The United Arc July 2018 Newsletter

June was another exciting month! From the Staff Longevity Dinner to the Annual Picnic to the Holyoke Open House, we enjoyed many wonderful moments with you!

Join us in July for REV UP - National Disability Voter Registration Week! This is a great chance to make sure that everyone gets registered to vote, while reflecting on how political decisions affect those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Bid now on our online packages and make sure to get your Early Bird Tickets to the 2018 Gala & Auction!

Lynne Marie Bielecki
Executive Director

Staff Longevity Dinner

Congratulations to our staff who celebrated longevity milestones in their service with The United Arc this year. On June 7, we shared a fun evening together with these staff, their supervisors, the Senior Leadership Team and Board Members at Terrazza Ristorante. Celebrating 10 Years are Peter Storozuk and Renee Randall-Basset and 5 Years are Urica Tinsley-Roach, Katie Bonnette, Ray Zimmer, Tiffany Bucinskas, Tammy Stevens, Grace Ellis, and Jeremy Croake. We hope you will join us in appreciating these staff! 

Holyoke Open House

Holyoke, MA – On June 22, The United Arc held an Open House at its Holyoke Positive Parenting Center. The event was attended by Representative Aaron Vega of Holyoke, Doug McCallum - the former DDS Director of Family Support for the Central/West Region, and Herb Cabral of the Arc of Massachusetts. Sy Becker of WWLP-22News in Springfield also attended. Here is the 22News story on our Holyoke Open House!

The only program of its kind in Massachusetts, Positive Parenting was developed for parents who have intellectual disabilities, learning differences or cognitive challenges. The United Arc Positive Parenting Program provides training and support for these parents. Many people assume that parents with disabilities lack the capacity to parent their children. This discrimination has sometimes resulted in children being separated from their parents.  The United Arc has been a highly engaged part of the movement to demonstrate that parents with these challenges are capable of parenting, especially when they are offered training and support.

The United Arc Picnic

Over 250 people attended The United Arc Picnic this year! We enjoyed delicious picnic fare, painted faces, cannon balled in the swimming pool, shot hoops, rode the trolley, and visited with old friends and new. Thank you to T.J. and the Peepers for providing a wide variety of fun music! You inspired so many of us to dance! Amidst the festivities, we found the space to appreciate our Americorps members from the past year, Hannah and Kellan. Both have brought creative new ideas to our youth programs, and they will be missed. We wish both the best in their future endeavors! 

We could only share a few photos with you here. See the full album on our Facebook page! Missed out this year? Join us every June for this organization-wide event! 

The United Arc
2018
Annual Gala & Auction

6:00 pm Saturday,
September 15, 2018

Hadley Farms Meeting House
Get your tickets or table
today!

The United Arc 2018 Annual Gala & Auction

The United Arc 2018 Annual Gala & Auction will be held on Saturday, September 15 at Hadley Farms Meeting House! We are delighted to announce that Greenfield Savings Bank is again joining us as a Supporting Sponsor! Dillon Chevrolet and Snow & Sons are also returning as Associate Sponsors. Join us for a splendid evening of celebrating The United Arc and supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Featuring our Live and Silent Auctions, we're also bringing back the very popular Magic Mystery Box and a new Pandora's Box! Get your Early Bird Tickets by August 3!

Can't wait for the Auction? Bid on packages online all summer! Want to get the word out about your business' wonderful products and services? Reach our community by becoming a sponsor or donating a package! Contact Saera Hanlon. The sooner you do, the sooner we can promote you!

REV UP for National Disability Voter Registration Week!

The United Arc, Pioneer Club, & Frontier Club invite you to REV UP for National Disability Voter Registration Week, July 16-20! Join us for the Kickoff on Monday, July 16 from 2:00-4:00 pm at 294 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA. Register and pledge to vote, and enjoy refreshments! Can’t make the Kickoff? Drop in at our Turners Falls location all week to register to vote, or register online!

REV UP stands for Register! Educate! Vote! Use your Power! The REV UP Campaign is a national, nonpartisan effort to increase the political participation of people with disabilities, coordinated nationally by the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD).

2018 Supervised Visitation Network Conference

Fort Lauderdale, Florida - The 2018 Supervised Visitation Network Conference provided exciting new materials for The United Arc Positive Parenting Program!  Barbara Jaillet, The United Arc Program Manager for our North Quabbin Positive Parenting Program attended both the conference and a two-day pre-conference training: Nurturing Skills for Families in Supervised Visitation. It featured the collaboration of work of Stephen J. Bavolek, Ph.D who developed the Nurturing Families curricula and Joe Nullet, the executive director of the Supervised Visitation Network. At the Conference itself, Barbara participated in 5 workshops to enhance our Supervised Visitation program. The United Arc also made a donation to the raffle to benefit the scholarship fund. Barbara is now training The United Arc staff to implement the best of the conference into our Positive Parenting Supervised Visitation program. 

Looking for our June program activities?
Click below or visit 
theunitedarc.org/events.html!

Tonya & her son Charlie enjoy a sundae at the Ice Cream Social
Achieve with us.

The United Arc
294 Avenue A
Turners Falls, Massachusetts 01376
(413) 774-5558
info@unitedarc.org

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