Message From The Superintendent - January 2022
Greetings!
"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day." Edith Lovejoy Pierce.
Happy New Year!
Many great things happened in 2021 at Portage DD, and we are excited about what 2022 has in store for our agency and the Portage County Community!
We continue to meet weekly with the Portage County Health District. They provide us with essential data and information to help try and keep everyone safe. The most recent information shows now have had 73 people of about 1,000 people we serve, positive for COVID. Unfortunately, that is 26 more people that have tested positive since our last update. Out of an abundance of caution for our staff and the population we serve, the increase in positive cases means Portage DD will limit in-person visits for this month. If necessary, we will still do in-person meetings, but there will be more virtual meetings until the numbers regress. Our goal is to keep our staff and community members safe.
Unfortunately, before the holiday break, a couple of our students tested positive for COVID. We are thankful those students have bounced back in time for school to resume. As always, we are grateful for the kids, families, and staff who continue to navigate these turbulent times.
In December, Portage DD had the opportunity to partner with the Portage County Health District for a clinic where we did vaccine boosters and new vaccines for kids ages 5 to 11. The clinic was held at the Happy Day Services building. While we did not have the same turnout as our previous two clinics, we are still thankful to offer a safe place for people to receive their vaccinations. Thank you to the staff and the Portage County Health District for working with us on three successful clinics.
On top of serving the community, in 2021, we developed our Portage DD Gives Back committee. During December, we set a target goal of $1,000 to support some of our families in need. I am pleased to share that our agency surpassed our target goal and can even further support the DD population of Portage County. Thank you, to the staff of Portage DD, for your generosity.
We have a couple of new things happening that we haven't mentioned.
Portage DD has contracted with We Thrive Together to bring virtual social outings for the people we serve. They have social activities and events that adults eligible for services can participate in whenever they are offered. They offer activities from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM and 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM Monday through Friday and 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM and 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM on Saturday.
We are contracting with the Ohio Autism Insurance Coalition. They try to ensure access to prescribed treatments for individuals with autism, developmental disabilities, and mental health disorders, including applied behavior analysis (ABA), speech therapy, and other treatment modalities.
In January, Portage DD is piloting a transition program for youths in Streetsboro and Windham. This program is called Building Independence. The program will be weekly, on Thursday in Windham, and weekly on Friday, in Streetsboro for the rest of the school year.
We also will be doing nine classes a week in five different school districts on social-emotional learning for kids with autism. The nine classes will meet once a week in January. This program will be in Ravenna, Field, Waterloo, Crestwood, and Windham.
The Happy Day Services building will be opening our doors to allow other schools to utilize our facilities. A couple of students from Aurora will be using our sensory room, life skills area, and gym.
The end of 2021 also marked retirements for two of our veteran staff. Ironically, both have worked with Portage DD for 35 years. Judy Fetterolf, SSA, and Pam Dubinsky, bus driver. They will both be missed and leave a lasting impression on the families, providers, coworkers, and people we serve that have had the pleasure of knowing them. Best of Luck to Judy and Pam on their next chapter!
Thank you again for your continued support. We are incredibly grateful for all the families, providers, staff, community, and people we serve! Portage DD will continue to strive to meet and exceed your expectations.
WE ARE HERE FOR YOU.
Sincerely,
John Vennetti