Spring/Summer 2011
Client Edition
Advocating personal growth and community inclusion for all we serve
Executive Director
Francine M. Pangaro, Ph.D
A Message From the Executive Director
Welcome to our Spring/Summer edition of our Newsletter. Finally, spring is here, we survived a snowy winter! We are happy that a section of our roof was replaced, thanks to
funds from the Bristol Development Authority, just in time to withstand the ice, snow, wind
and rain that we all experienced here in New England. At Lake Avenue, our clients and
staff stayed warm now that the new furnace is in place. Our current focus is to finalize our
plans to replace the siding at Jerome Avenue. A severely needed project. Thanks to the
generosity of our community outreach campaign donors — we have almost reached our
goal.
Editors
Ann Beardsley
Pam Wilson
Please enjoy what our clients have to share.
PROGRAM UPDATES
Sincerely,
Francine M. Pangaro, Ph.D
“Together We Are Better”
News from the CANDY KITCHEN.
Mike says… “I like being with my friends and I enjoy
painting candy molds. I’m getting ready to go on my first
cruise in June with my family.”
Annette says… “I like making candy and enjoy being
with my co-workers. I also enjoy making money. I’m
looking forward to a family wedding in June and going to
the Rhode Island beach during the summer.”
Erin enjoys being able to make money working on a
variety of jobs. The things she looks forward to are being
with her friends and going on a trip to Disney.
Deb enjoys making candy and also making money. She
is looking forward to starting their garden at Boy Street.
Mike S. enjoys painting and filling molds. He really
enjoys his time ‘one-on-one’ with his home support person after work one day a week.
Gino enjoys bagging candy and his favorite job is using
the dishwasher. Gino is looking forward to going to summer camp and vacation to Maine.
Lauren said her favorite job in the candy kitchen is grating. She also enjoys drying dishes and molds. She is
looking forward to going to a family wedding during the
summer.
Nicole’s favorite job is grating and bagging pops. She
also enjoys being with her friends and getting a paycheck.
Nicole is looking forward to summer vacation.
Erin said her favorite candies are caramels. Erin also
enjoys cutting ribbons and painting molds. She is really
looking forward to a family wedding this summer.
Suzy likes being with her friends and boss. Her favorite
job is mopping the floor and painting molds along with
putting eyes on the appropriate pops.
The GROWING CENTER
Everyone is looking forward to spring. We finally got
through the snowy winter. We are wondering when the
last lump of snow will actually melt this spring. Despite
all that snow, everyone kept busy besides the shoveling.
We all enjoyed the holiday party at Nuchies back in December. Paul, one of the greenhouse workers, went to
visit relatives in Arizona and had a wonderful trip. They
managed to fly in and back between snowstorms. Patrick got in a lot of great skiing. Brandon did the Shamrock Run and Walk, he was glad that it was a nice sunny
day. David is enjoying his new job at the greenhouse
and playing with the dogs at home. Courtney enjoyed
the movie Rango and said she laughed a lot while
watching it. Jim is looking forward to planting seeds.
Jason is looking forward to picking ripe cucumbers that
will be growing in our garden. Mark can’t wait to mow
the lawn. Everyone is looking forward to Easter and
Spring. The Growing Center will be open two Saturdays before Easter and Saturdays in May besides our
regular weekday hours.
The Growing Center continued...
Cathy is excited about waiting on customers and writing up
sales slips. Before we know it, the Farmers Market will be starting up in July and we will be selling our products there on
Wednesdays.
We would like to thank Sheriden Woods, Beekley Corp, and
Huntington Woods for letting us sell our products at their sites.
We appreciate their community spirit and support. Courtney
also wants to thank all our volunteers for their help through the
year.
ADVOCACY / RECREATION / VOLUNTEER
Our Advocacy program continues to be popular but there are
more people in need of an advocate than there are volunteers
who are able to be a friend to one of our clients. We recently
had a new match — Sherry is going to be Joann’s advocate. If
you would be interested in becoming an advocate, please call
Ann Beardsley at 860-582-9102 ext 139
Our Recreation program is very popular at BARC. We have
ongoing arts & crafts and Bingo at BARC and at the Imagination Museum. We have moved our dances to BARC and they
have been very successful. Everyone is looking forward to the
May 20th St. Paul sponsored Prom. This is always a great event
for everyone.
April was Volunteer Recognition month. A seed packet with
a message in a card was sent as a thank you to all our volunteers.
It said “Volunteers Help us Grow”. May 20, 2011 is the 20th
United Way Day of Caring and we are expecting volunteers to
do projects at all of our locations. On May 21st a group of 20
volunteers from St. Joseph’s Church in Bristol will be painting
rooms at our Lake Ave. Location. Thank you to everyone for
your continued support.
BARC
2010 Employees of the Month
January 2010
February 2010
March 2010
April 2010
July 2010
October 2010
November 2010
December 2010
BARBARA CORBIN
DANA O’NEIL
MARY GAURO
GRACE OLAH
PAM DUNLAP
LAURA FILLION
MELISSA MATIAS
BARBARA BOWLING
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!
Our Programs Updates
News from YARD SERVICE
The Yard Service crew has been very busy
since the last newsletter. Several of our crew
participated in Special
Olympics Winter Games.
Roger and David B. competed in the cross country
skiing events and Paul did
the down hill skiing. All
had a great time and came
back to work with medals.
David B. is very excited about being an uncle
once again because his brother Steve and his
wife are expecting their first child.
Paul just returned to work after a cruise with
family members to Cozumel, Mexico. Unfortunately he did not miss any of us because he was
enjoying himself so much swimming in warm
water and eating great food at the ship’s buffet
and at Mexican restaurants.
David is enjoying his return to the Yard Service Program after an also enjoyable stay of
over 8 years in our Dining Room Program.
David said he started on September 27th in
Yard Service. David is enjoying making cat
toys and quilts. All of us in the Yard Service
Program feel lucky to have David’s creative
drawing abilities on board. He is the person
that has been doing all of the art work on our
product’s tags.
Ramon and David have been talking up the
BARC Bingo. Both are enjoying the game but
would really like to win, which of course they
have not.
Roger has moved into a
new residential program and
seems very happy.
Surprisingly, almost everyone on the ‘crew’ is enjoying volunteering to cut
out the coupons brought in
by everyone to be used by our residential and
day programs. Actually, on Mondays, before
work begins, when a fresh batch of coupons
come in, the crew is like a pack of piranhas
descending on staff with scissors in hand.
Page 2
FOOD SERVICE
Everyone in Food Service is happy that Spring is here and we are looking forward
to warmer weather and hungry customers. We are celebrating a few anniversaries
— Laura, 5 years, Donald and Rae Ann, 10 years — CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Cynthia went to her first Whaler’s hockey game and loved it, she can’t wait to go
again. Melissa just had a rockin’ birthday party to celebrate her turning 30. Jill was
thrilled to wear the gold medal she received in basketball — we are all very proud of
her, ‘Way to Go’.
Susan became an aunt for the third time by welcoming baby Nathan and Melissa
became an aunt for the very first time by welcoming baby Charlotte. Neil continues
to enjoy bussing tables in the Dining Room and he is looking forward to someday
becoming a waiter.
Cheryl rocked out at a Bon Jovi concert, she said “the music was so loud, but I
loved it”.
Traci is very excited and can’t wait to see her brother-in-law John. John has been
serving in the Navy and will be returning home from Iraq.
An Interview with GARY from SUPPORTED EMPLOYMENT
(Manager = M, Gary = G)
M: Where do you work?
G: I work at Bristol Wal-Mart.
M: How long have you worked there?
G: Ten years.
M: What do you do at your job?
G: I clean the restrooms at Wal-Mart, I also collect all the trash from all
the different departments. When there is a spill anywhere in the store, I get called to
clean it up.
M: What are some of the things you like about your job?
G: Everything.
M: Are there any accomplishments at work that you are proud of?
G: I have a ten-year pin and a new badge in a different color for being at
Wal-Mart for 10 years. I also have a plaque from Wal-Mart for 10 years.
M: What do you like to do when you are not at work?
G: I like to song write and I also DJ.
M: What is your favorite activity to do?
G: Bowling.
M: What is your favorite music?
G: I like country music.
M: Who is your favorite country singer?
G: Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings.
M: If you could have any job that you wanted, what would it be?
G: Board of Directors at Bristol ARC.
DSO—Day Support Options
Winter may be trying to delay its departure from Bristol but spirits are high at DSO that spring will soon take over once more. One
positive sign of that happening is the start of preparations for our annual Day Of Caring. We are looking forward to having the assistance of wonderful volunteers who will help put our lovely Larry’s Park and spacious grounds in shape again.
We are happy to report that the old furnace at lake Avenue has been replaced by a new one. The new furnace has been installed and is
now operational. We are grateful to the Agency for its efforts at making this much-needed improvement a reality.
Other changes have occurred recently at DSO Program. We are pleased to welcome Amy Charette, Irene Rock, Jennifer Markel
and Shannon O’Neill as new members to our staff. In addition, we welcome Kaci, and Todd as new clients to our program.
Spring’s approach prompted comments and thoughts from a number of our clients that they shared with us. Margaret reports that she
had a wonderful time in Florida. Margaret is one of our long-time clients and celebrated her last birthday by vacationing in the Sunshine
State. Now, she says she cannot wait for the day when she can get outside and walk around Larry’s Park as she did last summer. Margaret, by the way, is one of our regular bingo players and loves to engage in conversation with her friends.
Susan has the same thoughts as Margaret about our park and is anxious for the warm weather to arrive. She likes talking to her friends
and playing bowling on the Wii with Matthew and Barbara.
Barbara loves to do crossword puzzles and just relax at program. When the weather is good, she goes on outings to the Dollar Store
for more puzzles. She too, is a fan of the Wii games.
Gertrude is happy that the weather is improving. She says she will be able to visit favorite community sites such as Target, Wal-Mart,
the Dollar Tree, and the BARC Dining Room. During the harsh winter, she spent her time at program engaging in favorite activities
such as arts & crafts and music therapy.
Todd enjoys coming to day program where he can work at his puzzles and do his reading. He also enjoys music therapy sessions
where he has an opportunity to play musical instruments and interact with his peers.
Joanne said that she looks forward to coming to work at program in spring and summer because she can sit outside in our park area
and enjoy the sunshine. Joanne celebrated a birthday in March along with her peers, Matthew, Shelley and Lorraine.
Matthew likes relaxing with his friends when he is at program. He also says he likes having chores to do when he is here. Arthur said
he likes coming to program because it makes him happy.
Continued on page 3.
Our Programs Updates
Page 3
DSO Continued
Larry, Ronald and Michael and a few others satisfy their natural curiosity by walking through our program rooms and keeping
tabs on everyone. They love to watch their peers and the staff members engage in the various activities that go on at day program.
Bingo and craft activities are favorites of Maryann and she joins in with her peers and the staff when at DSO program. In spring
and summer, she can be found walking around Larry’s Park or having a ride on one of the park swings. By now, it is clear that
Larry’s Park affords our clients and staff with great enjoyment and relaxation.
Jean Ann, Robin and Jeffrey each take pleasure in program celebrations like the luncheon at Nuchie’s Restaurant. They also get
great enjoyment from all the festive decorations that are displayed at day program during the various holidays.
Felicia had an extended vacation in Florida that was enjoyable. However, she is clearly happy to be back with her friends at day
program. She likes to relax while doing her physical therapy sessions.
Barbara and Cathy both commented that they are glad spring is coming. The bad weather during the winter caused some outings
to be cancelled, however, they both said that they enjoy day program because the staff is always nice to them and they enjoy the
company of their peers.
As you can see, everybody at DSO is ready for the new season to begin. So, bring it on!
WORK ACTIVITY
Theresa says she likes to do arts and crafts, while Paula says she likes to play matching games and computer games. Eric likes
reading, visiting with the guys and listening to country music. He also enjoys working with Shelly on the computer. Shelly, meanwhile says she likes to earn a paycheck by shredding and making dog bones and stamping. She said she likes the staff and her
friends. Kenny likes being the ‘caller’ for BINGO and he likes hot lunch on Friday. Chad said that he likes being with his friends
and doing different activities. Angel said that he likes doing the hammering job that is contracted in Work Activity and spending
time in the activity room with Carol. He also loves going to the dances especially the prom in May. Carol said that she loves to
work here at BARC in Work Activity and because it’s such a nice place. She loves her co-workers and staff. She said “All the
people around me make my work day very nice, especially Angel”. Amy said she likes to do arts & crafts and sweeping and mopping in the activity room. She likes spending time with everybody, especially the staff and “life is fun”. Amy said she has a good
sense of humor and she likes to clean the turtle’s tank. Marcus said that he is happy when he is working and he likes having
friends at work. Chandalise said that she has two jobs — one in candy, two days a week and one in Work Activity. She loves
hanging out with her friend Amy. Craig is happy that he went to the Board of Directors meeting and spoke to the directors about
his days in Work Activity. All the directors were impressed to learn that Craig was receiving the Ron Choinere Award from the
Bristol Tramps Sports Reunion and it was going to be presented at the Aqua Turf.
Residentials Updates
News from MAX
This past winter was a rough one and some of us went through it
more smoothly than others. Needless to say, we are all happy the cold
weather will soon be behind us and we can enjoy the sunshine outside!
Arthur is excited to go spend Easter with this friend Cheryl. He
loves seeing the pet therapy animals come in and is glad winter is
over. Summer is coming and maybe we can go to some ball games.
Richard is also excited the warm weather is coming and can’t wait
for the rain and snow to be gone. He is planning a trip on a Disney
cruise ship this year.
Raymond was thrilled to continue his family visits during the winter
and can’t wait to get out to the parks.
Ken M. has enjoyed going to bingo and dances and seeing his
friend, Jake. He is anxiously anticipating the pasta dinner and possibly attending another concert this year.
Peter is also thrilled about the upcoming pasta dinner. Peter is overjoyed that winter is over. He plans on having a superb birthday party
and going to several tag sales with the warm weather approaching.
Vinny has had a rough winter and is glad it is behind him now. He
is happy to be healthy and able to still enjoy the activities he always
has. Vinny is asking to attend baseball games, go to the parks, and
maybe the movies too.
Ken transitioned smoothly through a buy-out of his workplace
(Waldbaums to Big Y). Ken is excited to announce his recent engagement to Lori and a wedding in about 2 years. Ken is planning to
start his track & field activities with Special Olympics in the near
future along with trying out a variety of other activities in the warm
weather.
News from Peck Lane
One resident of Peck Lane owned a season ticket to the
Broadway Bushnell Series at the Bushnell in Hartford this
season. Among the shows she saw were Blue Man Group,
Shrek, Wizard of Oz, and White Christmas. It has proven to
be a wonderful activity, and the staff is committed to giving
her the same opportunity in the future.
Two residents, one each from the Beech and Woodland
Street apartments, accompanied Dream Tours Florida on a
Disney Cruise in November.
Given the difficult winter weather, the staff and residents are
looking forward to the Spring and Summer. Baseball tickets
to upcoming New York Mets and New York Yankees games
have already been ordered. Our residents will also attend
Rockcats baseball games in New Britain as well.
Huntington Woods -We are enthusiastic about Spring and
Summer arriving soon. Diane moved into a larger room at a different apartment with new housemates. She enjoyed shopping
for a new bedroom set and in her words, ‘more room for her
CDs and movies’, which she enjoys collecting. Diane is looking
forward to attending Rock Cat games with her friends - Sally,
David, Annette, Elisa, Pam, Michele and Jean Ann. Elisa, Sally,
Michele and Diane went to UCONN Basketball games this winter. Many of our residents look forward to attending Red Sox
and Yankee games. Michele, Sally, Annette, Jean Ann, Pam
and Elisa look forward to watching plays at the Bushnell.
Sharon moved out to the Pines Nursing Care facility in Bristol.
She seems to enjoy several of the activities especially the Rosary group. One of our staff visits Sharon daily to play cards,
color, listen to her music box, look through her animal books
and eat lunch. Many other residents visit her on a weekly basis.
Continued on Page 4
Residentials Updates
Page 4
(Continued from Huntington Woods)
Diane, Pam, Michele, Jean Ann, Sally, Annette and Elisa have enjoyed walks around at parks and the Huntington Woods complex.
Pam enjoys playing bingo at BARC. Both David and Pam enjoy doing crafts at BARC. All our residents enjoy BARC dances at
Jerome Avenue on scheduled Friday evenings. Sally and Diane enjoyed attending a CT Whalers game and were glad to receive a
team poster. Pam, Annette, Elisa and Jean Ann are participating in Special Olympic Summer games and we are looking at planning
a beach and campground trip. Some of our residents are going to Camp Harkness and Camp Horizons this summer also.
Christine reports from BOY STREET
We have to keep the place nice and tidy. We love our place and
want to keep it for a very long time. Joanne says that she loves
her room and thinks that it’s a beautiful place. She loves her
housemates and loves to have fun with her fish and with her
stuffed animals and loves her bed, her music and hats and purses.
She says that she loves to swing on the swing, also she likes Diamond and loves cookouts. She enjoys getting food from the food
truck and to do sewing and making coasters too.
Kaci says that she loves her fish, salads, puzzles and pasta. She
loves to spell out HOME, loves her family and going bowling.
She has fun with her friends. She loves her green coat and house
mates and likes Diamond.
Debby loves to listen to her music, plant the garden with her
friends and watching television. She also loves her bed, her pajamas and to have cookouts, and she loves Diamond. She likes to
do her laundry, go out on Saturday and Sunday to see her family.
She loves playing high-five with Diamond and go to Wal-Mart
and Dunkin Donuts.
Carol says that she loves the house and going outside and
planting the garden together with her friends and to have fun
with Christine. She loves watching television games shows and
Little House on the Prairie and Cheers. She watches Saved by
the Bell and kisses Zack Morris.
What I love about Boy Street is to play around with Diamond,
my computer, bed, my wonderful lamp that my grandmother had
made for me, special games, spending time with my bells, crafts,
singing, reading, dancing. I love my sister, my godchild and my
nephew. I love Cape Cod and I love to take care of my family.
Diamond loves her home and loves to be with her mother who
takes care of her. Christine loves to make her happy. Diamond
also loves her bed and treats and she loves to play around and to
snuggle up with Raggedy Anne. She even talks to me when I
ask her certain things like when I ask about my socks — what
color are they and what design they have. She uses her tail and
points them out. She loves her food and she’s also a maniac cat
too.
Agency News….
This was the first ever Community Outreach Campaign for us. We
were successful in raising more than 35% of our goal which enabled
us to replace the heating system at our Lake Avenue location (just in
time for winter!) and install a new agency sign at our central location.
It taught us the importance of community support from foundations,
our families, Board members, staff members and friends in Bristol.
Shown above are Doreen Barnes, Manager of Yard
Services with staff member Dave and crew member
Ramone, holding the quilts that were raffled. The winners were: 1st Prize—Christopher Pangaro, 2nd
Prize—Lawrence Palin, and 3rd Prize—Lai Siung
Moy. Congrats to all the winners—hope your quilts
kept you warm this winter.
Shown above are (on the right), Francine M. Pangaro, Ph.D.,
Executive Director of the Bristol Adult Resource Center and on
the left, Carolyn and Matt, clients of Bristol ARC, proudly raising the indicator to 35% of the goal raised for the Community
Outreach Campaign.
WHAT IS BIRDIES FOR CHARITY? Birdies for Charity is a pledge-based fundraiser available to Connecticut non-profits as part of the
Travelers Championship PGA Tour Gold Tournament.
HOW DOES BIRDIES FOR CHARITY WORK? We are asking our families, members, staff and friends of BARC to pledge a small amount
of money for each birdie recorded at the 2011 Travelers Championship this June. For example, if an individual makes a 1-cent pledge and
there are 1,500 birdies, that individual will be asked to make a $15.00 donation.
This s the second year we are involved and last year $4,000 was collected from our pledges. BARC gets 100% of the funds raised. You only
need to get pledges, the individuals are billed directly through the Travelers Championship.
For more information, contact Ann Beardsley at 860-582-9102 ext. 139
Donations to Bristol ARC or The Bristol ARC
Charitable Trust in memory of loved ones are
warmly welcomed.
Accredited by CARF – The Rehabilitation Accreditation Commission
An Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer
United Way Agency
Not Affiliated with the ARC of the United States