VOLUNTEER HIGHTLIGHT
This month, we wanted to highlight The Guinea Pig Sanctuary in Salisbury Ma. A team visits 1-3 time weekly depending on interest and availability. When we go there, we always bring some veggies to feed the guinea pigs and get ready to snuggle whatever piggy needs some love! Sometimes we also sweep the floor , replace water in the water bottles, or deliver cozy beds that we make during the week. With so many guinea pigs in residence, there is always something to help with! Besides having a great time with some adorable animals and giving back to the community, when we help out at the Sanctuary we are able to work on Team building skills, being
attentive and observant, practicing to stay focused when performing tasks and most of all listening to the sanctuary staff about who we can visit and how to hold them correctly. We also get to practice lots of skills that can be useful such as: Team building, concentrating, staying focused, listening to instructions, using GPS, using memory, listening, organization, counting, and it’s a great way to practice social skills.
According to their website:
“We always welcome families, children and even care animals into the sanctuary. We look forward to partnering with all the local non-profits that work with animals, children, and families. Our goal is to unite everyone in the village with the resources and support services needed to be the strongest, happiest, most loving group united by our love for each other and our furbabies.”
The Guinea Pig Sanctuary is a 501C3 and has been in Salisbury since 2020. They have an incredibly inspiring story and we hope you will check out their website: https://www.guineapigsanctuary.org/ to find out more!
Hello families and caregivers,
As you may know, the House and Senate Budget Resolutions have been released. Various cuts to Medicaid have been discussed generally, but no statutory text has been written. Now is the time before pen is put to paper to educate legislators about the importance of Medicaid and what cuts to Medicaid would do to you or your organization or you community or the people you serve. (For background, here is ANCOR’s webinar Reconciliation Education in 2025 – Zoom.)
Next week, Congress is out of session. Your federal legislators will be home in districts. NOW is the time to communicate with them about the impact of Medicaid and the urgency to take Medicaid out of budget cut discussions.
ANCOR has an extensive Medicaid Resource Center with one-pagers about Medicaid and a very detailed advocacy toolkit about how to set up meetings, what to do in meetings, and how to follow-up after meetings, including alerting ANCOR about your visit, so that ANCOR can follow-up with the office as well. The visit can be a first step in a multi-step process to build solid relationships with legislators.
Many legislators are telling constituents that they would not cut I/DD services and that they are just looking to eliminate “fraud and abuse”. This is a false narrative. Here is an article with talking points about that false narrative.
If you would like to write to your legislators with your personal experiences or to share a personal story, please use ANCOR’s advocacy platform which makes it easy and also keeps ANCOR abreast of what grassroots are doing.
Please forward this email broadly. The link to ANCOR’s action webpage is: https://www.ancor.org/actions/preserve-i-dd-services-tell-congress-protect-medicaid/.
In January, we had teams volunteering at:
We also took time to makes lots of cards for Cards for Hospitalized Children.
Its impossible to list them all, but here’s some of our favorite January adventures:
The Team decided that our first Newsletter would be the perfect time to highlight our longest running volunteer partnership atCommunity Works: Meals on Wheels. Meals on Wheels started in the United Kingdom during WWII to help people who had lost their homes. It started in the United States in Philadelphia in 1954 to provide lunches to seniors in need. Now in the US, Meals on Wheels provides over 218 million meals to 2.5 million Americans.
At Community Works, we have groups that deliver Meals on Wheels in Newburyport and Haverhill Monday- Friday. Most
team members love volunteering for Meals on Wheels, so everyone all takes turns. The main reason we like it so much is that we like to spread joy to people who don’t get many visitors. We also get to practice lots of skills that can be useful such as: Team building, concentrating ,staying focused, listening to instructions, using GPS, using memory, listening, organization, counting, and it’s a great way to practice social skills. When we deliver the meals, we have to go to the Senior Center and check our list for the day for any special meals for health reasons. We have to make sure we separate the cold and hot meals and put them in the correct bags with a hot pack or a cold pack. When we deliver the meals, we make sure we are delivering the correct meals according to the list. We knock on the door and make sure to say hello to the person we deliver to (that’s our favorite part). If no one answers, we call the Meals on Wheels office to let them know so they can check in to make sure they are okay. Once we are finished with our deliveries, we have lunch ourselves either at the Senior Center or a local restaurant.
If you want to find out more about Meals on Wheels check out
their website at: https://www.mealsonwheelsamerica.org/
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL NEWSLETTER IN A PDF
On February 12th 2025, Program Manager Melissa Charest had the pleasure of visiting the State House to attend the ADDP Legislative Budget Forum. State Representatives and Legislators, along with folks from ADDP and other agencies shared their stories and the work they are doing to invest in the human services workforce. Melissa was lucky enough to catch a photo of the recipient of the ADDP Legislator of the Year Award, Representative Michael J. Finn and Shane Brooks, VP of Community Residential Services @ the Gandara Center, who introduced him. This event emphasized how critical it is for all of us to continue advocating for services provided by agencies like Opportunity Works. We were proud to be a part of it.
This Valentine’s Day, our day program celebrated with a fun and heartwarming event! Individuals and staff were invited to bring in their baby pictures for a chance to be entered into a raffle to win a Valentine’s Day basket. We had a great time guessing who was who, sharing laughs, and reminiscing.
After all the pictures were submitted, some of our friends felt disappointed because they didn’t have baby pictures to share. But with a little creativity, we used a fun filter to create childhood photos for everyone who needed one! Seeing their smiles made the day even more special.
Today, we placed all the names in a hat, and the lucky winner of this year’s Valentine’s Raffle Basket at Haverhill Opportunity Works was Ana E.! Congratulations, Ana, and thank you to everyone who participated in making this event so wonderful!
“I love ProjectSEARCH because I get the opportunity to try different internships and meet new people. This program has taught me so many skills like professionalism, learning to take feedback and how to become more independent”
– Anajahliz T, PS Intern
“What I love about ProjectSEARCH is that I can be a part of the NECC campus and I get to meet new people. ProjectSEARCH has helped me gain confidence and new skills. I love all the new internships I get to try especially working with the NECC comfort dog. I get to take Winnie all around the campus to meet the students and faculty. Working with LT. Walker has been great. He is so kind and helpful.”
-Brandon R, PS Intern
“Working with ProjectSEARCH interns has been an incredibly rewarding experience. It is a pleasure to assist them with reaching their goals of independence and integration into the local workforce as skilled and dedicated employees. I have truly enjoyed getting to know the entire class and seeing their personalities shine through as they go about their daily activities. The internship is designed for the students to learn from their supervisors, but I would argue that the opposite is true as I have learned more from each and every one of them.”
-Lt. Keith Walker, NECC Comfort Dog Supervisor
Dear Friends and Family,
As the close of 2024 and Opportunity Works 50th Anniversary year draws near, and we set our sights on the start of our sixth decade providing innovative programs and support to individuals with disabilities we take another moment to reflect and acknowledge with grateful appreciation your unwavering support for our valuable mission and important work. Thank you!
For half a century, Opportunity Works has been committed to providing quality, innovative services to adults with developmental disabilities and we attribute our continued success to our strong partnerships with the individuals we support, our team members, families, friends, community members, businesses, and our profoundly devoted supporters. Each one of you has made a genuine impact on the lives of individuals with disabilities. Each one of you has a direct hand in Empowering People, Changing Lives.
From our very beginning, Opportunity Works has been a unique organization wherein the people we support are at the center of all we do. Our 50-year journey has not only focused on providing care and support to individuals and their families, but also deeply inspiring and nurturing the human spirit, allowing our mission to guide us, each and every day.
Growing exponentially throughout the years both in terms of the numbers of people served and the vast scope of services provided we aspire to continue meeting the ever-growing needs of our communities and the hundreds of individuals from over thirty-two communities throughout northeast Massachusetts we currently serve for another half century.
In the spirit of this giving season, please consider making a generous donation to Opportunity WorksTODAY as your support is vital to our continued success. Your gift, no matter what size, will not only make a direct and lasting impact on the lives of many, but your gift will also continue the mission of Empowering People, Changing Lives.
Gratefully,
Opportunity Works
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OW Fun day!
An ocean of blue shirts was a site to see! In celebrating our 50 years of service, Opportunity Works hosted two days of celebration for our folks in both Haverhill and Newburyport.
Visits from the Kona Ice truck, local caricature artists, face painters, balloon artists, and various furry creatures gave everyone choice in how they wanted to spend their day!
Cycling through all the stations, folks supported could relax with a craft such as bracelet making or utilize some sensory baskets. Others chose to shoot hoops with their pals for prizes and attempt to dunk their favorite staff members in the dunk tank. Program participant Arius was quoted “It was great. I like when everyone participates together. I liked the animal stuff, it was nice.”
“I dunked my staff in the dunk tank. The people that did drawings were cool. I would like to try something like that someday.” He concluded.
Program participant Karen, pictured in the group photo below, recalled the day being “hot” and “fun” and was excited she could cool off with the treats from Kona Ice. She also mentioned that seeing everyone in their OW shirts made her feel happy. She liked matching with her friends.
Our organization was so excited to be able to celebrate this milestone with the people that mean the most to us!
Opportunity Works came together in October with friends, families, former Executive Directors, stakeholders and members of our communities to celebrate our Golden Anniversary in style!
The night included a look back at our history, acknowledging past and present leadership, what the future holds in store and most importantly, we celebrated the individuals served and their remarkable success throughout the last half century!
During the night we presented five Opportunity Works program participants with awards and are pictured below with their corresponding Executive Directors. Each award winner represented a different decade of service, and displayed exemplary personal growth. We would like to congratulate:
1974-1984: Glen R.
1984-1994: Katie B.
1994-2004: Dan E.
2004-2014: Billy J.
2014-2024: Stuart L.
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