e~ Newsletter

September 2023

We are pleased to share with you some updates – and some smiling faces showing how our clients AND our employees SHINE!

Sunshine Village – where GREAT days begin!

A Tribute to Rob Montero

This past June, a long-time employee – and Program Manager – of Sunshine Village - Rob Montero passed away.

Rob was a wonderful manager and a great person. He was so respected by his staff and colleagues and loved by our clients and their families. He left behind his wife Lisa – who manages our Agawam Day Hab program – and a loving family with cherished memories. Rob also left our Sunshine Village family. He touched the lives of so many people – including his colleagues and many of our clients – who adored him. Rob was a kind, generous and caring person – and as many people have said - was a gentleman in every sense of the word. His life, though too short, was one that was well-lived.

Rob left us too soon, but we will always be grateful for all he did to help Sunshine Village SHINE.

MESSAGE FROM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

As part of our planning efforts to move the organization forward as we come out of the COVID pandemic, Sunshine Village made the difficult decision to suspend accepting any new referrals or welcoming back any more returning clients in April of 2023.

Since that time, we have worked hard to overcome the challenges presented by the workforce crisis/shortage – including investing in the organizational structure with 3 new Supervisor positions, 9 new Case Management positions and an additional member for each of the Human Resource Department and Maintenance Department teams. We have updated personnel policies, improved our buildings, enhanced our technology, increased our promotional efforts and are now working on reigniting our professional development initiatives. Unfortunately, we continue to have many open positions and we also have many employees using some type of paid leave. The Board of Directors, at the September 2023 meeting, made the decision to continue the suspension of accepting new clients and we will again revisit this decision in December of this year.

We will provide periodic updates to all of our stakeholders, including thru this e~Newsletter. We hope to share how our efforts have resulted in true progress – as we work to overcome the workforce challenges that so many businesses and organizations like Sunshine Village are facing.

We remain hopeful – knowing that the future of Sunshine Village is BRIGHT.

Thank you for your continued support of Sunshine Village!

WE ARE PROUD TO BE A PART OF OUR COMMUNITY!

BOOMER! Boomer – the team mascot for the Springfield Falcons – visited our programs in Chicopee, Agawam and Three Rivers and was a HUGE hit. Everyone had a smile on their face…and it was just more GREAT days at Sunshine Village!

We Love Volunteering at The Agawam Senior Center! Twice a month, we visit our friends at the Agawam Senior Center and are so thankful for how welcoming they are. We lead craft projects and tailor the handcrafted items to the seasons we are celebrating. Everyone always has a GREAT day!

Caring for Animals!

Some of the clients in our Casey CBDS program volunteer their time helping our community partner, The Dakin Animal Shelter, achieve their

mission. We help with animal care - and all that may involve! This past month, we helped to fill the bags for the animal food pantry so that our furry friends all have enough to eat.

OUR SERVICES DELIVER ON OUR PROMISE OF A GREAT DAY!

Namaste! We are so happy to continue our partnership with Debra Vega from Vega Yoga Mobile – who provides yoga instruction for all of our day hab programs through our “Bringing the Community to Us Inclusion Program.” Thank you, Debra, for helping us to live in the moment!

More Accomplishments! On August 30^th, the CBDS program in our Casey Building celebrated all of our clients! Gina was so pleased to be able to give each participant a Personal Accomplishment Certificate. Some of our friends from the Chicopee Police Department joined us – and even brought their “Protect and Serve” Ice Cream Truck! It truly was a GREAT day!

LEARNING TOGETHER:

This past August, over 40 teachers and paraprofessionals from the Special Education Department of the Springfield Public School system spent a day at our Chicopee and Agawam sites – learning all about our GREAT days! It was a great way for us to show how we help people to develop their personal and professional skills while meeting new friends (and even meeting up with friends from the past!) If your school would like to join us for a Professional Development Day – call us!

PBS Picnic: During July-our PBS Advisory Team Members gathered under our Litwin Lane pavilion for our annual PBS picnic. The members of this committee consist of a staff and participant representative from each of our 7 programs, and work hard daily- meeting monthly- to help spread (PBS) Positive Behavior Support reminders and Basic Human Rights.

Everyone had a GREAT time enjoying a nice cookout, each other’s company and celebrating their hard work and commitment throughout the year.

CBDS Motivational Speaker Series –

Thank You John Neves: A group of our clients in our CBDS program were inspired by a recent guest speaker, John Neves. John shared all that he has been able to achieve both personally and professionally – in school and in athletics and now in his career – while overcoming challenges. We are planning for John to come back to talk with more people – and encouraging us all to face our fears and overcome obstacles to achieve our own successes!

SUNSHINE VILLAGE HAS THE BEST EMPLOYEES!

Direct Support Professionals Recognition Week: The Commonwealth of Massachusetts celebrated DSPs in the field of human services during the week between Sunday, September 10^th and Saturday, September 16^th. Sunshine Village joined in the celebration – gifting our DSPs Paid Time Off with SHINE TIME, personal thank you cards, breakfasts and logo’d gifts – including long sleeve t-shirts.

We Gave Out Another Bonus! As a way to thank our employees for their continued commitment to our mission, Sunshine Village gave everyone an APPRECIATION BONUS on June 30^th – of $1,500! (The bonus was prorated for newer employees who joined SSV after Jan X, 2023.)

AND We Are Giving Another Bonus! We are looking forward to again rewarding all employees with ANOTHER Appreciation Bonsu – on December 31, 2023 of $2,000! (Employees who have joined us after July 21, 2023 will receive $1,000!)

We Do the Little Things Too! Our employees work hard every day – so we want to make sure that they know how much they are appreciated. When we give out small gifts – they are filled with BIG thanks!

Congratulations!

We promoted one of our employees!

We know he will do a GREAT job as he continues his career at Sunshine Village!

Bruce Wood – Program Manager

(Davis / Knights Day Hab Program)

Congratulations to Bruce Wood – who has accepted the Program Manager position for the Davis / Knights Day Habilitation Program. Bruce came to Sunshine Village in March of 2010 as a Developmental Specialist. Over the course of the past 13 years, he also worked as an Employment Specialist and Production Supervisor in the former Village Works business and will be leaving his position as Program Supervisor in the Three Rivers program to join the team at the main campus in Chicopee.

and, Welcome!

We are looking forward to the GREAT DAYS ahead with our new employees in our Administrative Services!

Robert Belden – Billing and Finance Administrator

Alberto Dejesus – Payroll Administrator

Emily Maruca- Receptionist

Join Our Team!

We have several DSP positions that are open – and we are now also recruiting for per diem OT and SLP. If you know someone who would like to have GREAT days while helping people SHINE – ask them to check out our website at www.sunshine.us. And remember, employees who join us are eligible for the next APPRECIATION BONUS – they will receive $1,000 on December 31^st (or when their introductory period is successfully completed.)

34^th ANNUAL SUNSHINE VILLAGE GOLF TOURNAMENT!

We had another GREAT day at our Golf Tournament – where we enjoyed the BEST weather ever! To see all the photos from the event, please click the button below:

THANK YOU to the following sponsors!

TOURNAMENT SPONSORS

Chicopee Savings Bank Charitable Foundation

PeoplesBank

Westfield Bank

CORPORATE SPONSORS

Charter Oak Financial Services – Lunch Sponsor

Key Private Bank – Dinner Sponsor

Supreme Roofing – Cart Sponsor

Caolo and Bienik – Hat Sponsor

Inter-all Corporation – Towel Sponsor

USI – Bag Sponsor