Kathy Scorse Selected to Receive 2023 RBJ Financial Leaders Award

Staff Perspectives

The Arc of Monroe is thrilled to announce that the Rochester Business Journal (RBJ) and the Rochester Chapter of Financial Executives International have selected Kathy Scorse, Payroll Manager at The Arc, as a Financial Leaders 2023 honoree in the Payroll Director/Manager Category. Financial Leaders recognizes financial professionals who have made outstanding contributions to their organizations and to the Greater Rochester community during the past year. Nominees were judged based on their professional accomplishment within their category and on their civic commitment to the Rochester community by their contribution to the economic growth and stability of the region. Honorees for Financial …

Summer Safety: Defining Heat

Health and Wellness

Summer is quickly approaching. Memorial Day until Labor Day is the mark of the summer season when school is no longer in regular session and more activities happen outdoors. Just about every food festival known to man comes to Rochester. There are tons of outdoor, local trails to explore on foot or by bike. Pools are open for swimming or just to lie about in the summer heat and relax. But what IS heat? What is our relationship to temperature? Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that studies the relationship between “heat” and “force.” More heat equals more force, which …

Collaborative Efforts: Supporting People With IDD and Their Mental Health

Health and Wellness

Mise en place. It is a culinary term to have everything in place for setting up a dish. All the ingredients are in the right quantities and prepared. Spices are set aside already measured and set to go. Because once the heat gets applied, those chemical reactions are going to happen and things won’t wait because you forgot to stock enough turmeric or dice the onions ahead of time. Every celebrity chef you see on TV has everything set and ready to run so they can focus on the actual cooking or baking of the dish. The past several highlights …

Professional Spotlight: Psychiatric Providers

Health and Wellness

Psychiatry has a pretty grim past. People in our community were alive during the time when mental hospitals existed and lobotomies were performed. It spanned past all social networks from the poor to the wealthy. The poor were “hidden” from society in hospitals and the rich had their personality stripped away – think Rosemary Kennedy, the president’s sister. It was a wild west with no concept of scientific rationale. Drugs were discovered and used to tranquilize people with mental illness instead of trying alternative treatments. Willowbrook still echoes in the hallways as the dark times. Mental health was not addressed …

The Arc Foundation of Monroe Welcomes New Director of Development and Special Events

Arc Foundation of Monroe, Staff Perspectives

The Arc Foundation of Monroe recently hired Sydney Lautenslager in the role of Director of Development and Special Events. Lautenslager received a bachelor’s degree in international business and leadership from Siena College. After graduation, she began her career in development at Rochester Regional Health Foundation (RRHF) where she was a Development Associate for almost two years. “In this new role, I am excited to work in the community and advocate for the people The Arc supports, as well as bring in new donors to support The Arc’s mission,” Lautenslager said. “After a diligent search to find the right fit, we …

Professional Spotlight: Behavior Intervention Specialist

Health and Wellness

What is mental health? It’s heard in the news here and there, but it’s often hard to find a definition of what “mental health” is. Are they talking about how many people need anti-depressants? Or do people talk about it more now because medical treatments are more widely available? What factors are at play, and is it more than chemicals bouncing around in the brain? Politicians and media will push around simple answers when it’s all entirely nuanced and solving the problem systemically would nearly be an upheaval of major parts of society. Mental health encompasses living conditions, health, security, …

Professional Spotlight: Speech Language Pathologist

Health and Wellness

How humans build a language from scratch is amazing and complex. At birth, an infant can only use its vocal cords to cry. They feel emotions and laugh, coo, and babble. In about a year, they can manage to form a first word. In a few more years, they can add more words, build sentences in grade school, and start to make abstract arguments by the end of high school. Commands from the brain, movement of the diaphragm, vocal cords, tongue, and mouth all work in sync to make all the parts of verbal communication possible. But the more complex …

Professional Spotlight: Creative Art Therapist

Health and Wellness

Communication. It’s speaking and writing. It’s tone and body posture. It’s fidgeting with hair, avoiding or engaging eye contact, a nervous tick, a smile, or a scowl. It involves culture – how a person grew up and how they view the world. It involves what a person wears, the condition of their clothes, the style of their hair. It is art in all forms. It’s music, literature, drawings, and paintings. A lecture from a professor down to the excited babbling of a two-year-old child. Conscious and unconscious thoughts of each person are utterly unique in their style of communication. There …

The Arc of Monroe Welcomes New Senior Director of Job Path Employment Services

Staff Perspectives

The Arc of Monroe recently promoted Kathryn Davidson to Senior Director of Job Path Employment Services following the retirement of Tammy Reynolds who celebrated more than 40 years of employment at the agency. Davidson received a BS in Social Work from Nazareth College before working at The Arc of Monroe in a variety of roles for the last 18 years. Prior to her promotion, Davidson held roles as a Direct Support Professional in The Arc’s residential program, an Employment Specialist at Job Path, an Enrollment Coordinator, a Community Based Assessment (CBA) Manager, and Director of Transition Services at Job Path. …

Professional Spotlight: Nutritional Services

Health and Wellness

Rochester is a secret haven for foodies. We have authentic Chinese food. Thai food. Indian over there. Korean over here. Greek restaurants. Japanese sushi. We have barbecue that rivals Texas. Drink? Lots of local breweries and wineries use hops and grapes grown in upstate New York. Desserts? Cheesecake, cookies, cake, and even cookie cake. Food festivals abound. We have so many foods that we host festivals of food trucks to highlight everything. Rochester is so good at food that one day, someone piled random stuff onto a plate, called it trash, and that became our signature dish. However, there are …