Winter 2017

MARC, Inc. Seeing People - Not Disabilites Since 1952

MARC, Inc. of Manchester held its first ever gala in honor of our 65th Anniversary on October 13, 2017 at A Villa Louisa. The sold-out event was attended by over 270 people with the band Mass-Conn-Fusion jazzing up the dance floor. During the evening, we raised over $40,000 for individuals living with intellectual and developmental disabilities, a tremendous achievement only made possible by the support of the community. Thank you to our main sponsors: Pratt & Whitney, ECHN, Highland Park Market, Kala Prasad & Prasad Srinivasan, Lynn Damon, Associated Insurance Services, CFM Construction Corporation, and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. Thank you to Nate Agostinelli for emceeing the event and to Congressman John Larson, State Senator Steve Cassano, Rep. Prasad Srinivasan, Rep. Mark Tweedie, Rep. Sam Belsito, DDS Deputy Commissioner Peter Mason, Mayor Jay Moran, and town director Tim Devanney, Jr. for their kind words and accolades.

65th Anniversary Gala

Lantern

Board of Directors

PresidentDotti Cannon

Vice PresidentLarry Byar

TreasurerArnel Hines

Secretary Dr. Ted Leach

DirectorsNathan AgostinelliDiana BelbrunoLaurie BrooksAlan IgdalskyKim LittleChip MonzeglioMichael RobinsonGilbert SpencerScott SpragueKala PrasadDavid StansberryRenee Welsh

Executive DirectorKevin Zingler

A Message from the President

A Message from the Executive Director

We’re thrilled to be able to welcome new people to MARC. Now that the state has passed a budget, we are able to accept the graduates that had their lives put on hold. Now those people are out working in the community instead of sitting at home. We are now supporting over 300 individuals! We are only able to do this thanks to your support, and for that we are grateful. You will read in this issue about some of the improvements we’ve made this year, especially making our group homes more accessible. We’re also investing in infrastructure to make sure that we are safe for years to come. Thank you to everyone for a great 2017 - we look forward to 2018!

This truly is one of the most wonderful times of the year. From all of us at MARC, happy holidays! While you are out celebrating, please remember MARC this holiday season. We all know how hard it was to be without a budget for months, but the fiscal crisis is still not over. We are preparing for the future by investing in smart technology for our homes. This will make our people more independent and lower our staffing costs. You can join us in this groundbreaking endeavour. Thank you for your support!

MARC, Inc. of Manchester is a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization that supports people with developmental disabilities from Amston,

Bloomfield, Bolton, Bozrah, Columbia, Coventry, East Hartford, Ellington, Enfield, Farmington, Glastonbury, Hartford, Manchester, Mansfield Depot, New Britain, Newington, Plainville, Rocky Hill,

Somers, South Glastonbury, South Windsor, Stafford Springs, Tolland, Vernon Rockville, West Hartford, Wethersfield, Windsor

Winter - 2

In This EditionResidential Spotlight - Page 4

Shannon’s Place Spotlight - Page 4

Parent Group - Page 4

DSO w/ Work- Page 5

Employee Spotlight - Page 5

In Memoriam - Page 5

Senior Center Spotlight- Page 6

Employment Spotlight - Page 6

Welcome to New Ambassadors -Page 6

Halloween Dance - Page 7

Healthy Initiative - Page 7

Upcoming Events - Page 7

Winter - 3

Donor Celebration We recognized a few of our incredible donors at our annual Donor Celebration on November 9th. Unforunately, we are unable to thank all of our extremely generous donors. This year we recognized Stephen and Christina Breen, Kala Prasad and Prasad Srinivasan, and The Tolland Fund. We also recognized Barbara Titus for volunteering her time to teach zumba! We also recognized our people served who have been here for 25, 30, 35, 40, and 50 years. Congrats to Virginia Turschmann for celebrating 50 years with MARC!

Years of Service Awards!25 years - Brian Bongiovanni, Patti Lundell,

Anthony Graziowski, Robert Chandler, Debbie Dufour

30 years - Mark Hodgins, Danielle Ledoux, Richard Lachapelle, Tracey Spencer

35 years - Gene Robbins

40 years - Debbie Damato

50 years - Virginia Turschmann

Residential Spotlight - Thank You Lynn Damon!

Three notable events happened due to the generosity of our good friend and agency supporter, Lynn Damon. Seven residents and their support staff were treated to admission to the Glastonbury Rotary’s annual Lobster Fest. Everyone enjoyed their fill of delicious summer time classic food. This was an extra special event for our residents and the group had a fantastic time! Additionally, Lynn’s charitable foundation, Friends of G, also sponsored the construction of a ramp to make our Carriage Dr. group home fully accessible. This modification will allow our residents ease of access and comfort as they age in their home. She also made a generous donation of $1,000 for #GivingTuesday! We ran a campaign to raise money to fix the roof on Carriage Dr. Thank you Lynn from all of us at MARC!

DSO Shannon’s Place - Visiting the Firehouse!

Winter - 4

The guys enjoyed a tour of the Manchester Fire Station on Main St. From left to right, Charlie Bean, Tony Graziowski, Eric Bogue, Bobby Violet, and Neil O’Connor pose for a picture sitting on the back of the fire truck. The guys were able to experience firsthand what goes on in a fire house on a daily basis. Thank you to the Manchester Eighth Utilities Fire Dept!

Parent Group Starting in JanuaryIf you are the parent of a person served at MARC and you are interested in becoming more involved with MARC, then you are a perfect fit to join our Parent Group. We will be meeting quarterly where we will have guest speakers and talk about how to best support your loved one and family. We want you to know what is happening, so that we can make MARC the best it can be! Our

first meeting will be on January 25th at 6pm. You will learn more about the field of disabilities. If you are interested in joining the group, please call Emily at 860-646-5718 or email Emily at efillion@marcct.org.

In Memoriam

Carol Southmayd 1935-2017

Willy Heinzmann 1958-2017

Dawn Russell has been a part of the MARC, Inc. family for 23 years. As our Intake Facilitator, she gives information on our services, handles intakes and referrals, and guides individuals through the enrollment process. Every day, she receives calls from families who want their loved ones to have successful and enriching lives through the services we provide. In short, Dawn helps make dreams come true.

Recently, Gary and Christine Goetz called Dawn seeking a placement for their nephew. Thanks to Dawn’s networking connections, she was able to put the family in touch with resources to meet the individual’s needs. Out of gratitude for Dawn’s guidance, the Goetz made a donation to MARC, Inc.! “When people get off the phone with me, or leave the building after a tour, they have a good impression of MARC, Inc. My mission is to help people.” Way to go Dawn!

Employee Spotlight - Dawn Russell Makes A Difference

Winter - 5

DSO with WorkThe DSO w/ work has accomplished many different jobs lately. Everything from water bills to shredding and everything in between.

We miss you Willy! Willy Heinzman attended the DSO w/ work, and his favorite job was shredding. Upon his passing, we hosted a memorial service. Many of our individuals spoke in rememberance of him with the fondest memories. It was very touching, and his family members were deeply moved by all the memories that people shared. Making a sad moment for all of us a little better in sharing thoughts in memories. Willy loved Coca-Cola, so we had a toast in his name!

Safety Glasses Update The DSO w/ work has made strides in community work as well. We now share safety glasses with sur-rounding schools. We worked with Pratt & Whitney

to make it possible for our area schools to receieve the glasses as a donation! This program just got started, so if anyone knows of a local school that could use safety glasses, please let us know!

Charlie Lahda 1963-2017

Liz Mayer 1949-2017

It’s harvest time! This summer, our Seniors learned all about gardening by starting these vegetables from seed, nurturing them every step of the way, and finally eating them! Senior Center Support Staff Jess Hockla led

the gardening group through the Summer. As Jess says, “What a beautiful thing it is to have the creative space at MARC Inc. to do all of this! It has been amazing to see the Seniors’ interest and gardening skills grow over the course of this experience. They have done an incredible job! It makes my day to see how excited everyone is waiting for the next harvest and, our favorite part, our chance to eat it!” Way to go Jess, we appreciate all you do!

Senior Center News

Employment Spotlight - Yana Wants a Career Not a Job

Yana started with MARC, Inc. last year around this time in November of 2016. Yana came to us with hopes of finding an agency who will work with her in her job hunt and not just place her in a retail job or a cleaning job like the agencies she worked with in the past. She acquired a Bachelor’s Degree in History at Central Connecticut State University while also working part time at Target. Yana made it a point to not let her disability get in the way of her skills and intelligence. We started out with a work assessment at Planet Fitness just to see what her work ethic was, and she did amazing there. Then the job developer heard of a position at DDS as a Self Advocate Coordinator, which Yana expressed interest in right away. The job developer worked on interview preparedness with her and sent in her cover letter and resume to the address on the posting. Yana was called in for an interview and got the job. Yana is a great fit for the position due to her background. She is a Board Member for the Autism Council, has given human rights trainings to employees of another Community Rehabilitation Program in the CT area, runs a monthly self-advocate group, and was part of Connecticut Partners in Policy Making. Yana continues to make strides at work, and is hoping to move out of her parents’ house soon. She is working on getting her Driver’s License and trying to find a roommate to move in with. Yana is a very big Star Wars fan and believes that the key to everyone’s success is the force that lies inside of us. Way to go Yana!

Welcome to Our New Ambassadors!

We are very happy to be continuing our ambassador program, which allows our people served to be a liaison between the staff and people served. They represent MARC and work together to make MARC a better organization! This time we expanded the term from one year to two.

Their term officially started at our Donor Celebration. Congratulations to our new ambassadors: Mike Robinson, Arielle Bohnet, Andrea Van Gorder, Eric Bogue, and Dennis O’Brien. Debra Clegg became an Ambassador Emeritus as well! We can’t wait to see what ideas the new ambassadors have!

Winter - 6

Halloween DanceOur Halloween Dance is one of our favorite events. We look forward to it all year and plan our costumes months in advance in an attempt to win one of the costume prizes! Thanks to our donors, we are able to host this event for FREE! Students at East Catholic High School volunteered their time to make sure that everyone had fun and

that the cafeteria looked like a haunted house. ShopRite generously donated water to make sure everyone stayed hydrated! DJ Jim Wayne played the best Hallow-een-themed music.

Upcoming Events

Bowl-A-Thon April 22, 2018

We’re always looking for new people to join our MARC family! If you are interested in volunteering or joining a committee, please call or email Emily at 860-646-5718 or efillion@marcct.org. Thank you to our volunteers for making these events possible!

Are you looking to help out?

St. Patrick’s Day Dance March 9, 2018

Winter - 7

Healthy Initiative Did you know that indivdiuals with intellectual

and developmental disabilities are 58% more likely to be obese?

MARC is very excited to be kickstarting a healthy initiative with the support of the H. Louise Ruddell Charitable Fund. We’ve already started offering yoga, tai chi, and zumba, and soon we’re going to be expanding to the gym! We will be taking groups to the Ellington YMCA to learn how to stay healthy. We will be taking walking trips as well, especially when the weather is nice. This is so important for our people and can change their lives. Not only will it improve their health, but it will also give them more job opportunities. They will be able to stand longer and do things that they weren’t capable of before. Thank you to the H. Louise Ruddell Charitable Fund for supporting this important initiative!

Night to ShineFebruary 9, 2018

MARC, Inc. of Manchester 151 Sheldon Rd Manchester, CT 06042 facebook.com/marcincct www.marcct.org

REMINDER:

The year end is fast

approaching! Make

your tax-deductible

gifts to MARC, Inc.

by Dec. 31st.

is waiving fees and matching 1% of every donation!

To make your donation go even further, visit marcct.org/giveback