Annual Awards Celebration Held in June

Programs and Services

This year’s 2021 Annual Business Meeting was a wonderful celebration held this June to honor four people that who have shown exceptional dedication and excellence at The Arc of Monroe. Held at the RIT Inn & Conference Center, four awards were presented, including the Weckesser Award, Walsh Award, Roger J. Robach Award and Robert & Winifred Wagner Award. Weckesser Award In 1998, The Weckesser Family established the Weckesser Award as a means to honor an individual who receives services at The Arc of Monroe. Nominees included Clyde Tisdale and Sue Wheeler, while this year’s winner was Dorothy Gilvens. Dorothy was …

emily uses speech generating devices to communicate

A Pandemic Success Story

Health and Wellness, Programs and Services, Staff Perspectives, Stories Of People We Support

In honor of Better Speech & Language Month, The Arc of Monroe is highlighting Emily and her Speech-Language Pathologist Mary Klimek, M.S., CCC-SLP.  Emily is a nonverbal communicator who uses sign language, gestures, and a speech generating device (SGD) to communicate her wants and needs and engage socially with others. Prior to the pandemic, I saw Emily once a week for therapy during day-program where we worked on expressive communication skills such as learning core word vocabulary and associating picture-symbols with meanings, specifically starting with core words “go” and “want.” During therapy sessions she had a difficult time attending to …

Job Path Launches Brand New Website!

Employment, Programs and Services

In 1981, JobPath was the first to establish employment services for people with disabilities in the Western New York region. Job Path is a recognized leader in providing innovative employment services and is Monroe County’s largest supported employment agency. JobPath has worked with hundreds of businesses throughout Rochester and the surrounding area to create employment connections.   JobPath Launches Brand New Website! JobPath has been helping connect Rochester-area businesses with qualified, pre-screened candidates for decades. Now that’s even easier! Check out our new website, JobPathRochester.org, and learn how our supported employment agency specializes in finding jobs for people of various …

Volunteer and Make a Difference for a Family Member with a Developmental Disability

Advocacy, Family Perspectives, Programs and Services, Volunteer

The Arc of Monroe Family Reimbursement Advisory Committee is seeking volunteers to serve as members on the committee. The Arc of Monroe Family Reimbursement Program helps families caring for a family member with a developmental disability with access to purchase or otherwise obtain goods and services needed to support the family member at home and strengthen the quality of life for the person and their family. Requests for the goods and services are reviewed on a monthly basis by the Family Reimbursement Advisory Committee that is includes: people with a developmental disability, family members, community advocates, and Arc of Monroe …

ArcWorks virtual information session

ArcWorks Program offers Valuable Employment Readiness Skills

Employment, Programs and Services

Developing job skills and employment readiness proficiencies is important in order to successfully secure paid employment in the community. The ArcWorks program at The Arc of Monroe helps with that. ArcWorks is an integrated manufacturing business offering pre-vocational services to prepare people to gain employment readiness skills through a combination of classroom learning and paid work activities. Wendy Amering, Director of Arcworks Programs and Services, says the ArcWorks staff works diligently to provide services that are going to enhance current skills and abilities of the people we support. “We’re helping people become independent in work skills so they can work in …

girl standing with black lab therapy dog in room

Pre-vocational College Student Lands Therapy Dog Internship

COVID-19, Health and Wellness, Programs and Services, Stories Of People We Support

Morgan is a freshman in the LifePrep@Naz program. She showed up day one ready to hit the ground running! But with Covid restrictions, the program wasn’t allowed to send the students on internships last semester. However, this semester, Morgan has been chosen to start a 4-year long internship. Morgan will be working with an Occupational Therapy Professor, who has a therapy dog on campus. Morgan is a huge dog lover so this is perfect for her! She will be taking the therapy dog from an office, walk her around campus and allow her to interact with college students on camps. …

DSP Credentialing Can Lead to Career Advancement

Taking the Role of DSP to the Next Level

Employment, Programs and Services, Staff Perspectives

Maxine Bostick started her career at The Arc of Monroe as a Direct Support Professional (DSP) five years ago. She recognized the career advancement opportunities provided to her and took advantage of hem. In 2020, Maxine completed the DSP credentialing certification, allowing her the opportunity to grow even more in her role. She is now a leader, inspiring other to achieve excellence in her role as a Residential Manager for The Arc. “The opportunity for the growth at The Arc of Monroe is an opportunity for someone to not only see their work here as a job, but a future …

Arc of Monroe Awarded $207,000 in Grants from NYSARC Trust Services

Programs and Services

The Arc of Monroe has been awarded $207,000 in grants from the Trustee Management Board of NYSARC Trust Services to support the Arc of Monroe’s guardianship and recreation programs. NYSARC Trust Services administers supplemental needs trusts (SNT) that can make dramatic improvements to the lives of people with disabilities while enabling people to maintain eligibility for public benefits programs, such as Medicaid and SSI. This year, The Arc of Monroe received $195,000 to provide guardianship services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who would not otherwise have a legal guardian or advocate.  Supported by Chapter staff and community volunteers, …

MCC Experience Program Finds Temporary Home Downtown

COVID-19, Programs and Services, Stories Of People We Support

2020 has been the year of “the pivot.” When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it turned nearly every area of the Rochester community upside down. The MCC Experience Program at The Arc of Monroe was no exception. Monroe Community College (MCC) Experience is a higher education transitional service that prepares participants for eventual community employment. People learn relevant, marketable employment skills and acquire vocational internship and volunteer experience in various departments on and off MCC campus. Located at MCC’s Downtown Campus since 2017, the campus offered opportunities to gather, socialize, learn, and experience many facets of college life. With their student …

A Toast to The Arc Family!

COVID-19, Programs and Services, Uncategorized, Volunteer

Wow, what a year this has been. Each and every one of our lives has been affected in different ways. We have also become unified in our determination to contain the spread of this virus. This could not be done without every single one of us, doing our parts, and extending ourselves even more than we thought we could. While drawing close to our loved ones at home, the staff at The Arc of Monroe left theirs to stand together with those we support in their homes. They became heroes overnight, doing everything they could to keep the people we …