Message From The Superintendent - June 2023
Greetings!
We hope everyone is doing well! Here are the updates.
We added a new member to the Portage DD family in May. Tracy Whitney-Cool has accepted the new maintenance position. She has custodian experience as well as experience as a jet engine mechanic. She started on 5-22-23. Welcome, Tracy!
Portage DD will continue to fund and host the Portage Trailblazer Camp at the Happy Day Services Building this summer. The camp is free for anyone eligible for services with Portage DD between the ages of 6 and 21. We again have contracted/partnered with Akron Rotary to have this camp for qualified people. It is an inclusive camp. Registration is now open. Each camper can sign up for four weeks. It starts Monday, June 12, and is a seven-week camp running Monday- Friday from 9 am to 3 pm. There will be no camp the week of July 3. See the link below to register.
We had our first meeting of the newly established Guardianship Services Board. The Guardianship Services Board is a partnership between area agencies on aging, Probate Court, Mental Health and Recovery Board, and Portage DD. All of these agencies are contributing funds and time to make this work. The board comprises a person from Probate Court, Mental Health and Recovery Board, and Portage DD. Candie Burbick, SSA Supervisor, sits on the board for Portage DD. The board had its first meeting on May 2. See the website for further information.
THE PORTAGE COUNTY GUARDIANSHIP SERVICES BOARD INFORMATION
We wanted to thank Franklin Township for our partnership with Brady Lake Park. They are putting in a parking lot to help support the Special Olympic athletes. Thank you!
We thank the fantastic school staff about to complete the 73rd year at the Happy Day School. Thank you! We have been transitioning to the new Happy Day Services model we started two years ago. We are excited to expand this model and keep assisting school-age children and school districts. We have gone from working with five school-age children to working with over two hundred kids. We are still utilizing the building to assist school-age children in a different capacity. This new model allows us to impact more children, which is the right thing to do. We will continue to allow school districts to utilize the facilities and joint programs that we do inside and outside the school districts with kids with developmental disabilities. We have expanded respite, social and recreational programs, lending library for schools, crisis prevention training, program development, and programs to support kids and their parents, such as our PEERS program (Parent Education, Empowerment, Resources, and Support). We have changed our model based on the needs of the county. The school districts do an incredible job of educating kids with developmental disabilities, and we have only had two kids referred in the last four years because the school districts are meeting the needs. By adjusting our approach, Portage DD will spend more resources and significantly impact those kids and parents. Thank you to all the school districts for the magnificent work they do!
Believe in People!
WE ARE HERE FOR YOU.
Sincerely,
John Vennetti