Upstate Cerebral Palsy

Our Chadwicks home threw a summer party and people we support from our Giruzzi, Femia and Szczygiel homes attended. Everyone had so much fun playing games and spending time with their friends! What a great way to kick off summer!

People we support from our Femia home visited The Root Farm to gather wildflowers and sticks to make nature wind chimes. They could not wait to take them home to hang in their newly planted garden!

We will be at the Waterville Public Library tonight for their Summer Solstice event from 7pm to 9pm. Stop by to talk to us and take home one of these beautiful bookmarks made by the people we support! Summer Solstice Event Page: facebook.com/events/473837623712988

Our Westmoreland preschool class was invited to take part in the Westmoreland district-wide outdoor art show. Our students loved looking at their own artwork on display, as well as, the artwork of the children in grades pre-k through 12.

We had some visitors stop by our North Country Career Fair today! Join our team: upstatecpjobs.org

Those who live with us at our Rosewood home went to The Root Farm for the day. When they arrived, they walked the farm grounds and collected twigs, flowers and leaves to create nature dough portraits. When their art was complete, some chose to take home their pieces and others opted to leave them in the woods for visitors to find and admire. They took a break to eat lunch and then continued to make a second craft out of the remaining items they had collected earlier in the day.

Support us while grocery shopping during the month of January! Hannaford sells these reusable tote bags that give back to the community. By purchasing one of these bags, Hannaford will donate $1 to support our many programs at Upstate Cerebral Palsy. *Bag must be purchased at Hannaford on Mohawk Street in Utica*

As we look back on 2020 and all that we celebrated during a challenging year, we want to wish you a safe and healthy New Year! We look forward to all that we will accomplish in 2021.

Celebrating Upstate Cerebral Palsy's 70th Anniversary. Throughout our 70-year history, moments of significant growth have been made possible through acts of great kindness. Community support is at the root of our beginnings. In September 1950, Utica School’s generously donated classroom space to us allowing us, for the first time, to serve children with disabilities. Your support has allowed us to take ground-breaking steps, provide innovative services and remain one of the region's top human service agencies. Donate today at upstatecp.org/donate

Check out the Utica Art Walk 2020. On view now until October 30th! Take advantage of this great weather and see some amazing artwork.

Tomorrow's weather in Utica looks to be absolutely beautiful! So why not check out the Pieces of HeART Art Walk in downtown Utica? Not sure what the Art Walk is all about - check out this video and make sure to stop down before the exhibition is over. Artwork will be on view until October 30th. https://youtu.be/64Tq47sv9Fw

Our recreation and art departments got together to host carnivals for our Lowville and Aging Out Individualized Residential Alternatives (IRA). Our residents had blast playing games, posing for photos, eating carnival themed snacks and winning prizes!

Congratulations to Kelly Macrina-Armstrong on 30 years of service with Upstate Cerebral Palsy! Throughout her career as a special education teacher, she has graduated hundreds of preschool students. Families of her students are impressed by her high expectations in the classroom. Kelly has provided leadership and training opportunities for our staff over the years. Thank you, Kelly, for your dedication to excellence in learning.

Dependable, available, and dedicated are a few of the many great words that could be used to describe Lori Brown, Director of Community Services. Lori is always just a phone call away no matter what time of day it is. She works hard and supports all aspects of her programs. Lori’s leadership qualities and focus to provide nothing short of the best care for all the people she supports is admirable. Thank you, Lori, for everything you do to help your team each and every day.

Teaching essential skills like communication, daily living, and health and safety is an important part of Upstate Cerebral Palsy's ongoing mission. Despite the challenges we have faced in 2020, we continue to focus on creating the ideal learning and teaching environment for the people we support and for our employees. Thanks to the inspiration of our colleagues at FTF Behavioral Consulting , we proudly call this environment "Happy, Relaxed, and Engaged," or HRE. The inserted graphic covers the key elements of an HRE environment. According Executive Director Geno DeCondo, even during this very stressful time we have not wavered from our commitment to create the ideal setting for the people we support and our staff.

Our Rome-Oriskany Individualized Residential Alternative (IRA) is all decorated and ready for Halloween!

Even from a distance, we are still creating everyday miracles. Join our team and help us make a difference in the lives of others! www.upstatecpjobs.org Upstate Cerebral Palsy is the premier provider of direct-care services and programs in Central New York for individuals of all abilities and their families. Positions are available across Central New York, including Oneida, Herkimer, Lewis, and Madison Counties.... We are hiring for a variety of positions, including: Direct Support Professionals Specialist Positions including BCBAs, ABA Therapists, and Employment Coaches Medical, Clinical & Therapist Positions Education Professionals Administrative & Support Positions Join our team of Miracle Makers! www.upstatecpjobs.org

Disability Rights New York and NYS League of women Voters are offering a zoom training on ways you can vote, what you can do if you face barriers at the polls and how to make voting and easy experience. Join them on Friday, October 23 @ 10am! https://zoom.us/j/96409985919

Our Rome Tradewinds Children’s Residential Program held their annual Fall Fest on Saturday, October 10th. Our staff members did a fabulous job planning the day to make it special and memorable for our students. There was dancing, a bounce house, a chili cook off and so much more. Happy fall to all!

Tradewinds Education Center is excited to announce the arrival of Heather Brooks, Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) to the Utica Campus. Heather comes to us from Florida and was introduced to the field of Applied Behavior Analytics (ABA) after her oldest son was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS). Witnessing firsthand the difference ABA made in her son’s life, Heather decided she wanted to help other children and parents.... In 2012, she began working as a behavior therapist for a private ABA clinic in Shreveport, Louisiana. In 2013, her family moved to northern Florida where she continued to work as a behavior therapist in a non-profit clinic and later in a private school as a BCBA. Heather became a BCBA in 2016 and since then has supervised 8 candidates who passed their certification as either a Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst (BCaBA) or BCBA. She has experience providing services in center, home, private school and community-based settings. Heather enjoys helping others learn not only about the science behind ABA but also the compassion within it. Heather believes that everyone needs at least one person to see and believe in who they are and who they can be. This fuels her love for ABA and the people she works with. Heather always wanted to gain direct training and mentorship from those who are paving the way for a more compassionate side of ABA. She had learned that Tradewinds Education Center had many of those experts consulting with Tradewinds staff and that Tradewinds was taking a more innovated approach to supporting those with developmental disabilities and she is excited to get the to grow and extended her knowledge in this field. Welcome, Heather! See more

Our Lyons Falls Individualized Residential Alternative (IRA) will be getting chickens soon. In order to prepare to care for their chickens, they have been going to Chicken School each day of the week. Fred, Chris K., Chris F. and Jerry learn about how to feed, care for and maintain chickens through research and YouTube videos. Thank you to the staff for making this educational time so meaningful for the people at Lyons Falls IRA! Stay tuned for a chicken update in the future.

Our Tradewinds Education Center would like to welcome Asim Javed, Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) to their Utica Clinical Department. Asim is joining our team from Rochester, NY. He believes in the underlying potential of each person. He’s driven by this belief and eager to help each student realize their potential. Asim had the pleasure of spending several years in service coordination, autism research, as well as direct behavioral interventions. Asim is incredibly g...rateful for the many mentors he has had throughout his professional journey including, the late Dr. Tristram Smith from the University of Rochester and Dr. Justin Leaf at Autism Partnership Foundation in California. Currently, Asim is pursuing doctoral studies at Endicott College. Above all, Asim recognizes that betterment is not a lone journey. He is excited about opportunities for continued growth at Upstate Cerebral Palsy with the help of staff, clinicians, administrators and of course, students. His final words: Let’s make it happen! See more

Meghan from our Rome-Oriskany Individualized Residential Alternative (IRA) went to Grippe’s Hair Styling for a beautiful haircut by Kimberly Lindsay. Meghan loves her new haircut and color she was smiling under her mask!