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Month: June 2016

Thank You, Golfers!

Posted on by Paige Mador

We would like to extend a big thank you to everyone who attended and supported our 19th Annual Charity Golf Classic on Friday, June 17th. We were lucky to have wonderful weather at the beautiful Blissful Meadows Golf Club and great company from our many supporters and community partners! All of the proceeds from our fundraising events are used to directly benefit programs and services at Venture.

Congratulations to our first place winners, TJ Breau, John Mariano, and Dave Smith from the Lightning Strikes Pest Control team. Coming in second were our friends from WB Mason, Tm Dutille, Ryan Matson, Nik Lavoie, and Brendan Gregory. Contest winners for Closest to the Pin were Sean Cottrell, TJ Breau, Tim Olson, and Jim Foskett. The two golfers who swung the Longest Drive were Kerrie Mason and Tim Dutille. Congratulations to everyone!

Thank you to all the golfers, sponsors, and volunteers who made this a great day of golf, awareness, and fundraising for an important cause – especially our sponsors, Insurance Professionals of New England, Fallon Health, TD Bank, Forensic Risk Alliance, MDG Associates, Southbridge Savings Bank, and Jim Carafotes from Dunkin Donuts of Sturbridge and Southbridge.

Don’t forget to check out our Flickr page for photos of the event!

Successful Transitions

Posted on by Paige Mador

Imagine being told you’ll be leaving the home you’ve known to go live in a new house, in a new town, with people you’ve never met – and you might only have a few days to get used to this idea before your big move. That’s a pretty shocking adjustment! Now imagine that your memory isn’t what it used to be, or you have an intellectual disability that would make this transition more difficult to process. This is the experience of many adults with disabilities in our community. Although transition plans are put in place and people are counseled about the upcoming change, it’s a huge adjustment for just about anyone.

Recently, Venture welcomed a new resident into one of the agency’s 44 group homes and we wanted to highlight the hard work it takes by many people to welcome a program’s newest housemate. Mr. R. had been living with a shared living provider, but his changing medical conditions now require him to live in a group home setting. First, the house manager, program director, and nurse went to meet Mr. R. at the rehabilitation center he was staying at. He was a little confused, and thought he would be going home with them that day. They assured him that he’d be moving into his new home very soon.

For two weeks, different staff members from the program went to visit him at the rehab facility daily to get to know him before his big move.  The nursing department worked diligently with staff members, facilitating trainings necessary for the arrival of a new resident and teaching staff how to prepare his medications.  Residential staff members met with Mr. R’s guardian and previous shared living provider, giving them a tour of his new home, answering questions, and calming concerns and fears.  Staff also became an impromptu moving company!  They brought a van to Mr. R’s previous home and loaded up all of his belongings.  Upon their return, it was all hands on deck at the program, with the help of the Facilities Department, to unload the van and begin setting up and decorating Mr. R’s room so it would be ready for his arrival.  When the program director realized Mr. R. could use a bookshelf and dresser, the Facilities Department also located these items along with a matching night stand, and delivered them just in time.  The Quality Assurance department dropped everything to make sure an audit was completed and a safety plan was in place.  With the help of the Nursing Department, residential staff members were trained on how to handle Mr. R’s complex medical needs and prepared medications and equipment.  The next day, the house manager and nurse picked up Mr. R. and brought him to the program.  Later that day, when the program director visited to see how he was settling in, she walked in to find his sitting in his room unpacking his CDs.  He looked up, smiled, and said, “Home!”  And that’s what it’s all about.

19th Annual Charity Golf Classic

Posted on by Paige Mador

Venture is excited to start the summer with the 19th Annual Charity Golf Classic! Over the years, we have received an outpouring of community support at this event, and this year we are even more excited that the location of our golf tournament is right down the street from our new facility in Uxbridge. We are looking forward to having an even greater presence in this community and this event is another great way to become familiar with our new neighbors.

If you’ve already registered – THANK YOU! We also still have plenty of registration spaces available to golfers who are interested in joining us!  Enjoy 18 holes of golf at the beautiful Blissful Meadows Golf Club in Uxbridge, including golf cart, golfer gift, continental breakfast, boxed lunch and dinner.  Prizes for contests include $10,000 cash, a brand-new Ford Mustang, golf vacation for two, golf clubs and pro shop gift certificates. There are plenty of chances to win prizes, with fun games and contests on ten holes!

After a great day out on the course, golfers will enjoy an Italian buffet dinner in the club’s brand new pavilion, complete with lawn games, cash bar and silent auction that will include summer trips and family outings, gift certificates, creative gift baskets, and more.

We’d also like to recognize our many generous sponsors for this event: Insurance Professionals of New England, Fallon Health, Forensic Risk Alliance, MDG Associates, Southbridge Savings Bank, TD Bank, James Carafotes, Agawam Medical Supply, Blum Shapiro, OFS Optics, Ogletree Deakins Law Firm, R.C. Shaw Sprinkler Company, WB Mason, CK Smith Superior, Country Bank, Hometown Bank, Load Controls, Osterman Propane, ACT Leasing, Quality Van Sales, Savers Bank, and Southbridge Credit Union. Thank you for supporting our mission!

We hope you’ll consider joining us on Friday, June 17th at Blissful Meadows Golf Club for a great outing to support our programs for people with disabilities.  For more information, contact Paige Mador at 774-922-1135 or pmador@venturecs.org.  Or, register online today!