Deneen

“Never Underestimate the Healing Power of a Quiet Moment in The Garden.” Josephine Albert Jonathan Carroll is an expert gardener who learned his craft the old fashioned way; with a shovel, some dirt and a lot of hard work. The individuals in our Longmeadow residence typically spend their daytime hours active in their various Day Program settings, but the Pandemic brought that to a halt. As a result, Brendan Mooney, the father of Jon’s housemate Kevin, has provided a variety of activities to the house. He brought over a cook book so everyone could bake cookies together, a dance DVD for [...]

It has been a memorable Spring for Maurice Vanness, who resides in one of Living Resources residential homes and receives supported employment coaching. Working with his employment Coach, Maurice has been a valued employee of Hannaford Supermarket on Wolf Road for nearly 20 years. During his time with Hannaford, he learned to navigate and manage his commute utilizing the Star bus system, plan his daily activities, and accomplish his many job related challenges. This year certainly presented Maurice with challenges like no other. In order for Maurice to continue to work at Hannaford, he had to agree to strict guidelines at [...]

Kevin Steitzer, a graduate of the College Experience and his Career Counselor, Frank Padula are a solid team. Frank started working with Kevin in 2018 when he was a Dietary Aide at the Teresian House. Frank supported him in many ways during this job, but it became evident that it was Kevin’s dream to work with animals. Knowing that it was an important part of Frank’s job to advance Kevin’s career, he worked with Kevin to help him secure employment at the Guilderland Animal Hospital. Kevin soon realized that this job was not the best fit for him, so they moved on [...]

Sonia DeByle’s ambition to learn to be more independent drew her to Living Resources' College Experience Program, where she is currently a freshman. Having been declined acceptance to other college programs, Sonia cried tears of joy when she read her acceptance letter. In her words, “I was so excited and could not believe it.” Although she enjoys all her classes, Sonia particularly relishes those that concentrate on life skills, which will lead to her goal of living on her own. Sonia thought it might be difficult to meet new people, but soon found herself attending events and learning about the many [...]

Emily O’Hearn, Art Director of Print Services for the American Marketing Group recently spoke with and provided her expertise to our College Experience Employment Class.  Emily has a wealth of experience having been in the graphic design industry for seven years. She shared a wealth of advice for the students as they begin their internships, including; “be yourself, be confident.  Know that it is alright to make mistakes.  Everybody is growing and everybody is learning.  If you do not like where you are and you do not like the job you are in there are people to help you reach goals.  [...]

Our College Experience has begun a series of challenges for our students to get involved in. This week was #chorechallenge in which students send their instructors pictures of themselves completing their chores. Pretty great idea, College Experience! What other ways can you think of to help around the house?