ACLD

Today was a historic day for ACLD, as our Essential Staff began receiving the first round of #COVID19 vaccines. The vaccines were administered by ACLD’s Nurses, trained by Charles Evans Center nursing staff and Dr. Christine Brown, Chief Medical Officer. Thank you to our nursing team that administered the first vaccines today: Matthew Woitovich, Julie Rava-Young and Denise Hartman. #TeamACLD As always, we will continue to get through this together and stay #ACLDStrong.

Congratulations to Tashia Coston, Manager of our Syosset IRA, for celebrating her 15th Anniversary at ACLD! #TeamACLD #ACLDisHome Tashia began her career at ACLD in the late 1990s as a Direct Support Professional at the Oyster Bay residence, and then after leaving for a few years, she returned to the agency in 2004. Since then Tashia has served as the Assistant Manager of the Thomaston residence and the Russell Gardens residence and has now been in the position of Manager of ...the Syosset IRA since 2014. When presented with her 15-year certificate last month, she credited many leaders in ACLD for helping her reach her level of success today, including beloved staff member Gail White-Rison, whom she describes as a mentor and the person who laid out the path for her to ascend into supervisory roles. Thank you Tashia for being a part of what makes ACLD so great, and the men and women you have supported over the years are lucky to have had you in their lives! #ApplaudDirectSupport

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. #MLKDay

Thank you to everyone who has supported our mission throughout this challenging year and helped us stay #ACLDStrong Every donation of funds, PPE, food and other goods has made an impact. Unfortunately, we know more State-level cuts are being proposed, and the need for unrestricted funds is more important now than it ever has been. We ask - if you are in a position to do so, to please consider supporting our Year End Appeal today - https://bit.ly/ACLD-2020YEA. ... Your contribution, no matter how big or small, will help us to continue to create enviable lives for the children and adults we support. Thank you!

Congratulations to the winners of the ACLD Board of Trustees Employee Awards for 2020! #TeamACLD #ApplaudDirectSupport The winners of the Exemplary Service Award are Felicia Cantres, Gina Purser and Amy Schmeling, and the winner of the Gail White-Rison Scholarship is Artesha Tyler-Granville. . Exemplary Service Award:... FELICIA: Seaford House Manager, stepped up and started working in the Roslyn home at the beginning of the pandemic, while also still running her Seaford home at the same time! GINA: Community Habilitation Manager, hosted a beautiful wedding in her backyard for a man supported in her program who had to cancel his original dream wedding due to COVID-19. AMY: Chichester House Manager, had the first house with COVID-19 positive residents, and worked around the clock to care for each person supported, while also working shifts at the Respite Center in Bethpage. . Gail White-Rison Scholarship: ARTESHA: Coordinator of Regulatory Affairs, is currently enrolled in the Stony Brook Master's Cohort program, a decision she was inspired to make by Gail White-Rison herself. She is known for her dedication in safe guarding the men and women we support, and she will be graduating this spring with her Master's in Liberal Studies, with a concentration in Human Services.

As 2020 comes to a close, we ask for your help in a critical year that has challenged ACLD in so many ways. As we continue to navigate this pandemic, we know more State-level cuts are being proposed, and the need for unrestricted funds is more important now than it ever has been. We ask you to please consider supporting our Year End Appeal by making your gift today - https://bit.ly/ACLD-2020YEA. With your help, our campaign has almost reached its goal of $100,000! Thank you for supporting the ACLD Foundation and helping us stay #ACLDStrong

Yesterday Newsday highlighted our news about Robert Ciatto taking over as Executive Director of ACLD. Read the article in their Business section here http://bit.ly/CiattoNewED

With over 12 years of creative animating experience, Joe Blandamer received an award for one of his latest projects, ‘Overload’, which raises awareness on autism. I wanted to use film as a way to explain my own experience with being on the spectrum and hopefully relate to others in a similar situation. I found that milder cases of ASD [autism spectrum disorder] were never spoken about in education and I wanted to use my Claymation skills to educate others. Joe Blandamer, creator of ‘Overload’ Read more about Joe’s award-winning stop-motion film, ‘Overload’. Join #ACLD and you too can help people to #AspireHigher. Apply at ACLD.org and click on careers. #Hiring #Job #EntryLevel #LongIsland #Healthcare #PaidTraining #DDawareness20 #DevelopmentalDisabilities #autism #IntoFilmAwards #YouTube #essentialworkers Joe Blandamer Claymations

Like many autism families, the Wurts’ family faced many unique challenges after their son Kirby was diagnosed with ASD. Since Kirby is susceptible to sensory overload, the Wurts family needs to avoid places that can potentially be overstimulating. From this challenge, Kirby’s dad Topher came up with a brilliant idea. Read more about how this Pennsylvania dad went above and beyond to make life better for kids with autism. Join #ACLD and you too can help people to #AspireHigher. Apply at ACLD.org and click on careers. #Hiring #Job #EntryLevel #LongIsland #Healthcare #PaidTraining #DDawareness20 #DevelopmentalDisabilities #Autism #Apps #AutismVillage

Due to the coronavirus lockdown, fifteen-year-old Joseph Beer with autism and ADHD found himself spending more time cycling around his neighborhood of Chatteris, Cambridgeshire. He started to notice street signs that were either dirty or blocked by unkept trees and overgrown hedges on the side of the road and decided he wanted to help. A lot of people have said ‘well done, thank you’ and told me how much of a difference it’s making. Joseph Beer Read more about how Joseph is tidying up his neighborhood and winning praises from residents. Join #ACLD and you too can help people to #AspireHigher. Apply at ACLD.org and click on careers. #Hiring #Job #EntryLevel #LongIsland #Healthcare #PaidTraining #DDawareness20 #DevelopmentalDisabilities #Autism #Coronavirus #Covid19 #Lockdown

A young student, Blake Roedel, has autism and struggles to talk with his classmates on the playground. Kellison Elementary School in Fenton, Missouri created a sign with 44 different pictures and words to help a young student communicate with his classmates. Read more about this heartwarming story. Join #ACLD and you too can help people to #AspireHigher. Apply at ACLD.org and click on careers. #Hiring #Job #EntryLevel #LongIsland #Healthcare #PaidTraining #DDawareness20 #DevelopmentalDisabilities #KellisonElementary #Autism

ACLD’s Holiday Music Concert is today! Tune in at 12:30 pm at the link below to watch ACLD Employee Genine Wightman play holiday songs for the whole ACLD Family.

Happy Kwanzaa from ACLD! Wishing warmth and togetherness to all of our friends and families celebrating today! #HappyKwanzaa

#TBT to 2019 when Samantha, the receptionist at RewearAble, a program of ACLD, spoke at National Grid's Disabilities Panel for National Disability Employment Awareness Month. #ACLDRewearAble #NDEAM Samantha spoke about her life, her job at RewearAble and the importance of people coming together to help one another as we come across different challenges in life. . REMINDER: RewearAble is still accepting contactless clothing donations right now on our Bethpage campus.... ADDRESS: 837 South Oyster Bay Road, Bethpage, NY 11714 (Blue bins behind building) HOURS: Monday - Friday from 8:00 am 4:00 pm CALL US: 516-822-2099 when you arrive and we will come out with a receipt for you. Please make sure your items are tightly sealed in a plastic bag before arriving. As always, your donation helps to create jobs for adults with autism, learning and developmental disabilities and we thank you for your support!

Happy Hanukkah from ACLD. We wish peace and light to all who are celebrating! #HappyHanukkah

Thank you to Harborfields High School’ students for supporting our Holiday Giving Tree this year! As always, the gift requests from families in our Children’s Services and adults in our community residences who benefit from the Giving Tree had their holiday season brightened thanks to friends of ACLD. Susan Legge, Physical Education Teacher at the school, and two of the school's groups "Athletes Helping Athletes" and "Best Buddies" participated in purchasing over 100 gifts an...d were featured on News 12 this week while wrapping all of them! Susan was introduced to the organization by friend Megan McCormack, an ACLD family member who has been supporting the Giving Tree initiative for the past few years. Check out the story below, and stay tuned for more posts as we thank everyone who bought gifts for the Giving Tree this year.

As announced last week, we are congratulating Rob Ciatto as he has taken over as Executive Director of ACLD. Read our full press release with Rob’s remarks on our blog here - http://bit.ly/RobNewED #TeamACLD

ACLD's Hiring Manager, Liz Symons, organized a local "Cranksgiving", a worldwide movement of scavenger hunts and food drops for food pantries, in Huntington Station last weekend. #TeamACLD Liz got the word out via social media about her new Cranksgiving in the Station, and got her family, friends, ACLD Staff and men and women from our Chichester community residence to join in. Everyone enjoyed the day of biking and collecting food and goods for those in need. Check out some ...pictures of what was collected below. A special thanks goes to Source the Station for providing Liz with a grant to create pamphlets and flyers with the Scavenger Hunt information and map, and jars with the "Cranksgiving" Turkey to give to all participants.

Merry Christmas from ACLD! Wishing joy to all of our friends and families celebrating today! #MerryChristmas

Due to the inclement weather, ACLD’s Day Program, Respite, and Children’s Services Program in Bay Shore, will be closed, Thursday December 17th. All in-person trainings for tomorrow are cancelled and will be rescheduled. ACLD’s Administrative offices will be open for business.

The Zoom Rally to #SaveIDDServices is TODAY at 11:00 am! Join us and other agencies across the state in fighting the new OPWDD cuts aiming to take away about $200 million from our loved ones with I/DD each year! This virtual rally is being organized by the advocacy groups NYC FAIR & L.I.A.N.D.D." All are welcome to join! Spread the word - we need Albany to hear us! Join Zoom Meeting... https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84507001387 Meeting ID: 845 0700 1387 Passcode: 586580 #SaveOurServices #ProgramsClosePeopleRemain #WillowbrookNeverAgain

Zoom Holiday Party! Check out our Chichester community residence celebrating the holidays with a ZOOM party earlier this week! All of the families joined in and everyone got to spend some virtual time together.

Thank you to all those who supported our "Live Love Laugh with ACLD" event this past Friday night! If you couldn't join us LIVE, you can view it on our website - https://bit.ly/WatchLLL-ACLD If you participated in our online "Goods & Services Auction", you can see if you won here - www.acldlivelovelaugh.org Together with your support, we raised over $145,000! If you didn't have a chance to send a gift to support this event, text the word "ACLD" to 44-321 on your phone.... Thank you for your generosity and support! #LoveACLD