Message From The Superintendent - October 2021
Greetings!
We hope everyone is doing well! Here are the updates.
We had two people that we serve test positive for COVID in September. Fortunately, the two of them appear to be recovering well. We continue to meet weekly with the health department. They give us essential data and information to help try and keep everyone safe. Thank you to all the great staff at the health department!
Happy Day School started back earlier on August 25th. We have completed over a month of school. The staff, parents, and kids continue to do a great job educating and keeping everyone safe! We are back to having Kindermusik in our building and offering it to the Early Intervention families every Thursday.
Our Adult Family Swim Night is back every Thursday at Happy Day School from 6 to 730.
We have two new investigative agents who started at the end of August, Tracy Moore and Randall Huber. We are thrilled to have them here at Portage DD. Having three total Investigative Agents will enable us to do more preventative work and training to prevent problems from arising in the future hopefully.
We also wanted to say goodbye and good luck to Karen Hill, Nursing Support Manager. She retired on September 30th. She has been here at Portage DD for over 20 years. She will be missed. We also will miss Morgan Lopuchovsky, SSA. She has only been with us for a short time, but her positivity will be missed as she pursues her dreams elsewhere. She resigned effective 9-28-21.
We are in the process of hiring new SSA’s. We hope to have the new SSA’s announced next month. We are also hiring for an Administrative Assistant.
One of our main goals for Portage DD is to create and improve services and programs for providers, school districts, families, and the people we serve. Here are some of the things we are currently working on:
PEERS (Parent, Education, Empowerment, Resources, and Support) program. The PEERS program is for all families that have children eligible at Portage DD. Parent Advocates will assist them if they want this new service. We have finalized a contract with Greenleaf Family Center for this program and are now taking referrals.
Our Education Services Manager, Vincent Valerio, continues to work with the local school districts to help meet their needs. He has two more crisis prevention training set up at Windham and Field. Vincent has classes set up for social-emotional learning at Field, Waterloo, and Crestwood. He is also working with our Transition Coordinator, Laura Fechter, and Community Employment Coordinator, Tiffany Jones, to do a pilot transition program for Windham and Field starting in January 2022. We are also exploring a way for some of our local districts to utilize the gym, life skills area, and pool at our school.
We are looking into a lending library for school districts. Creating a lending library will enable us to loan iPads, walkers, standers, Hoyer lifts, etc., to the local districts in need.
We have picked Kaleidoscope to team up with us to do a short-term/long-term respite home for youth. They have found a home to start this program. The plan is to begin this much-needed service early next year.
We also had a meeting with Family Community Services (Unified Resources) to discuss partnering with them to do a social, recreational program for youth ages 12 to 17. The objective would be to provide youth with Developmental Disabilities to have social, recreational opportunities outside of their home to assist with learning and exploring appropriate skills.
We wanted to recognize our Special Olympic athletes. On Saturday, September 11th, the Portage DD Special Olympics softball team and 5 Individual Skills Softball athletes traveled to Sandusky, Ohio, to play in the 2021 Softball State Tournament at Sports Force Park. The Individual Skills competition consisted of drills showing an individual’s skill in fielding, throwing, hitting, and base running. Our five athletes have worked hard since July, practicing for the competition. Athletes are placed according to their gender and skill level in time trials.
Results:
Teresa Strahler – 4th
Danielle Wadkins – Silver
Jonathan Floyd - Gold
Shawn Heffernan – Gold
Ryan McCoy – Silver
The Softball team also won the gold medal! Congratulations to all the athletes, coaches, and coordinators!
We wanted to take a moment and briefly discuss the direct support professional crisis that has hit our system. We have sent a couple of letters to families outlining the crisis. We are doing everything we can to support the people we serve, families, and providers. Thank you all of you and our staff for doing your best in a bad situation. We all are doing our best to try and overcome these real obstacles. We will continue to keep our mission to assist and support individuals in developing their abilities through advocacy, inclusion, and empowerment.
Thank you again for your continued support. We are incredibly grateful for all your support! Portage DD will continue to strive to meet and exceed your expectations.
WE ARE HERE FOR YOU.
Sincerely,
John Vennetti