Jillian Sacco, Author at Opportunity Works

Our “Wicked Cool Room” in Newburyport created these amazing “seed bombs” out of compostable materials with local wildflower seeds to celebrate Earth Day. They even look like Earth! They are plant-able and helpful to the bee population.

Fact: There are more than 20,000 distinct bee species around the world, and more than 4,000 in the U.S. alone. For much of the past ten years, beekeepers, primarily in the United States and Europe, have been reporting annual hive losses of 30 percent or higher, substantially more than is considered normal or sustainable.

Fact: Many factors are influencing the decline of bees, including habitat fragmentation, increased use of neonicotinoid pesticides, colony collapse disorder, and climate change

Fact: Bees are indispensable pollinators of most ecosystems. There are 369,000 flowering plant species, and 90% of them are dependent on insect pollination.

Fact: Usually, a honeybee can visit 50-1000 flowers in one trip. Therefore, if each bee takes ten trips a day, a colony with 25,000 forager bees can pollinate 250 million flowers in a day.

Fact: Many species of animal dependent on bees for their survival because their food source, including nuts, berries, seeds, and fruits, relies on insect pollination. Pollination not only makes food available for other organisms but also allows floral growth, which provides habitats for animals, including other insects and birds.

Information from: www.Earthday.org

This summer one of our lovely program rooms in Newburyport, currently named the “Wicked Cool Room” visited a guinea pig sanctuary. They helped feed the pigs, but guess what…they aren’t pigs. The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig, also known as the cavy or domestic cavy, is a species of rodent belonging to the genus Cavia in the family Caviidae.

My sincere and heartfelt Thanks for all you do every single day! You make an incredible difference in the lives of the people we support.

Click here to read the thank you notice from the Executive Office of Health & Human Services with the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services

Check out what the staff and folks are up to in the Wicked Cool Room in our Newburyport Location. They are propagating and growing succulents!

Learn along with us, if you are unfamiliar with the process

prop·a·gate

verb

to breed specimens of (a plant or animal) by natural processes from the parent stock.

“try propagating your own houseplants from cuttings”

There are many methods of propagation!

https://www.ruralsprout.com/propagate-succulents/

Shout out to our staff Jean for beginning this wonderful project with the people we support.

: Plants with a view!

: Cactus and friends

: Succulent NICU

: More plants!

Photo Description: Nori, a vulture, wearing a red ball gown is perched on a tree branch with big black sunglasses. Matching red heals are at the bottom of the tree and someone is taking photos of them. The second panel looks like a dream with fog around the edges with a movie marquee reading “Now Starring…Nori”. The third panel is, without fog, a sunrise over Opportunity Works with Nori snoring away on her branch.

Photo Description: Nori, a vulture, is tired and siting on a tree branch. Text reads “I think it’s time for a break.” Second panel is a robot Nori on the same tree, replacing Nori. The third panel is various postcard from Nori skiing and visiting the Hollywood sign. Text reads “meanwhile…” and one of the postcards reads “wish you were here.”

As many of you know we are in the process of moving our Community Based Day Program to the lower level of the Haverhill site. Everyone has been working diligently to furnish, decorate, create schedules for the opening this month. Here is a sneak peak of what we have been working on! We will keep you updated on all changes and the start date of the grand opening!

Happy Memorial Day from OW. Here are some letters our folks wrote in honor of our fallen soldiers.

Thank you so much for your bravery and your sacrifice. You’re an amazing and tremendous person. I’m truly blessed and I will honor your memory in so many ways. Our country is free and stronger with your bravery and sacrifice. For the rest of my life I would put fresh flowers on your grave on each Memorial Day because of your contribution to make this country safe for all of us.

I would like to thank you for your service and for all that you did in protecting our country from harm during the war. Your sacrifice and bravery is something that not only I, but the whole nation would like to honor you for. I also would like to thank you for being a true inspiration to all American citizens of every kind and for honoring our government for making our great country a free nation to live in. Our free nation would never have been in patriotic conditions it you did not serve in our wonderful military. In final thoughts, I would really like to thank you very much for be a true and loyal hero of honor, bravery, and trust for serving in our inspiring armed forces in protecting and representing our free nation.

I want to thank you for your service to the United States of America. I respect and honor you even though you are no longer with us. When I think of you as a fallen soldier it makes me happy because I know you sacrifice your life for our country and our freedom. After learning more about why Memorial Day so important I know now that you as a fallen soldier have sacrificed so much for the lives of the American people. Finally, I want to thank you again for your service to this country and Rest In Peace.

Opportunity Works has a lovely partnership with Newburyport Art Association. The Executive Director, Wanda Strukus, led a wonderful virtual tour of Love is LOVE! at the Newburyport Firehouse Center for the Arts for our participants on ZOOM in March. This virtual tour was a great bridge between the people we support who are in our Newburyport facility, Haverhill facility, and remotely at their homes. Wanda described many of the works on display while engaging the participants in the artwork.

[Pictured is a screenshot of the Zoom Tour at the Firehouse. The image in the center is a red and pink floral painting, and there are a few Opportunity Works participants visible at the top along with a staff and NAA’s Wanda Strukus]

Thank you to Wanda Strukus, Jenna Signore, NAA volunteers, Firehouse Center for the Arts, and the artists featured in the exhibit for this opportunity!

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Fact: Many factors are influencing the decline of bees, including habitat fragmentation, increased use of neonicotinoid pesticides, colony collapse disorder, and climate change

Fact: Bees are indispensable pollinators of most ecosystems. There are 369,000 flowering plant species, and 90% of them are dependent on insect pollination.

Fact: Usually, a honeybee can visit 50-1000 flowers in one trip. Therefore, if each bee takes ten trips a day, a colony with 25,000 forager bees can pollinate 250 million flowers in a day.

Information from: www.Earthday.org