Dear Eden II Friends & Family,
As we go into the summer months, we are still unsure of a lot of things, but the one thing we are sure of is the unwavering dedication of our Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) and the supportive Eden II management teams, not to mention the school and preschool staff who have brought new meaning to the words "creative" and "innovative". We still have so many questions about what the future looks like. When will "on-site" programs be able to open up again? What will programs look like in the future, and when will we be able to find that "new normal" that everyone keeps talking about? These are just some of the unknowns we grapple with as we watch the numbers begin to stabilize and our state work towards normalization. We still find ourselves in uncharted territory striving to make the best decisions with the information we have to help us walk safely into the future.
Our Residential staff have been working tirelessly and have done an incredible job during very trying times that have gone on longer than anyone could have imagined. They are warriors and we are lucky to work with them. These men and women leave their families and report to work to support our residents without hesitation and we greatly appreciate their dedication to the residents who live in our homes, and the families who have entrusted their loved ones to our care, and our agency as a whole. These are hard times; hard for staff, hard for families, hard for our students, our residents and our participants in our programs. Day Hab and Family Support Services staff have stepped up and taken on shifts to fill in gaps in our group homes and make us whole. We are truly grateful for all of those brave, dedicated staff who "stepped up to the plate".
If you would like to support our frontline staff, visit our donation page here. To date, we have raised over $20,000. We thank everyone who has helped support these heroes.
The participants in our programs have shown their resiliency to a degree that we could not have anticipated and that makes us proud. Thankfully, our Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) approach has proven to be a most useful asset in handling the challenges of this time. Consistency and determination have proven to make our programs stable and strong. As we transition back to our "new normal", whatever that might look like, we reflect our state's approach and are moving cautiously with thoughtfulness, and with data based decision making as our guide. Our focus remains the safety and welfare of our nuclear, as well as our extended, Eden II family. We wish everyone good health and happier days ahead.
Irene Cavanagh, Ed.D.
Associate Executive Director OPWDD Services
