The BayPath Bulletin
All the News You Need ASAP
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BayPath Elder Services, Inc.'s mission is to be a trusted partner in providing an array of services and programs to older adults, caregivers, and persons with disabilities to support their independence and dignity.
BayPath offers home care and related services enabling people to live independently and comfortably in their homes while promoting their well-being and dignity.
Founded in 1977 as a nonprofit corporation, BayPath has 40 years of experience serving and advocating for the needs of older adults as a designated Massachusetts Aging Services Access Point and
a designated Area Agency on Aging.
Visit BayPath's website
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BayPath Elder Services, Inc. serves the following communities:
Ashland
Dover
Framingham
Holliston
Hopkinton
Hudson
Marlborough
Natick
Northborough
Sherborn
Southborough
Sudbury
Wayland
Westborough
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BayPath continues to expand to meet the needs of its consumers and programs, and this month the agency has welcomed three new faces to our staff.
Julie Nowak comes aboard as our LGBT Initiative Coordinator, while
Cynthia Clark joins the Senior Care Options department as a GSSC and
Jacqueline Gundal will serve as a CSSM Registered Nurse.
Congratulations and welcome aboard.
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BayPath has long followed a special tradition to recognize the dedication, selflessness and passion of its staff.
At each month's staff meeting, a staff member is chosen to receive the coveted sailboat. It
is awarded to a staff member who deserves some special recognition for their efforts. Adding significance is the fact that the current holder of the sailboat gets to select the next winner, so this is an honor bestowed by a fellow staff member who sees their co-worker's special contributions every day.
At the September staff meeting, the previous recipient, Case Manager Christine Musella, passed the sailboat on to receptionists Ellen Peters and Laura Quinlan for their dedicated work in helping our whole agency run smoothly while presenting a cheerful and knowledgeable first point of contact to our consumers and other contacts in the community.
Congratulations to Peters and Quinlan and to all of the former, and future, winners of this unique honor.
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Caregiving Chronicles providing insight and information in Q&As
One of the most popular and informative features of the Caregiving MetroWest website is the Caregiving Chronicles blog. The blog, authored by Caregiving MetroWest Program Manager Douglas Flynn, is updated regularly with news on local resources and community events, along with more in-depth posts about issues of importance to area caregivers.
In the latter category, many of the most read entries are the regular Q&As done with experts in fields related to caregiving. That includes a number of Q&As with Juanita Allen Kingsley of the Natick VNA. Kingsley is very informative and always offers great insight to the subjects she covers.
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Pride Across Generations A Smashing Success
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Kristen Eck's keynote address highlights BayPath and Framingham State's inspirational intergenerational event
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| Pride Across Generation's Intergenerational Panel, featuring (left-right) Brandon Adams, Matthew Polimeno, Rev. Debbie Clark and Donald Gray, takes questions from a full house at Framingham State's McCarthy Center. |
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BayPath Executive Director Christine Alessandro delivers closing remarks. |
BayPath Elder Services and Framingham State were proud to host our first joint LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Banquet at the McCarthy Center on FSU's campus on National Coming Out Day on October 11.
"Pride Across Generations" drew a large crowd of about 80 attendees, featuring many Framingham State students and community members from across the age spectrum. The night featured opening remarks from State Representative
Jack Lewis, an inspiring keynote address from WBZ NewsRadio's
Kristen Eck, an informative panel discussion with
Brandon Adams (OUT MetroWest),
Matthew Polimeno (Framingham State),
Rev. Debbie Clark (Edwards Church, UCC) and
Donald Gray (AGE MetroWest), and closing remarks from BayPath Executive Director
Christine Alessandro.
Special thanks go out to all our generous sponsors. In addition to BayPath and Framingham State, the night would not have been possible without the support of Right at Home In Home Care & Assistance of Eastern Worcester County; the MetroWest Health Foundation; the MetroWest Regional Coalition for Suicide Prevention; FSU's Council for Diversity & Inclusion, Center for Inclusive Excellence, Arts & Ideas, and LGBTQ+ Employee Affinity Group; Jewish Family Service of MetroWest; Seniors Helping Seniors; Advocates; and Solace RNovations.
Just as important was the work of several key individuals, including Elder Community Care Program Manager
Cindy Getchell, LGBTQ+ Initiative Coordinator
Julie Nowak, Director of Strategic Initiatives
Stephen Corso and Caregiving MetroWest Program Coordinator
Douglas Flynn from the BayPath staff, and
Kim Dexter and
Chon'tel Washington of Framingham State. Additional support from all our LGBTQ+ Initiative Advisory Board were instrumental in making this event such a success.
After such a wonderful event, BayPath and Framingham State are looking forward to hopefully putting on many more inclusive events together in the future.
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| State Rep. Jack Patrick Lewis delivers the welcoming remarks to a large crowd on hand for the Pride Across Generations dinner at Framingham State. |
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A Record Month for Nutrition Department
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Over 13,000 home-delivered meals served in August in a record-setting month for BayPath's Nutrition Program
The Nutrition Program at BayPath served 13,045 home-delivered meals in August, 2017, which was an all-time high for meals delivered for the program in a given month.
The need for home-delivered meals continues to increase with the growing senior population. There has been continued consumer growth in this program since 2014; as high as 23-percent growth in 2014-2015.
BayPath has also seen an increase in community dining participation and has expanded its program by providing weekly and monthly lunches for Hispanic and Chinese seniors, as well as Veteran's groups throughout the catchment area.
With this increased need for meals comes a corresponding need for additional volunteers. Although BayPath currently has over 400 volunteers who dedicate over 2,700 hours a month to its program, the need for volunteers continues to rise to keep up with the demand in the community.
If you or someone you know is interested in volunteering their time to the Meals on Wheels Program, please contact Denise Menzdorf at 508-573-7200 or [email protected].
Contributed by BayPath Nutrition Director Denise Menzdorf. Have news from your department or a staff member worthy of some recognition? Let us know about it for next month's BayPath Bulletin. Send us your updates.
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Kellie Moore (right), a caregiver in BayPath's Adult Family Care Program, receives her Community Living Recognition Award at the Massachusetts Shared Living/Adult Family Care Conference in Marlborough on Sept. 26. Moore, a Framingham resident, cares for Arthur Schneider.
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Agency will mark 40 years of service with annual breakfast
BayPath Elder Services will be celebrating its 40th anniversary this year at its annual meeting and breakfast, with this year's theme of "40 Years: Building for the Future."
This year's event will be held at the Courtyard by Marriott (75 Felton St., Marlborough, MA 01752) on Tuesday, October 31 from 8-10 a.m.
The event will feature recognition of community service award winners, a continental breakfast and guest speakers, including a keynote speech by Rosanne DiStefano, former Executive Director of Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley.
The cost to attend is $25 per person. If you are interested in attending, please call Ellen Peters at 508-573-7200.
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PCA Program in Expansion Mode
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PCA program open for new enrollments, now available to consumers in 28 communities throughout MetroWest
BayPath Personal Care Attendant Program Manager
Shela Charlot checked in with
The Bulletin recently with some updates on the program. First, the PCA program is once again open for new enrollments.
The PCA program is a "consumer directed" program funded by MassHealth. Consumers assume the responsibility for hiring their own personal care attendants to meet their specific care needs. The consumer must live in the community, have a permanent or chronic disability, require physical assistance with two or more activities of daily living (ADLs) and have their physician prescribe PCA services. The program is open to Medicaid/MassHealth eligible consumers, regardless of their age.
Charlot also wanted to make sure potential consumers know that BayPath's PCA program is open not only to people in the 14 communities in BayPath's service area, but also to residents of 14 other surrounding towns and cities. The program also serves consumers in Acton, Bellingham, Boxborough, Canton, Maynard, Medfield, Medway, Millis, Needham, Norfolk, Stow, Walpole, Waltham and Wellesley.
To apply for the PCA Program, download the
referral form (pdf) and fax the completed form to 508-573-7362, attention: PCA Department. More information is available on our
website or by calling 508-573-7274.
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Fall Foliage Adds Color to the Season
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| Autumn colors on display at the John Brown Bell in Marlborough. |
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Thank you for taking the time to look through our newsletter, and please check out our website,
www.baypath.org. Have news, information or feedback from a client that you want to see in our next newsletter?
Let us know
BayPath Elder Services, Inc. is a member of the MetroWest ADRC,
a partnership with HESSCO and the MetroWest Center for Independent Living.
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Copyright © 2017. All Rights Reserved.
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