At The Arc Wayne, we are fortunate enough to have some incredible volunteers who help the Salvation Army during their Christmas Red Kettle Campaign. Staff and individuals the agency supports went to the Newark location Walmart to ring the bell this year despite some bitter cold and snowy days. Together, we helped bring in $11,863.94 for our local community.

"Your ringers and supervisors were wonderful," Anne Rogers, a Salvation Army volunteer, said in an email to The Arc Wayne staff. "They were punctual, polite, charming, friendly ringers. The shoppers really responded to them with open hearts. I learned from your ringer that we shouldn't even ring so we won't wake up the babies. I will never forget the gentle politeness in those words."

The Arc Wayne's Community Pre Vocational (Pre Voc) program connects individuals with disabilities to volunteer and pre-employment opportunities in their community. Individuals who are supported through this program have volunteered at dozens of businesses around Wayne County in order to gain valuable social and work skills that will help them prepare for future potential employment. People in this program appreciate being able to give back to their communities in a meaningful way, and we were so thankful that we could partner with the Salvation Army to do that again this year.

​If you are interested in learning more about our Pre Voc program, visit our services page or contact Tina Rossman. If you or someone you know works at a business that needs volunteers, we would love to discuss partnering with you in the future.

The Arc Wayne, with help and guidance from Finger Lakes Performing Provider System (FLPPS), will be infusing Cultural Competency and Health Literacy (CCHL) into everything we do at the agency after training is administered to staff, individuals we serve, and other community members.

What is CCHL?

Cultural Competency (CC): The ability to interact effectively and respectfully with people of different cultures and the understanding that “culture” is so much more than race and ethnicity.
Health Literacy (HL): The ability to obtain, read, understand, and use healthcare information in order to make appropriate health decisions and follow instructions for treatment. For example, “Do you understand how to take your medication safely and according to instructions?”

FLPPS has declared CCHL a vital part of our local community organizations. If we can define social determinates that influence different populations’ health, we can start to decrease hospital stays and create healthier communities for people of all cultures and back- grounds. Over the next few months, The Arc Wayne will begin training staff and individuals to teach everyone what CCHL is and how we can create more culturally competent and health literate community members. 

If you have questions about CCHL, what it means, or how you can help infuse it into your work place, please feel free to contact Grete Steele De Torres, our CCHL Operations Specialist at The Arc Wayne. We would love to share how you can make a difference in your community by being more culturally competent and health literate. 

All week, The Arc Wayne has celebrated our greatest asset: employees. Our Human Resources department planned a week of themed days and gave away goodies to thank staff for all of the hard work and dedication they show to the individuals we support each and every day. 

It takes our team of more than 550 people to effectively and successfully operate The Arc Wayne day-in and day-out. We are thankful to have such a devoted team of that size. David Calhoun, The Arc Wayne's Executive Director, sent a message to staff at the end of the week thanking everyone for their work.

"I would like to take this opportunity with the ending of staff appreciation week to thank you on behalf of the Board of Directors and the Administration. Thank you for the dedication you provide to the hundreds of people we support each and every day. Without your commitment and hard work, we would not be the largest and best non-profit agency in the county. Our drive toward excellence through empowerment and opportunity makes The Arc Wayne a special place to work, and our team plays an absolutely vital role in accomplishing that for our community. Staff appreciation week may be only 5 days long, but it takes 365 days a year to successfully operate The Arc Wayne, and we appreciate your help in accomplishing that."

We hope you will help us in thanking our staff for helping connect individuals to a world of possibilities. 

Erie Shore Landing construction is officially wrapping up this week, and we are actively working toward being able to open our doors to the public. If you've heard about the project or have seen the transformation of our building, you're probably wondering, "What is Erie Shore Landing?" Hopefully this blog post can answer some of your questions about it, but feel free to contact us with any other inquires regarding the shops or the project as a whole. 

Erie Shore Landing is a retail business of The Arc Wayne consisting of four shops along the Erie Canal in Newark, as well as a learning academy. The shops include Erie Shore Cafe, Erie Shore Ice Cream, Erie Shore Printing, and a retail space that is available for a local business to rent out as a storefront. Our employees will be a mix of individuals with disabilities and those without in our community. We are excited to introduce dozens of new jobs for the Newark area.

All of the shops except Erie Shore Ice Cream will be open year-round. The ice cream shop will be seasonal and opening this spring. So far, we do not have a business renting the retail space, so it will be overflow seating for our cafe in the meantime. We are also hoping to have a kiosk where customers can buy local products and goods right in the store. This kiosk is still in the development phase and will not be open right away. 

Erie Shore Cafe will serve coffee, baked goods, sandwiches, wraps, paninis, and more. Our ice cream shop will serve both soft serve and hard ice cream. The printshop will continue doing business as usual, but we are also adding mailing services in the near future.

Erie Shore Learning is a training kitchen and conference room where individuals can learn the necessary retail, food preparation, and customer service skills they need to thrive in the Erie Shore retail shops. The learning academy is a first of its kind in the area, and we believe it will increase confidence in our employees and enhance your experience with us.

We are now hiring a retail manager who will then assist us in hiring more employees to work in the shops, so please check out our job postings later next month if you're interested in working with us!

We are planning an official opening date this winter, so stay tuned. Once the final preparations are completed, we will be sure to spread the word about when customers can come visit us! We hope you will join us that day. As we mentioned earlier, please feel free to reach out to us with any questions about the project.

Thank you for your support of our mission and wanting to help make a difference in your community. 

Last week we celebrated National Direct Support Professionals (DSP) Appreciation Week. With hundreds of DSP's working for The Arc Wayne, it's safe to say that the agency would not be able to function without the compassion and dedication of our direct support staff. Working one-on-one with many of the individuals The Arc Wayne supports allows our direct support staff to really connect with the individuals they spend time with and help accomplish day-to-day tasks.

At The Arc Wayne, we like to say, "They don't live where you work, you work where they live." Being a DSP in one of our houses is more than just doing a job – it's finding a family. When our staff eat, play games, go on outings, and help envision goals with the individuals of that house, it becomes much bigger than just "going to work." 

All of us here at The Arc Wayne know how dedicated, inclusive, and person-centered our DSP's are in order to provide the best care possible for the individuals we support. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the long days, late nights, extra shifts, hard times, and moments of success that you experience every day. We appreciate you! 

Every year, Newark CSD recognizes an individual, group, or organization that the district feels is a champion for education in the community. This year, we were honored to receive the award at the start-of-the-year Superintendent's Conference. 

The Arc Wayne partners with Newark CSD to help provide services, service coordination and navigation, support, and advocacy for students. This year, the agency also sponsored Newark's Unified Basketball teams. These teams truly exemplified what we stand for as an organization by allowing students of all abilities to participate in a team sport. 

We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to this awesome district for giving us the Friend of Education award. We look forward to future partnerships to better the lives of students and others in our community. Best of luck to all students, teachers, and staff this school year!

In an era where people generally want to be more respectful and inclusive of different populations, it's sometimes hard to determine what the "right" thing to say is. To be quite honest, before I started working at The Arc Wayne, I struggled with deciding what I should and shouldn't say or ask to someone with a disability. I want to let all of you know the most important thing that I learned when talking with the individuals we support – they are just that: individuals. No two of them are the same, and they most definitely have their own personalities, interests, hobbies, and skills. 

Just because someone has different abilities, their importance in society is not diminished. I've met some of the most hard-working, kind-hearted people down in our Key Industries Workshop, in our IRA's, and out in the community. They want the same basic things we all want: a decent home, friends, family, a marriage, a good job, and the ability to take fun vacations. 

I'm hoping this advice regarding people-first language will be a launching pad for positive interactions between you and the individuals you interact with. If you take one thing away from this, let it be that someone's disability does not define who they are as a person and does not always prohibit him or her from accomplishing goals and reaching dreams.

So, what is people-first language? The Arc defines it this way: "People First Language puts the person before the disability, and describes what a person has, not who a person is. Using a diagnosis as a defining characteristic reflects prejudice, and also robs the person of the opportunity to define him/herself."

For example, if someone is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, it would inappropriate to label him or her as "autistic." It would be better to say, "He or She has Autism." This emphasizes the person rather than the disorder. It's something that is a part of the person, not the person as a whole.

Almost 1 in 5 Americans has a disability – making it the largest minority population. It is also one of the most diverse minority populations because it is made up people from all cultures, backgrounds, races, and ethnicities. Disabilities don't discriminate, and neither should we. Individuals with disabilities are friends, coworkers, moms, dads, neighbors, daughters, sons, teachers, students, brothers, and sisters. All it takes is a genuine smile and an understanding that a disability does not define someone.

At The Arc Wayne, we are dedicated to helping individuals with disabilities feel welcomed and included in our communities. Thank you for your help and support with this goal. 

We are so excited at how much positive feedback the #SeeMe campaign has received over the last week. It's reassuring to know that we are nestled in such a supportive, inclusive community and that we are surrounded by people who want to make this a better place to live, work, and play for individuals with disabilities. We couldn't do what we do every day without our community's support. Thank you.

If you're wondering what the deal is with all of these #SeeMe posts, you're probably not alone. To explain properly, let me first explain the rebranding efforts that made a huge impact on the campaign. 

As you probably know, Wayne ARC is now The Arc Wayne. This is an effort to join hundreds of state and local chapters across the United States who have branded with The Arc – the largest national community-based organization advocating for and supporting individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities and their families. 
 
The Arc Wayne decided to align with The Arc to strengthen our voice as we continue to find alternative financial support and create innovative programs and services for the individuals The Arc supports.

That being said, we wanted to make sure we weren't just saying that, but actually showing it in our communities. This was the genesis of the #SeeMe campaign. We wanted people to see and accept individuals with disabilities in all areas of our villages, towns, and businesses. We wanted everyone to know how special we think each and every individual we serve is.

In addition to the social media posts, we have also partnered with local businesses across Wayne County to show our support. Check out our billboards on Rt. 104 in Williamson and Rt. 31 between Newark and Lyons for a photo of our beloved David thanks in part to Lamar Advertising. Love coffee? Visit ​Imprint Coffee Roasters, Firewall Coffee Hall, or Mi Cafe Con  Leche Coffee Shop to find The Arc Wayne coffee sleeves. Need something stronger? Visit Parker's or Twisted Rail Brewing Company to find The Arc Wayne coasters under a drink. Have kids? Load up the car and visit Chill & Grill, Mr. Coolee's, or Orbaker's for orange and yellow sprinkles on an ice cream cone – even the big kids will enjoy this one. 

Whether you know someone personally, or you've just seen a photo on Facebook, we can all show respect for individuals with disabilities. Please share your stories with us on social media or in the comments of this blog! We love to see how you're making a difference in your community. Thank you for following along with us and helping create a more inclusive environment for what we believe is an amazing population of people. 

Click on the icons below to see more from the #SeeMe campaign. 

Wayne ARC has changed its name to The Arc Wayne to join hundreds of state and local chapters across the United States who have branded with The Arc – the largest national community-based organization advocating for and supporting individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities and their families. The new logo includes The Arc “catalyst” icon, which represents a burst of energy and is symbolic of forward motion, optimism and independence.

The Arc Wayne decided to align with The Arc to strengthen our voice as we continue to find alternative financial support and create innovative programs and services for the individuals The Arc supports.

The agency will continue to advocate for and support the more than 1,700 individuals served by The Arc Wayne in Wayne and surrounding counties with compassion, understanding and support. While our name is changing, our services will remain as we continue to improve each of them: residential services, employment services, Roosevelt Children’s Center, respite and recreational opportunities, Key Industries workshop, and more.
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We look forward to this transition as an organization as we continue to promote community inclusion and integration of individuals with and without developmental and intellectual disabilities.

Please contact us with any questions or comments!