April 2021 Newsletter
Leadership Message
Dear Supporter,

Spring greetings! I hope that you and your family have had the opportunity to enjoy some of the warmer weather that’s finally reached us.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been one year since COVID-19 reached our community, and I can’t help but reflect on the challenges presented and the efforts of everyone across our agency in that time without being filled with pride. There’s been no shortage of incredible stories of our staff stepping up in amazing ways, and I once again thank everyone across our organization for all they’ve done to keep those we support healthy and safe.

We continue our vaccination efforts and education, utilizing every available resource to ensure that all eligible staff and individuals who wish to receive the vaccine are given that opportunity. Through these efforts, it’s beginning to feel like that return to normalcy we all want so badly is a little closer. It is a pleasure to see residents and other individuals we support across the agency enjoy a wide variety of community-based activities again. Please be sure to follow ACHIEVE on Facebook to gain a glimpse of all the exciting happenings at our organization.

I’m happy to report that our 25th annual Bob Warner Pin Crushing Bowl-a-Thon kicked off March 26th, and will run through August 31st. While it looks different this year, we’re thrilled to partner with Visions Federal Credit Union and Midway Lanes to bring this event back to our individuals, sponsors and community as an opportunity for safe fun in support of ACHIEVE.

Finally, March saw the launch of our 2021 Membership campaign. For $1, you and your family can become ACHIEVE Members for 2021 and help us have the loudest voice possible when it comes to advocating for those we support in our programs.

I personally hope you’ll consider joining us for this year’s Bowl-a-Thon, and sign up and recruit others to become ACHIEVE Members! Information on either event can be found in this month’s newsletter.

As always, thank you for your support. I wish you and your family a safe and Happy Easter!

Amy Howard
Chief Executive Officer
Thank You,
Broome-Includes

Thank you, Broome-INCLUDES and Broome County Executive Jason Garnar, for the donations to our Residential and Day Habilitation programs!

We appreciate you thinking of us and those we support with these creative and fun games and activities, and look forward to a time soon when we can sit down and really talk about next steps towards collaborating for the good of our community!

ACHIEVE’S 2021 Membership Campaign
Stronger Together
Becoming an ACHIEVE Member is an easy, effective way to show you support ACHIEVE and the over 2,000 individuals with intellectual and developmental
disabilities we support. As a chapter of The Arc New York, it is our Mission to advocate for an enhanced quality of life through services provided throughout Broome, Chenango and Tioga Counties. 
 
Your Membership helps give us a voice! 

As an agency we continue to face economic challenges, and your Membership provides our agency more power to advocate legislatively at the State and National levels. The larger our Chapter’s Membership, the stronger our collective voice will be.  
 
Please consider joining, as we truly are stronger together! 
Membership - Stronger Together
Advocacy in Action
Many voices speaking in unison can make a difference, demonstrated by the 2020
campaigns statewide to prioritize the I/DD population and their essential staff
in the first waves of COVID vaccinations. 
2021 Advocacy Focuses
Your Membership helps lend your voice to important issues facing provider agencies,
like ACHIEVE, in 2021. Some advocacy items for this year:
 · Halting a proposed 1% targeted Medicaid funding cut,
and rolling back previous cuts to providers
· Restoring Cost of Living Adjustments and
implementing pandemic pay to boost DSP wages
· Streamlining the process for thousands of I/DD
individuals waiting for Residential placement
· Customizing job placement programs to subdivide tasks into simpler
components for meaningful integrated employment for people who
could effectively perform some but not all aspects of a job
Become a Member
·      Membership is only $1.00 per person
·      Membership lasts one year, so if you were a member in 2020,
please renew for 2021!
·      Membership is open to the people we support, their families, our employees, and to members of our community, ages 18 years or older
· Sign up friends and family to become members as well. 
The more voices we have, the better!
Lindley Kavanaugh
January 2021

No matter what stress she may be dealing with, or how much is on her plate, Lindley always has a smile on her face and is more than happy to help others. Lindley has become more than a co-worker for many people at ACHIEVE. When working with new individuals, she has helped staff become more and more comfortable with their abilities and is always there when they need help. During the pandemic, we have seen Lindley bend over backwards for her staff and the individuals in her care. She has been dealt a tough hand these last few months, and she has tackled each challenge head-on.

Lindley has a profound way of working with the individuals. She makes it seem like she has been doing it her whole life.
Jeffrey Woodard
February 2021

We'd like to recognize our February Employee of the Month, Jeffrey Woodard, Maintenance Technician for Chenango County,

Jeff is an amazing asset to this company. He is always willing to help and go above and beyond what is asked of him. Jeff comes to Day Habilitation every morning to do a building check and if we need something, he is more than willing to help us out. Several times we have had issues with car doors being frozen, trouble getting the truck hoods open to fill with washer fluid and needing something to be moved. Jeff does all these things with a smile on his face and never complains. Even when the building flooded and the ceiling tiles collapsed, he made light of the situation and helped us all get through it. We could not ask for a better team player than Jeff!
Promotions - Congratulations!!
Congratulations to:

Candice Bond, Assistant Resident Manager

Tricia Webster, Director of Nursing
 Employment Opportunities at ACHIEVE
 
Assistant Residence Manager
Direct Support Professionals - Residential 
Full and Part Time
Direct Support Professionals - Day Habilitation
Program Managers
Residential and Day Habilitation
Community Habilitation/Respite Providers
Employment Training Specialist I
March 2nd was Dr. Seuss' Birthday & Our Houses Celebrated!
Green Eggs and Ham


One Fish

Two Fish

Red Fish

Blue Fish
Thing 1 and Thing 2
Saint Patrick's Day at ACHIEVE!



Staff and individuals across the agency spent the day celebrating in all kinds of different and fun ways! Everyone got to feel lucky, whether they were crafting or enjoying a homemade Shamrock Shake!

Staying Active and Healthy

Everyone at Country Club Lane recognizes how important it is to stay active, and have been keeping busy exercising, entertaining furry houseguests, and creating all kinds of crafts and other activities!
Nice Work, Georgetta!
Our Chenango Day Habilitation site is currently undergoing a bit of a facelift, and Georgetta, a natural artist, asked if she could design and paint an extra-large canvas to be displayed.

She's been working hard on it over the last few weeks, and wanted to share the incredible finished product, which she said represents growth, love, strength and beauty; what she feels each day when she comes to program!

Spring Fever
With Spring just around the corner and nicer weather starting to make its way into our area, individuals at Cutler Pond Day Habilitation have been making kite crafts to help fight off Spring Fever!
The warmer weather has been welcome here at ACHIEVE, and everyone across the organization has been busy enjoying it! Whether going for walks, exercising, or starting a new outdoor project, everyone has been taking advantage of the chance to soak up a little extra Vitamin D after months inside!
Chenango Day Habilitation
Staff and individuals at Chenango Day Habilitation have been keeping busy as they waited for warm weather, doing all kinds of arts, crafts and experiments!

Looks like they've paying off and everyone can finally get outside and enjoy Spring!
The Yummy Stuff!

The folks at Helen Street love their food-themed holidays, and March 9th was no different when they celebrated National Meatball Day! Everyone made their own meatballs for lunch, and enjoyed them on delicious meatball subs!
The guys at Clarkson IRA had the great idea for a Brownie Bake Off competition between Division Manager Matt and their Assistant Residence Manager Christine!
It may have been a tough call, but judging by the thumbs up and smiles, they were definitely enjoyed!

National Artichoke Day
Continuing their celebrations of delicious foods after National Meatball Day, Helen Street made a yummy looking dip for National Artichoke Day, enjoying it at lunch time!
Wildwood's Chef Kurt!
One of our Wildwood IRA residents, Kurt, recently expressed an interest in cooking dinner for everyone in his house.

Staff worked with him to develop his cooking skills, and he was so proud to present everyone with his delicious meatloaf and pork chop dinners! Great job, Kurt!

National Peanut Butter Day
Did you know that March 1st is National Peanut Butter Lover's Day? Individuals at Helen Street sure did, and spent the day celebrating everyone's favorite sandwich topping by making peanut butter ice cream!
Community Habilitation Team
We would like to highlight our Community Habilitation team, who have been a lifeline to many, especially over the past year. Our Comm Hab providers have been actively educating and assisting individuals with acquiring their vaccines.
Our Comm Hab team is expanding! Full and Part Time positions are available. Learn more at www.achieveny.org/employment
Provider Brittany picked up Angela and helped her receive her first dose of her vaccine at a Binghamton University clinic!
Comm Hab provider Audrey, alongside her colleagues, has been instrumental in community vaccination efforts, and recently took Andrea and Carol to get their vaccines so that they can protect themselves and those around them!
Heather's Birthday
March Madness
Heather recently celebrated her birthday with her housemates at Helen Street. They enjoyed some of her favorite requests including a steak dinner, ice cream cake and Frozen gifts!

Happy birthday, Heather!
Our IRAs are feeling a little March Madness fun! Seven of our houses started a friendly competition to see who can collect the most wins as the Championship goes on, with the winning house getting a victory pizza party!

Good luck, everyone!
Cheese Doodles
Who doesn't love cheese doodles!? Helen Street celebrated National Cheese Doodle Day with a fun game where they wore shower caps covered in shaving cream, and took turns trying to land cheese doodles on each other's caps! How fun!
Wax Hands
Helen Street were looking for something different to pass the time and had a blast making their hands out of wax! They came out great!
Your Legacy, Our Future
Planned Gifts to ACHIEVE
The ACHIEVE Foundation seeks to support ACHIEVE’s mission to improve the lives of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The growth of the Foundation is determined by planned gifts from our community and family members. These gifts are the cornerstone of our Foundation and allow us to continue to offer a wide range of programs and services.

Every year, more donors are discovering the benefits of supporting ACHIEVE through their estate plans. These planned gifts are the cornerstones to the ACHIEVE Foundation and support the programs and services of our organization.

Charitable Bequest through Last Will or other Estate Plan
Individual Retirement Account
Stock and Securities
Real Estate

To learn more about Planned Giving, or to make a donation, please contact Preston Evans, Vice President Development and Donor Relations, at (607) 352-3280 or pevans@achieveny.org
ACHIEVE Events
Sponsorship Opportunities & Platinum Partnership
Our four signature fundraising events, the Bob Warner Pin Crushing Classic, our Annual Dinner Dance, Savor the Summer, and our Half-K Classic, are vitally important to help fund help fund programming here at ACHIEVE.
 
The success of each event depends on the generosity of our local community and business partners. Looking ahead at 2021, we will continue to face new challenges and ongoing funding cuts. Now, more than ever, our fundraising events are vitally important to ensure we can continue providing crucial programming to the individuals we support! 
 
Corporate sponsorships are one determining factor in the success of all ACHIEVE events, and provide benefits to our sponsors!
 
ACHIEVE launched its Platinum Partner Program in 2019, which gives additional recognition to any organization who sponsors all four of ACHIEVE’s signature events, at any level, with benefits year-round. We have many levels available, and Platinum Partner Packages start as low as $1,000 
 
For more information, click “Become a Sponsor” below, or email
Shari Caudell, Director of Community Engagement at scaudell@achieveny.org.

Thank you to these amazing organizations who are proud
2021 ACHIEVE Platinum Partners!
Please consider joining them in support of ACHIEVE!
Thank you, BAE Systems Electronic Systems, for the 2021 Community Impact Grant award!

Our Family Support Services is very excited to be awarded this grant that will assist with purchasing technology, such as Chromebooks and laptops, for safe service provision as we continue to expand our programming.

It will also allow us to enhance Community Habilitation programming, as well as safe service provision within our Summer Recreation Program, which we look forward to resuming in July after cancelling in 2020.

We truly appreciate the consideration for the funds and the support they'll offer our agency! Thank you!
Annual Appeal
Thanks to the generosity from our community, ACHIEVE has
reached 90.9% of this year's Annual Appeal goal of $70,000!
Thank you to everyone who has donated!

But we still need your support. In order to keep that momentum going and continue providing exceptional services to those we serve, we rely on generous gifts from supporters,  like you, who want to make a difference in thousands of lives.

Your Gift Matters.
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