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CONFERENCE REGISTRATION RATE:
$300 for members
$335 for non-members
CONFERENCE LOCATION: VIRTUAL - Zoom
WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
First year RSCs looking to get their 36 hours.
Those who didn't attend in-person in May.
Anyone interested in attending the many new workshop topics being offered!
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Before you register, please review the workshop guide to select your sessions as well as review payment and cancellation policies.
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MEET NERSC'S NEW BOARD MEMBERS |
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Jayme Bonds, CRSC
Senior Community Coordinator
Winn Companies
Jayme is a Senior Community Coordinator for Winn Companies and has held her position for 14 years servicing residents and mentoring her peers throughout the greater Boston region at her main site and assisting at other sites that do not have a coordinator. Jayme has a strong love and passion for working with residents and has done so for over 30 years.
Jayme holds a BA &Masters Degree in Science , Leadership and Development from Springfield College of Massachusetts. Jayme is a licensed community health worker for the state of Massachusetts and Servers on a few boards: MARSCH where she is currently the greater Boston regional rep and has held the seat of vice president and president, NERSC planning committee where she has held a seat representing Mass, The Senior Medical Patrol board and the National Alzheimer's Foundation. Jayme has a love for family and friends and opens her heart to all individuals who share her same passion. Jayme has been a NERSC attendee for 18 years.
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Vernetta Marra
Resident Service Coordinator
Beacon Communities, LLC
Vernetta has been with Beacon Communities since 2020. She is the Resident Services Coordinator for Berkshire Peak, a family site supporting 120 families, in Pittsfield Massachusetts. Vernetta runs diverse programs for all ages and regularly partners with local non-profits in her community to provide in depth services and engaging programming for her families.
Vernetta has 8 years of human service experience and has worked in many aspects of housing including with Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program for Massachusetts DPH and serving on the Tri-County COC to End Homelessness. She has more than 20 years of experience within the special needs community, including being a certified education advocate, and as a Federation for Children with Special Needs PCT program presenter. Vernetta has volunteered for the Special Education Surrogate Parent Program, the annual Buddy Walk, Special Olympics and co-founded a non-profit family-based support organization for those raising children with disabilities.
Vernetta has more the ten years of experience in fundraising committee work, assisting various charities in planning and implementation of charitable auctions and events.
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In honor of our 2nd Annual NERSC Virtual Conference, we our Conference Planning Committee has selected an organization to highlight. This conference's donation drive will raise donation for Connecticut Foodshare.
Connecticut Foodshare support individuals and families – from one end of the state to the other – by addressing root causes, creating long-term solutions, and distributing nutritious food through local partner programs in an effort to alleviate hunger. To learn more about Connecticut Foodshare, please visit https://www.ctfoodshare.org.
A $20 donation provides 40 meals to those in need.
If you are able, please consider donating today!
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A bill to significantly increase support and funding for service coordinators was introduced today by Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA). Known as The Expanding Service Coordinators Act, it is the first piece of federal legislation to focus solely on strengthening and growing the service coordinator profession.
NERSC supported the development of the act, which seeks to:
- Provide an additional $100 million each year for five years for new Multifamily Service Coordinators and an additional $10 million each year for five years for Resident Opportunity and Self-Sufficiency Service Coordinators
- Establish a minimum $2,500 annual training budget for Multifamily Service Coordinators
- Extend eligibility for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program to Service Coordinators
“We desperately need federal funding to maintain and expand our country’s service coordinator workforce to connect marginalized communities to critical social services, such as meal programs, health care, transportation, case management, and job training," Congressman Smith said.
"Vulnerable members of our communities, including seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income individuals and families, rely on federally assisted housing. The Expanding Service Coordinators Act would bolster our nation’s service coordinator workforce to elevate federally assisted housing in Washington’s Ninth and across the country.”
We will keep you posted on how the bill progresses and how you can take action!
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Shamira Cruz is the ROSS Grant Coordinator North Bergen Housing Authority. Her colleagues describe her as energetic and outgoing, and is well-liked and well-received by her community. Having lived in supportive housing in the past, Shamira exemplifies its philosophy of providing the best possible quality of life for the tenants without prejudice of any kind. She promotes this philosophy through not just words, but through her actions everyday she is at work. Shamira does not believe in the words, “No, it can’t be done.” She fights for the rights of our tenants every day.
“Shamria even seeks out grants, however small or large, for programs that will benefit our tenants. The NBHA is a recipient of the Residents in Self Sufficiency Grant (ROSS) from HUD; largely in part to the hard work of Shamira, and in particular, her collaboration with the numerous partner organizations that provide services beneficial to our tenants some geared towards the elderly, the disabled, and others aimed at youth and families. She ensures that each education and service provider we enlist support from, gives their presentations in both English and Spanish in order to facilitate the learning for the majority of our population. Therefore, I am proud to nominate Shamira for the RSC of the month!”
Most of the population that Shamria serves only speaks Spanish. Since she is bilingual, she works tirelessly to ensure that her tenants are receiving the appropriate State and Federal benefits they are entitled to. She also ensures that tenants who want to become U.S. Citizens are referred to free citizenship classes, which includes a program that subsidizes the cost of U.S. Citizenship applications for income eligible participants. Tenants who want to learn English are also provided with English as a second language classes in the community rooms of their buildings at the North Bergen Public Library (NBPL). The NBPL is one of dozens of partnerships Shamira has developed on behalf of the NBHA, all of whom provide services to our tenants.
“Shamira’s department received acclaim for their efforts from the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officers in 2017. The department was recognized for the development of “The Senior Moment Project” in conjunction with The Act Now Foundation (ANF), a local Alzheimer's and dementia non-profit organization. The Senior Moments Project continues to thrive under Shamira’s direction.”
Shamira is a thoughtful leader and seeks to ensure that her community receives the best support and services possible. She has cultivated several relationships that benefit her community, which includes partnering with local organizations to host seminars throughout the year on a variety of health related topics; bringing planned parenthood to provide sessions for youth and young adults; and hosting events for seniors to make sure they are thriving and living full independent lives in the community.
Shamira is extremely honored to be recognized by her peers. “The work I do plays an important part in my life as well as others. It brings great joy to know that others feel comfortable working with me. Assisting others comes easy to me. I enjoy being able to refer residents to programs they need or may not have known about. Working with families and seniors is a passion of mine.”
Going above and beyond the call of duty is inspiring. Way to go Shamira!
If you would like to nominate someone making a difference in their community, click the link below!
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MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL TIME IS COMING |
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NERSC Members will be able to renew their membership 45 days prior to the new year. Be on the lookout for an email reminder as we get closer. All membership fees remain the same and the benefits/discounts will as well! Any questions with membership, please reach out to Morgan, our Membership & Education Specialist, at morgan@nerscinc.org. |
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KEY BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP:
•Reduced Conference Registration
($45 off in-person, $35 off virtual)
•Early Access to Conference Registration
•Early Access to On-Site Hotel Registrations
•Discounts on All Live Webinars &
•FREE Access to Monthly Coffee Chat Meetings
•Member Directory Access & Listing
•Access to Live Social Feed, Groups, and Forums
•Digital Training Log
IMPORTANT:
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Membership is NOT active until payment has been received and processed by NERSC. This means you won't be able to enter the member site until your payment has been received. You can pay with a credit card immediately on the site or select pay by check. You will receive a receipt/invoice. Please note we have a new mailing address.
- If your company is planning on having at least 5 or more members, only one person from that organization should sign up as the Organization Member. They will be able to assign memberships to the other staff members.
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If you have any questions or issues, please reach out to morgan@nerscinc.org or
call 508-863-0020.
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25th Annual NERSC Conference
Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, CT
May 3-5, 2022
Registration Rate: $495, $450 for members
Hotel Accommodations: $199 + $9.95 facility fee, 15% tax per night
Registration and hotel accommodations will open in January 2023.
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NERSC ON-DEMAND TRAININGS |
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NERSC is offering many of the workshops from the 23rd Annual Conference in our On-Demand Library. If you weren't able to attend all the sessions that you wanted to attend, this is your opportunity! We have several repeat courses that were offered both prior to the conference and then again at the conference. You will notice that they have different time increments. We advise you to take the course that better meets your time needs rather than take both on the same topic as some information will be repetitive.
Webinars are $35 (credit card only) and certificates of attendance will be issued.
Please note that the on-demand webinars are not eligible for NASW CEUs.
Additional Available On-Demand Courses:
- Tackling Social Isolation Especially During a Pandemic - 1 hour
- Medications and Older Adults - 1 hour
- Intro to Medicare and Social Security - 2 hours
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A User-Friendly Tool for Better Mental Health - 1 hour
- Creating Professional Presentations with Microsoft PowerPoint - 2 hours
- A Superhero You: Activate Your Unstoppable Powers - 1 hour
- Capitalizing on Remote Learning Opportunities for Residents and Staff - 1 hour
- De-Escalation & Community Building Methodologies - 3 hours
- Emergency Preparedness with COVID-19 Considerations - 2 hours
- Recognizing & Supporting Needs of Survivors of Domestic Violence - 1.5 hours
- Recognizing & Supporting Victims of Domestic Violence - 1 hour (recorded at the conference)
- Do Not Fix or Change Me, Instead Understand and Teach Me - 1. 5 hours
- Refugee Housing - 1 hour (recorded at the conference)
- Staying Connected: Planning for the Future of Resident Services - 1.5 hours
- Coping with Loss in Older Adult Communities - 1.5 hours
- Accepting the New Landscape - 1.5 hours
- Using Family Metrics for the HUD SfS Report - 1 hour
- Assessing and Enhancing the Cognitive Reserve to Promote Healthy Aging - 1 hour (recorded at the conference)
- Budgeting for RSCs - 1 hour (recorded at the conference)
- A Superhero You: Activate Your Unstoppable Powers - 1 hour (recorded at the conference)
- Capitalizing on Remote Learning Opportunities for Residents & Staff - 1 hour (recorded at the conference)
- Medicare Updates - 1 hour (recorded at the conference)
- Bedbugs 101 - 1 hour (recorded at the conference)
- Mental Health 101 - 1 hour (recorded at the conference)
- Helpful Technology Tips to Assist with Your Work - 2 hours (recorded at the conference)
- AASC Online - 1 hour (recorded at the conference)
- Substance Use Disorders in Older Adults - 2 hours (recorded at the conference)
- Rocking the Kitchen to Engage Happy Healthy Residents (Ways to Fight Food Insecurities) - 1 hour (recorded at the conference)
- Digitizing Resident Program Application with Google Forms - 2 hours (recorded at the conference)
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Contact Us:
(p) 508.863.0020
Info@nerscinc.org
www.nerscinc.org
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