Dear Staff,
Last month we celebrated college graduations across the agency, including the graduates of our first ever ACLD Stony Brook University Master's Cohort Program. We are extremely proud of our staff for their commitment to education and we are thrilled to cover their achievements in this month's newsletter. See below for highlights on these amazing staff.
We are excited to announce the first staff members to take advantage of the New Employee Referral Bonus, Residential Direct Support Professionals Jason Haywood and Damari Blades! Learn more about this new program and how to earn up to $6,750 when you refer friends to work at ACLD here
In this edition of the Limelight, you will find a new "Direct Care Corner" section, a spotlight on a staff member who recently became a United States citizen, and other milestones across the agency. Enjoy!
Sincerely,
Rob, Gerard, Anne Marie and Kim
Robert Ciatto, Executive Director
Gerard DiMuro, Assistant Executive Director
Anne Marie Sime, Assistant Executive Director
Kim Leonard, Chief Financial Officer
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Stony Brook Cohort Graduates |
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Congratulations to ACLD’s Stony Brook University Cohort Master's Graduates of 2021!
For almost the last three years, 16 employees from across the agency have been working on their Master’s Degree in Human Services from Stony Brook through ACLD’s cohort program.
We are so proud of these employees who decided to pursue higher education, and we know that the additional knowledge they have gained is invaluable to our mission. Please enjoy the video below highlighting each staff member and the graduation last month.
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A particularly special moment happened at the Stony Brook Graduation with Karen Davella of the Finance Department and her daughter, Danielle Davella of Vocational Services, graduating alongside each other as a mother and daughter classmate duo!
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Rodlane Bien-Aise, Day Habilitation / Randy Brown, Residential / Marie Casimir, Residential / Donna Celardo, Day Habilitation / Anthony Crisci, Vocational Services / Danielle Davella, Vocational Services / Karen Davella, Finance / Jacqueline Ditman, Residential Services / Stephanie Faustin-Chery, Residential / Sharon Geiselmann, Human Resources / Sabine Maynard, Regulatory Affairs / Tracy Ann Morgan, Residential / Conrad Petti, Residential / Joel Santana, Regulatory Affairs / Artesha Tyler-Granville, Regulatory Affair / Rosmaliz Valdez-Romero, RewearAble
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Congratulations to David Guirand, DSP in the Oakdale IRA for graduating Nursing School with his R.N.
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Congratulations to Ayobami Bakare of ACLD's Children's Services for graduating from Old Westbury with her B.A. in Psychology.
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Congratulations to Nicole Farinella, an alumnus of Kramer Learning Center's Day Care Program and former teacher at Kramer, on her Master's Degree and Administrative Certification for Transformational Educational Leadership. She now teaches in the state of Maryland.
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Congratulations to Holly Hippolyte, a 1:1 aide in ACLD's Children's Services for receiving her Associates degree in Liberal Arts from Suffolk Community College. She will be attending Stony Brook University in September and is interested in a Child Study program.
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Congratulations to Zuleima Benitez-Argueta, Teacher Assistant at Kramer Learning Center for graduating Stony Brook University with her Undergraduate degree in Psychology. Zuleima joined Children’s Services as an After School Program Aide in 2014, at the age of 17, and has been a constant at ACLD, giving whatever time her school schedule allowed to our programs over the years. Zuleima has plans for continued Graduate study in the field of Mental Health/Counseling.
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Tyliek Billinger, Direct Support Professional in the St. James IRA is a great advocate for the people we support. He routinely shares with House Manager, MaryCara Ferdinando and Assistant Manager, Alyssa De Stefano exactly what the men and women in the house need, and in-turn providing excellent person-centered care.
You can always count on Tyliek to set up a house party, and he works hard to ensure that all resident's special requests are met. This past October, Tyliek took the lead on getting everyone into the fall season by making sure everyone had pumpkins to decorate. Not surprisingly, he always enjoys finding new recreational activities in the community to provide new life experiences to the residents.
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Coretta Coleman, Tyliek’s fellow DSP in the home, states, "Tyliek is a great asset to the house. He is committed to ensuring all the residents are safe, well cared for and active. He always does his best from helping the residents organize their rooms to keeping them busy with activities in and out of the house”.
Many thanks to Tyliek for being a great resource, ambassador, encourager and teacher for the men and women of the St. James IRA!
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New United States Citizen |
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Congratulations to Afshan Billah, Assistant Controller of the Finance Department, for becoming a United States citizen!
She officially completed her five-year journey to citizenship this past October, and attended her Naturalization Ceremony last month to take the Oath of Allegiance and receive her Certificate of Naturalization. See pictures below of her coworkers surprising her with a party to celebrate!
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Employee Referral Program |
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The Human Resources Department is excited to announce the new EMPLOYEE REFERRAL PROGRAM! You can now earn up to $6,750 when you refer 5 friends or family members to work at ACLD. See the flyer below for details.
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Please welcome Chardé Kahanic, M.S. CCC-SLP as the new Speech Language Pathologist at Kramer Learning Center. Chardé is a graduate of Penn State and holds a Master’s Degree in Speech Pathology from New York University. Chardé has been busy working, playing and getting to know the children on her caseload at KLC since May.
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Joseph Lubrano, son of Barbara Lubrano in the Finance Department, graduated Queensboro Community College as the CUNYAC Scholar Athlete of the year!
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Nicholas R. Gozza, MD, son of ACLD's Children's Services nurse Roberta Gozza, graduated from Toledo University Medical College in Ohio.
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The absolute best of luck goes to Jan DiGeronimo, Volunteer Coordinator in the Development and Community Relations Department, as she has left ACLD after 6 years. A surprise going away party was thrown Thursday on the Bethpage campus for her last day, and staff from across ACLD came to say goodbye and have some cake. As you can see, she was very much surprised!
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See the training status of your employees by going to the Center For Learning (CFL) home page on ACLD Today and clicking on the STAFF TRAININGS link (see the blue arrow on the image below).
This newest report has been revised to provide information on Blood Glucose Monitoring, Tube Feeding, Tube Medication and Sub-Cutaneous Injections.
NOTE: This report includes extensions made to staff certification expiration dates.
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Discounts for ACLD Employees |
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Did you know that by being an employee of ACLD, you can take advantage of exclusive discounts at different businesses such as Verizon, P.C. Richard, Six Flags and a lot more?
You can also register as an ACLD employee on PlumBenefits.com to get even more discounts on vacations, entertainment, online shopping and other services. Use company code ac0825520 to register.
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Temporary Employee Procedures |
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Please review the Temporary Employee Procedures for COVID-19 Period. There were two new sections added to the document called “COVID-19 Vaccination Documentation” and “Mask Wearing for ACLD effective May 19, 2021”.
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Welcome ACLD New Hires - May 2021 |
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Alexa Mueller Teacher Aide, Kramer Learning Center
Dieuna Theodore Direct Support Professional, Russell Gardens
Paul Rivera Teacher Aide, Spiegel Children's Center
Tiffany Leggette-Kennings Residential Manager, Wildwood
William Ray Residential Manager Calvert Avenue
Leslie Martinez Respite Counselor Bethpage 807
Maria Cruz Ventura Respite Counselor Bethpage 807
Alexandra Gilles Direct Support Professional East Meadow
Brianna Cordero Direct Support Professional Long Hill Road
Charde Kahanic Speech Language Pathologist Kramer Learning Center
Jahleel Jones Direct Support Professional Baldwin
Joe Lafleur Direct Support Professional Bethpage 857
Kristin Scully Budget Analyst Bethpage 807
Therancio Julien Day Habilitation Specialist Bethpage 837
Ty-Tianna Billinger Direct Support Professional Louis Kossuth
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Don't forget - RewearAble program now has two bins located on the Bethpage campus in front of the 807 building - so you can drop off your clothing donation any time, day or night.
RewearAble, now in its 5th year of operation, has continued to accept contactless donations of clothing, shoes and other accessories throughout the pandemic.
Every donation received helps provide jobs for adults of different abilities in the RewearAble program, increases their independence and gives them opportunities to foster supportive relationships in the community.
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Join ACLD at Palmer's American Grille for a music and dinner night this Thursday!
Families, friends and staff are all invited. The proceeds will benefit ACLD's Poker for a Purpose fundraiser on July 13th at the Heritgage Club at Bethpage.
Don't wait - make your reservation today!
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Don't forget to give a SHOUT OUT to recognize someone at your location for something special they did for you, your department or a person we support. |
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The Organizational Care Committee is always looking for new ideas and suggestions from all of YOU to continue to make ACLD one of the best places to work, and for children and adults to receive supports and services.
Please share your ideas and suggestions anytime at brightideabox@acld.org or by using the "Bright Idea Box" at one of the following ACLD locations.
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807 Building
837 Building
857 Building
Program Without Walls
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Kramer Learning Center
Spiegel Children's Center
Hauppauge Day Program
Levittown Day Program
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Glen Cove Day Program
Westbury Day Program
Farmingdale Day Program
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Submit YOUR stories for the "Limelight" |
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Each month we include stories in this newsletter about YOU and all of the amazing staff here at ACLD!
BUT WE NEED YOUR HELP to find out about these stories. Please send us anything to include such as:
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A story about how you or someone else went above and beyond to help the people we support, organized any fun or educational activity, or did anything to further our mission in any way
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Information or news useful for staff across the agency. Anything important or fun.
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Proud moments for you or your family (Personal or professional milestones, awards, weddings, educational degrees or works in the community).
Don't be shy about submitting stories - we need new ones every month!
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"the limelight" is an initiative of the
Communications Committee
and is produced by the
Development and Community Relations Department.
Jonathan Dolan, Editor. For questions, comments or suggestions, please email dolanj2@acld.org
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Thank you to all who have submitted information
and photos. Keep them coming!
We welcome your comments and suggestions.
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