Greetings all,

It has been another busy month here at Opportunities, Inc.! As the summer is coming to a close, we are looking at increasing our capacity to provide in-person services to more people. We want to thank everyone for their patience and support as we have worked to overcome staffing challenges and operational issues caused by the pandemic. As more time passes, I am hopeful that our staff and the people we support continue to feel safer and safer to return to a more “normal” day.

We are continuing our transformation and have ramped up the process of locating new spaces in Montgomery County to provide supports and services. We are hoping to secure 2 new spaces in the near future; one space that is closer to the Montgomery and Prince George’s County lines, and another up in the Germantown area. This is the first step in our process to create Community Hubs all throughout our service area. The Community Hubs will allow the staff and the people we support a place to stop in during the day to have lunch, research community activities and resources, or to attend a meeting. There is a lot to do to implement our Community Hubs, so please be on the lookout for more information in the coming months!

The transformation that we are undertaking is a response to the community settings rule that goes into effect in March 2023, however it is also to help us provide services that focus more on our mission to support the full inclusion of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. With assistance from the Institute for Community Inclusion, we will improve our services as they relate to assisting people with obtaining competitive integrated employment, as well as helping people focus on community life engagement. This means that our focus will shift to the community and engaging with businesses, community groups and associations to get them on board with our mission and to create new opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We will be looking at each person we support to ensure that the funding they have helps them to achieve their goals and supports their inclusion in the communities where they live.

We want to ensure that everyone is comfortable with these changes, and we will certainly be having stakeholder meetings in the coming months, but this transformation will not be done overnight. It will take a few years for us to get our infrastructure together to ensure that our services remain high quality. All of this is very exciting, but we completely understand that change can be a hard adjustment. Just know that everything will be gradual, and we will ensure that every person we support has the final say in their services. We’ll continue to keep you posted on everything!

I shared in our last newsletter that we engaged in a virtual site visit with the ICI team and were anxiously awaiting their recommendations regarding increasing employment and community-based outcomes for people who choose our services. The recommendations received were both insightful and exciting! Throughout this grant process, which will last 1 year, ICI will help Opp, Inc. completely redefine our service delivery methods to focus on supporting people in securing competitive, integrated employment as well as provide community-based services that are not reliant on our buildings. Our organizational structure, job descriptions, and focused job development are all involved in our action plan that we have submitted to ICI. This is exactly what the Developmental Disabilities Administration is striving towards for all of its providers. 

Haydee engages in our Virtual Services and enjoys interacting with her peers and the staff during the virtual meetings. She loves being able to play Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, and BINGO with her friends! She's also working on her writing and math skills throughout the virtual activities. On Wednesdays, Haydee meets the Germantown Employment Specialist in the community. She takes public transportation to work on her goal of finding a job and has already submitted a few applications. Exploring Job Development services has been Haydee's favorite activity. She'd love to work in a supermarket. Haydee shared that she's proud of herself for working on this goal. We're so proud of you, too!

Haydee likes to stay busy when she isn't at the program. She helps out at her family's business, takes walks around her neighborhood, and loves to explore new places. She also shared that she knows her bus routes and what time she needs to be there to catch the bus on time. Way to go, Haydee!

We are so excited to have Haydee in the Opportunities, Inc. program and can't wait to see what she accomplishes next!

This month Lanham visited Six Flags and got on some thrill rides with some brave riders. Lanham also made a house stop to visit a co-worker and had a great lunch while catching up. Lanham enjoyed a fishing trip that shows off their fisherman skills while soaking up the sun. (No fish were harmed in the process) ;). Our Lanham participants love visiting the Museum and taking in new experiences. Lanham also continues to volunteer at sites that are meaningful like Planet Fitness and Barcs! When they aren’t actively helping, they are showing the animals love or working out! Lanham had a great month exploring the community and building great relationships on the way. 

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The Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council & The ARC Maryland have partnered with People On the Go Maryland to create a Partners in Policymaking program! This advocacy program is a year-long and prepares adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), parents, and family members of children and adults with IDD to be effective advocates at the local, state, and federal levels. To learn more, you can read here. If you are ready to apply, you can do so here!

Opportunities, Inc.'s Employee Spotlight

The Program Specialist says: Alexus, time and time again you stay delivering more than you’re expected to. As we work to create light for others, we naturally light our own way. It has shown with the happiness and joy you bring to the people we support, time and time again with a smile ear to ear no matter the obstacle you may face. It's always heartwarming seeing how you keep everyone engaged. "Don't be busy, be productive" That’s the quote that sits in my head when I hear Alexus’ name. Thanks for everything you do and always catering to the people we service.

The Director of Operations says: Alexus, each day you prove to be attuned to the people in our services, communicative, gentle and engaging. Thank you for all the work you do to engage and be there for all the people who are participating virtually. You have a talent for multi-tasking and can communicate what is most important to the program team in order to best support everyone. We are so lucky to have you onboard and I thank you for all your hard work!

Many of you may have already received Rob's letter, reviewing some of the most important highlights of the last few months, and asking for your financial support. As he says, we are hoping to beat last year's goal of $20,000 from our closest family and friends, to support all the wonderful activities and services we provide at Opp, Inc. that are not reimbursed.

We want to keep offering all these services, and add many more, like our vision of Community Hubs that will welcome those we support at community-based locations, designed for their comfort and needs.

Please make your gift today! You can return your check in your letter, or make your gift here.

We are so grateful to our families and our friends for their wonderful, loyal support. Please join in!

“How lucky we are to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard” – Winnie the Pooh

Many of you know that Elena Laun resigned from her position as Program Director at our Lanham location. We are so sad to see her go but are excited for her to enter into this next chapter. Elena has been with Opportunities, Inc. in the Program department since 2016. However, even before this, Elena was previously employed as a Floor Supervisor, until she took leave and then returned a few years later to join the Program Team. Elena is a fierce supporter and advocate for the people in our services and for the team she supervised. We are going to miss her dearly. Until we have identified who will step into the Program Director role, please reach out to your Support Manager with any questions or concerns, or Erin Fig, the Director of Operations, efig@opportunities-inc.com.

Program Updates

Please help us welcome our new staff members! Shirley, Lola, and Jasmyn have joined our team in our Lanham location.

Direct Support Recognition Week is in September! If you'd like to nominate a DSP, please reach out to Erin or Rob by September 9th.

With all the changes we are gearing up for, we are taking an In-Service day in the fall for all the Opp, Inc. staff to come together. Look out for more information to come.

We're always looking for new talent to join the Opp, Inc. team! Know anyone interested in working with us? Please direct them to upload their resume here.