Alyson (right) with Darlene, at a restaurant. by Morgan Banta-Ryan As a senior in high school, Alyson applied and received a scholarship from BCArc. Today, three years later, she is an assistant manager of a program. When asked about her favorite memory from working at BCArc, Alyson can’t pick just [...]
Ashley, with mask, and her new partner Deb. Before Ashley started working at Berkshire County Arc, she considered herself a patient person. Now, a few months in, she appreciates the lessons she learned around patience from the person she cares for. “As soon as I met Deb, she seemed very familiar an [...]
Ask Cody about working with people with disabilities, and he says: “It’s a blast. I enjoy this place every minute of every day.” It started when he broke his ankle during the Wahconah High football season in 10th grade. To accommodate him, they sent him to the Special Education classroom. “My chair d [...]
Debbie Laframboise makes her own path at Berkshire County Arc. An employee of Pittsfield High School, she works part-time at BCArc in a variety of roles, and plans to do more when she retires from the school system. “You can say I follow my students when they age out of the school system,” she said. [...]
Calm. That’s the first feeling you get when you pull into the driveway of the house Deb manages in Westfield. It's felt again when she brings you inside and introduces you to everyone -- after a temperature check and a sign-in process. Two people are playing cards on the couch, one person is on a Zo [...]
Cindy, left, with Jennifer, are eager to start working in the community again. Before COVID, Jennifer Newell ran a residential program, and worked at BCArc's Transitions program. “Residential work is different than the work we do here at Northview, where we teach them life skills. I enjoy this wor [...]
Two of the individuals that live in the home Christina Brown manages have been living together for 30 years. “They take care of each other when needed, but they bicker like an old couple about the smallest things,” Christina said. “It can be entertaining.” When Christina started in that house five ye [...]
Josh Reynolds started at Berkshire County Arc nearly four years ago, because his aunt urged him to give it a try. “She worked here and insisted I would like it,” he said of Heidi Lockman. “I never saw myself doing anything like this. But honestly, it’s the best job I’ve ever had.” While he started in [...]
Sheylida feels particularly connected to the Southwick house she works. She is part of the original team that opened the new house over a year ago. “We all came here with different experiences taking care of people,” she said. “So we’ve shaped this program together. Every house is different, but this [...]
It began as an off-the-cuff comment at the start of the pandemic. “What if one of the ladies got sick?” a co-worker asked Vicki Richardson. “Hek," she said, "I’d move in and take good care of them.” “Soon enough someone asked if I was serious. I thought about it and said, Sure. Next thing I knew, I [...]