Standing from left: Joseph Nyamekah, Elizabeth Rogers, Frank Petruzzelli. Sitting: Stella Perdison and George Gyan.
From left, Brittiany McDermott and Adrienne Reddy.
After nearly a month of living with three individuals who tested positive, another BCArc home has been cleared from the Board of Health. Ten staff members who managed the house during this challenging period and the other five of eight individuals who live there, all made it through the quarantine time without catching the virus.
“They sure are doing something right,” said Ken Singer, BCArc’s presdent and CEO. “It’s remarkable what our staff does for the people we serve. They should be proud. We’re proud of every staff member who are caring for hundreds of people with disabilities–they need us now more than ever.”
“None of this is easy,” said the site manager Brittiany McDermott. “But it can be easy when you know how to work together, like this team does.”
While the three individuals who tested positive stayed in their separate rooms, the other five individuals continued with much of their regular activities. These included working toward their physical training goals, making art, bowling outside, movies, yoga, keroake, and celebrating Easter.
“I lived here for more than three weeks straight sheltered-in, so it felt a bit seamless and kind of made everything easier than usual,” said Rachel Nicola, BCArc’s current employee of the year. “It feels like the individuals had more than usual successful days with two of us always here.”
From left: Kate Ryan and Rachel Nicola. Both moved in with the individuals for nearly a month.
For breaks, BCArc arranged for its Respite House—which is empty due to the virus—to serve as a retreat, or respite, for sheltered-in staff members. “When we needed to recharge our batteries, we hid over there for a short time,” said Kate Ryan, who also staffed-in with Rachel.
Brittiany entertaining everyone with music.
“We spent a lot of the day keeping the individuals engaged, while keeping the virus news out of the house,” said Brittiany. “We tried to make it business as usual and treat the day like just another day. None of this happens without the team members that we had: George Gyan, Ethan Kirkman, Rachel Nicola, Joseph Nyamekah, Stella Perdison, Frank Petruzzelli, Adrienne Reddy, Elizabeth Rogers and Kate Ryan. If I had to pick a team to do this again, whether they like it or not, I’d pick the same team.”
Ethan Kirkman outside an individual’s room, taking requests.
