize and praise Barb for everything she has done and continues to do. Del ARC could have not selected a better person to support me and the CLS program. Barb deserves all the credit for CLS-Arkville’s success. Words can not express how grateful I am to Barb and Delaware County ARC.

Thanks to you George, and everyone else who has encouraged, trusted and supported me and my professional growth. I look forward to many more years with Del ARC.

NYSARC Scholarship Nominee Announced

Congratulations to Helen Adams for being selected as The Arc of Delaware County's nominee for the NYSARC Jonathan Weingold Scholarship. Helen has worked at RFI for the past three years and is currently pursuing a degree in Human Services through Empire State College. Helen's application is being sent on to NYSARC where it will be considered among applications from across the state.

In a letter of recommendation, Delsa McEwan, Helen’s supervisor at RFI, shares, “Ms. Adams exhibits pride in the job she does, a teacher/direct care staff. Ms. Adams’ primary concern is the growth and success of those we serve. Her proactive approach and level of energy benefits the folks we serve. Ms. Adams has influenced and made a lasting impression on our folks and coworkers. Therefore, I am confident in stating Ms. Adams is an excellent candidate for the Jonathan Weingold Scholarship.”

Upon hearing of her selection as The Arc of Delaware County's nominee, Helen responded, “Thank you to everyone! I can’t say it's been easy and time is limited, but to serve the great people I work with everyday makes it all worth while.”

Delarc Celebrates Workforce

The Arc of Delaware County (Delarc) celebrated it’s workforce during a recent staff gathering. With over 200 employees, Delarc is one of the largest employers in Delaware County. Together, these staff help fulfill the agency’s mission of supporting people with disabilities in meeting the challenge of their individual disabilities with a growing sense of personal dignity, independence and productivity in an accepting and interactive community.

Special recognition was given to staff who reached milestone anniversaries during 2008 as follows: 5 years: Sherry Bush, Julie Conrow, Jessica Elam, Ron Galley, Heather Greene, Lisa Nunley, Kim Shaw, and Rebecca Townsend; 10 years: Karen Glasner, Tanya Hitt, Carlos Seidner, and Debra Sundstrom; 15 years: Terri Beers and Lynn Hoffman; 20 years: Bruce Mason, Doreen Oles, and Carl Vogel.

In addition, Delarc’s newest employees received a warm reception from their co-workers and were welcomed to the team.

Those hired since July include: (front) Meaghan Condon; (center row, left to right) Judy Conklin, Jodie Beach, Rebekah Ambrose, Anna Hitt, Genevieve D’Addario, and Wayne Kilmer; (back row, left to right) Gerry D’Alto, Colleen Johnson, Crystal Barlow, Jeff Bird, Dawn Butler, Paula Dooley, Lee diLorenzo, Teagra Hoyt, John Hall, Jessica Shelton, Rebekah White, Jeffrey Surgent, and Hillary Zujovic.

Presidential Election Sparks Reaction at The Arc of Delaware County

For quite possibly the first time ever, Robert Eckert took a special interest in politics and the Presidential Election. He exercised his right to vote, followed the election results, and was overjoyed to learn that his candidate won. And with the assistance of Kimberly Allegretto, Assistant House Manager in the home where Robert resides, he was able to take it one step further. The events that took place are best described in an e-mail written by Kim, which she sent to The Arc of Delaware County’s (Delarc’s) Residential Management and Executive staff as follows:

11/5/08
I thought I would share a bit of happy and I feel exciting news with you all. As some of you know, Robert advocated his right to vote in yesterday’s Presidential election. When I came on to shift this morning he was a very excited man holding his arms over his head in victory stating, “We did it! He won!” I spoke with him briefly on the events that had unfolded in the election the night before..

Later in the day when Robert returned home from work he turned on the television and switched from his usual M.A.S.H. watching and turned on the news instead. He had caught a bit of Barack Obama’s speech after learning he was the new President Elect. This excited Robert. He came out to me in the dining room and excitedly stated, “I saw him!” When I asked who, he stated Barack! He then began telling me how excited he was again that he had won the election and how happy other people were as well. I then went on to tell him that he should feel proud of himself as he exercised his right to vote and helped him get elected. Bob then lookup up at me with a kind of sad look and said, “He probably doesn’t even know who I am.” I simply looked at Bob and said, “Well you can always write him a letter and introduce yourself.” Bob looked at me very perplexed and asked, “Really? What would I say?” I told him that he could write to Barack Obama and introduce himself, tell him a little bit about himself and anything else he would like him to know about him and that I would be glad to help. Bob got VERY excited. I sat down this evening and assisted Bob in forming a letter to the newly President Elect...

Bob worked very hard at typing this letter himself and is very proud of himself, as he should be. I just thought that I would share this bit of news with you all, as again I found it all very exciting and felt very proud of Bob as he took his stand as a United States Citizen!

-Kimberly Allegretto

The following is a copy of the letter written by Robert:

Dear President Elect Barack Obama,

My name is Robert Eckert. I am a 44 year old African-American man with a Developmental Disability. I live at a group home with The Arc of Delaware County in Delhi , New York . I work in my community Price Chopper grocery store part-time and in a sheltered workshop called Resources for Industry part-time.

I am writing to congratulate you on your successful Presidential Election. I wanted to let you know that I voted for you. I voted for you because I am hoping that as President of the United States that you will do a great job running our Country and help it be a safe place for us to live.

I am looking forward to hearing from you. I would also like to ask you to send me an autographed picture of yourself, if that is possible. Thank you very much for your time. Again CONGRATULATIONS!!

Sincerely,
Robert Eckert

After reading the above, you can probably imagine the pride and joy our staff felt after reading Kim’s memo. Not only were they proud of Robert and his accomplishments, but they were also very proud of Kim and the Residential staff. Without their encouragement and support, Robert might have missed this opportunity to feel the pride of who he is and what he was a part of. This is a perfect example of our Unifying Principles in action. Never once did Kim bring her own political views in to the picture; we don’t know if she voted for or against Robert’s candidate of choice, we don’t even know if she voted. All we know is that she saw an opportunity to increase Robert’s sense of self-worth and she put his needs and desires first, without regard for her own. She sat with Robert, supporting him in writing the letter, spelling out each word as he painstakingly struck the keyboard one letter at a time. She was also so proud of Robert and filled with his excitement that she took the time and initiative to send the memo to others so they too could share in this special moment in Robert’s life.

Robert, Kim, and everyone at Delarc have been watching the mailbox, anxiously awaiting a reply to his letter. Don’t you wish you could be there to see Robert’s reaction when that letter arrives? And this all sparked from one Delarc staff person taking the time to truly care.