When a grieving student came to school in need of a positive male role model, he quickly found some unlikely friends while bonding over a vacuum. You see for Brison, vacuuming the school is a treasured reward and a responsibility he takes very seriously. One day when his vacuum needed repairs, Woodfords’ own Maintenance department rushed to answer his call without realizing the idols they’d quickly become in the process. What started out as simply repairing his vacuum has grown into a great friendship and so much more. On difficult days Brison calls upon our maintenance staff for reassurance, encouragement, and guidance. In every way possible the team, made up of Don, Greg, Karl, and Ryan, has and continues to go above and beyond to provide Brison with consistent reliable role models, talking him through his morning routine, encouraging him to come to school, and more. Most recently, the team gifted Brison with a Woodfords issued maintenance t-shirt, honoring him as the teams youngest member in history. This is just one in a sea of stories of the many ways our staff, whether in direct consumer facing roles or not, fulfill Woodfords’ mission, vision, and values through their work each and every day. Thank you to our Maintenance team for your incredible commitment to the individuals we serve!

Woodfords is proud of its on-going partnership with the State of Maine to deliver both the Behavioral Health Professional Training & Certificate Program and its related workforce development efforts. We continue to strive to increase statewide awareness of this free training program and to increase the number of certified Behavioral Health Professionals available to support children and youth with disabilities throughout the state.

Learn more about becoming a BHP and the BHP training and certificate program by visiting becomeabhp.com or connecting with Jeffrey Carpenter our Workforce Recruitment Specialist at jcarpenter@woodfords.org.