Photo by Haille Burkart Shortly after Jason gave Heather her birthday gift—perfume—in the backyard of her Pittsfield home, he got down on one knee and looked her in the eyes. “I didn’t know what he was going to do,” said Heather days later. “I started to get pretty nervous. I got down on my knee to [...]
J.G. Ivy By Amanda Bortman Zip ‘N Sort says “mail knows no boundaries.” The largest mail service business in the Berkshires, Zip ‘N Sort not only helps customers save time and money with it’s mailing needs, but breaks the boundaries between employees with and without disabilities. However, for the [...]
By Amanda Bortman More than 100 individuals serviced through Employment Services lost their jobs when the pandemic hit. Today, those jobs are beginning to return, slowly but steadily. The individuals live in Berkshire County Arc group homes, or are directly from the community, explained Regan Tyer, o [...]
By Amanda Bortman Norma DelSonno is one of many who has tried to get away over the years. But like many others, she’s back at Berkshire County Arc. “After a month of training to be a 911 dispatcher, I told my husband I miss BCArc, I miss the guys, I miss my co-workers,” she said, laughing. “I pulled [...]
Steady. Trusted. Dependable. Albert Armah speaks softly, and his co-workers listen. “I can work with anyone,” he says, as if that’s a natural thing. “When there’s conflict, I step in to resolve the issues. I work to keep the house stable, provide support, and train the new workers. I do what I’m supp [...]
Suzanne Suzanne Davis Residential Support When the Coleman Road residential program was quarantined for COVID, Suzanne was approached about assisting with the staffing there, though she had worked for the past six years at Morgan Road. Suzanne chose to help out where needed, and supported the Colem [...]
. By Amanda Bortman When an individual wanted their room a certain color, they painted the walls. When an individual wanted raised garden beds, the team built raised garden beds. New shower heads? Plugged toilets? Patch the fence in the yard? Mailbox needs to be erected again? Dennis Messana and hi [...]
Jamie and Tina When Tina McHugh volunteered for a finite number of hours to work with people with disabilities during her high school senior year, she could not know that meeting Jamie there would lead to becoming his foster parent, and then adopting him seven years later with her husband Chris. To [...]
Jennifer McNulty and Shaun Hall take a stern pose to display equipment used for staff to practice abdominal thrusts. "We need to know that staff can save an individual who is choking." As long as BCArc's residential programs are running, the hiring and training process must continue. With 800 emplo [...]
BCArc's team of nurses include: Top from left: Shaunna Brogan, Kathy Dowd, Sharon Ireland, Roberta Kaufer. Middle row, from left: Mackenzie Melski, Caroline Eldred, Kate Hood, Leslie Potter; Bottom from left: Amy Brassard, Rebecca Carmel (no longer works for BCArc), Nicole Bak, Melissa Hunter. A BC [...]