The Consortium’s Alyssa Fumo Honored with Direct Support Professional Award at ADDP Conference

The Consortium’s Alyssa Fumo Honored with Direct Support Professional Award at ADDP Conference

Alyssa Fumo award

MAY 4, 2017, WORCESTER, MA –Lead Staff Cited for Outstanding Work from Association of Developmental Disabilities Providers (ADDP)

Chicopee’s Alyssa Fumo of The Western Massachusetts Training Consortium’s Home & Community Connections program has won the “Direct Support Professional Award” for the Western region from the Association of Developmental Disabilities Providers. Fumo received her award at the ADDP Lead! Conference and Expo on Thursday May 4th at the DCU Center in Worcester.

Fumo is currently the Lead Staff at The Consortium’s Home & Community Connections’ home in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Alyssa has taken the initiative to organize the list of expectations and responsibilities for care of

the four women who reside at the home. She has been a great support to the Residential Coordinator and has been a confident, respectful motivator to all. Alyssa has especially become interested in supporting people receiving palliative care, supporting them while continuing to give their lives meaning and joy.

“Alyssa is always willing to learn and keeps up with the ongoing trainings required to efficiently address the challenging needs of the people she supports,” said Marylou Sullivan, Executive Director at The Consortium. “Her stellar teamwork engenders a spirit of trust from her colleagues who can be sure Alyssa will always provide the utmost excellence in her support, skills and care”.

“Direct Support Professionals like Alyssa are the foundation of the human services sector in Massachusetts,” said Gary Blumenthal, the President and Chief Executive Officer of ADDP. “There are hundreds of thousands of people living with disabilities in Massachusetts who rely on Direct Support Professionals to provide a wide variety of critical services that allow them to live more independent lives. Alyssa and her colleagues enable this to happen every day all across our Commonwealth.”

People with Developmental Disabilities Have Spiritual Needs Too ~ Non-profit provides spiritual care for adults with cognitive challenges

The Western Massachusetts Training Consortium is pleased to announce its new initiative designed to address the spiritual needs of adults with cognitive challenges it serves. The Consortium’s Home & Community Connections residential program has demonstrated a way to offer spiritual support to folks who have developmental disabilities. “The intention of this program has been to support individuals who are interested in identifying their own spirituality or who have described spirituality as a key component of their lives,” said the Rev. Gregory Jones, Spiritual Care Coordinator for the program, “Spirituality is not a focus on any particular religion, but rather on core values, principles and philosophies that reflect personal life experiences.”

Many times individuals and families are in need of moral support as they face tough challenges. The program offers grief support for people coping with the passing of loved ones and friends. In addition, people often seek the spiritual component of the supports offered to rediscover their connection to community sources such as church, synagogues, or mosques. Home and Community Connection’s Spiritual Care Program directly supports the mission of the Consortium: The Western Massachusetts Training Consortium is a learning organization, committed to creating conditions in which people with lived experience pursue their dreams and strengthen our communities through full participation. “We’ve received positive feedback regarding these supports thus far and expect that the practice will deepen over time,” said Marylou Sullivan, Executive Director.

For more information about Home and Community Connection’s Spiritual Care Coordination or other supports, please visit: http://wmtcinfo.org/programs/home-community-connections/

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