 Abled in an Air, major sponsorship was given by Green Mountain Support Services, empowering neighbors with disabilities to be home in the community. Also sponsorship was given by Washington County Mental Health Services, where hope and support come together, and Champlain Community Services of Vermont. Good morning, welcome to Green Mountain Support Services. This is our brand new building, and as you can see, this is the lobby. We've got some brochures over here and some awards on the wall. I'm going to share the office, and everybody has a different position here. Supportive employment section, everybody has a job. Anybody with a special need has a job here. We work with that has a job outside, we have folks that work in big lines in different places. And that's the section that kind of helps them reach out and make acquaintances with businesses in the community. It's a big far cry from years ago. As far as being institutionalized. This section is our AFC program. Hello. Would you like to say something for the camera? Something for the camera? Yes. As far as what you do for Green Mountain Support Services, what is your name, please? Danielle. What do you do again for Green Mountain? Service coordinator for the AFC program. And what exactly is the AFC program? A job family care program. So people are in the nursing homes and we put them in homes in the community. So it's basically being integrated and being independent in the community. Okay, thank you. You're welcome. Everybody needs a kitchen. It's our largest conference room. You use a lot with the room. Because when I was with students in New York, you can use any room to make it into a TV studio. Huge. The section down through here is our clinical collection for Tanner and Christina's offices. More comfortable space. And we have quite a few offices that are in line. So as we grow, we still have space for new service coordinators coming in. Is this office over here? Hey. Has it always been in here? Oh, this is Brandia. We just moved in in May of last year. So this is a brand new space for us. We were on professional drive in a much smaller place. A little very much smaller. Yeah, I can tell. This is pretty much new. It smells new. It does, pretty much. If it's kept neat and clean and things like that, it smells new. Hey, Josh. I'm getting your sign. But is this the donor? No, this is dedicated service. So anything with the house on it? Are they shared living providers? Anything without a house is our employees. So this is how many people that have been working with us for five years, ten years, fifteen years, twenty years, twenty-five years. You guys have been there. So you guys are twenty-five years old. We've been working for over thirty years. Ah. Okay. And then we're back in the lobby. I guess that smells new. That's a great room. But there's the same in a fridge. The same fridge. Julie's office here. Master Chef Michael, wait. Master Chef Michael, that's right. Oh, this is nice. Don't get rid of it. We're not going to get rid of it, but we're going to turn it into drop-in-work space for staff who might be working in the area who just need a place to pop in for a little bit. You mean like a pop-up office? Yeah, yeah. This will become a training room and an open meeting room. I'm going to try to pop out that partition along. Next to me, I'm supposed to go to the party. Oh, yeah. This is our larger private conference room. I've worked for Green Mountain Support Services for almost eight years doing case management. We serve individuals with developmental disabilities. We assist them with finding homes that the individual needs to live in. We do monthly home visits to make sure everything's going well. We help to coordinate medical services, help with social security paperwork, Medicaid paperwork, setting up medical appointments, maybe finding transportation to the appointments if needed, and basically any type of services that people need assistance with. And we help to find as many natural supports as we can and help the person to have a high quality of life outside of the agency on their own. Okay. And Josh has got that up there, too. Yeah, no, I'm looking at this specifically. Code of ethics. Yeah. So the computer lab is for staff, right? No. If anyone can commit, the folks who support can come in and use it. Their direct support providers can come in and use the computers. We're going to implement use of them when they're doing job searches for people. They'll bring them in and they'll sit down with them on the computer and apply online because that's the way a lot of things are done. See? Okay. You're going to go like that. Yeah. And then down the ramp. Yeah. And if you want to come get the shot of... I will. Hold on. So there you go. So what exactly is this? Why did they call it a wheel pad? It's basically it's a portable addition to a home for someone that needs some accessibility. So this is a house. It's a bedroom. Really? It's a bedroom and a bathroom. So if you're in need of getting an extra bedroom in your home for someone that has some accessibility issues, this is probably the best. So they would be sleeping outside? No. What they would do is that it depends on the home. It depends on how it would be attached to a home. So they would attach this to a home. And it's all ADA accessible. It's even more than ADA accessible. It's variactively accessible. So the ramp here is just for the model so people can come and get it. I'm trying to get you explaining this stuff. Go ahead. And so inside here you have... It's a bedroom? Somebody actually sleeps here now? No, no, no. This is just a model. This is just for people to see. The wheel pad, they're based out of Wellington, Vermont. So this is the only model available for people to come and look at in all of northern Vermont right now. It's very interesting. And so what it is, it's made for, you know, even like bariatricly... Bariatricly means what? You know, people that have like our... who are past ADA accessibility, that need more than ADA accessibility. People that are, you know, that are morbidly obese, you know, people that can't move or can't do anything anymore because you have the railing, the track system installed as well on here. So this is the bathroom. So the truck does what? It's for someone that might need a lift that needs to go from the bedroom to the bathroom. This is like Biggest Loser stuff right here. Yeah, so this is all, and this is all set up. Next time you have to show my wife this stuff. Yeah, it's all made for being able to make a room completely accessible for anyone. And what they would do is that what Will Pepp does is they work with individual zoning commissions of different towns to figure out how they would attach this to a house. You need to show this to people who... Yeah. So a lot of dewellery, they'll get you hooked up with the people that make you, they're based out of southern Vermont. They sell a lot of these... Yeah, maybe. What they do is they sell a lot of these in like southern Vermont, Massachusetts, New York state, but they're looking at trying to... Do this all over the world? Well, they do, but there's not a lot up in northern Vermont. So this is why we're partnering with them so that they can keep this and they can have a model so that people can come and look at it. Yeah. I've never seen this before. Right. And the thing is, they're built it and you just drive it and they build them down in their shop and then it's on a trailer. So house on wheels. They just drive it straight to the first... So this is a bedroom and a bathroom. Just a bedroom and a bathroom. Yep. And... It's because it's made to make sure that the person is still a part of the home. No, but what if... So being able to have this opportunity to have their own bedroom space, have their own bathroom, but still be a part of the household is extremely important. Yes, because it's the smallest thing you do. How long have you guys had the partnership? We've... They dropped us off in early... Earlier this month. So we've had this here now for about a month or so and we're hoping to keep it here as long as they need... You have one at the other space too? No. No. So... Yeah. No, I think the mission of what Willpad does is very much in line with what Greenmount Support Services believes and that is that everybody has the opportunity and deserves to be a part of a community and be a part of something bigger than themselves. So being able to have help support their Willpad's mission of accessibility and inclusion speaks to us as well. So I love the fact that it's just a bedroom and a bathroom and I love the fact that you attach it to a home and sort of being something that's completely separate from... So I helped put together a comic book series. We reached out to multiple different authors script writers and artists. We brought them in and did interviews with five different clients, I believe that have cerebral palsy. Survival. And so every interview was completely different. Some people had already written up a script and just wanted to read us their story. We helped move along and ask questions and figure out what they wanted their story to be about. So we have some that is just like a day-to-day life of what they live. Another story is about how they found their new home provider and what their favorite interests are. We had another one who told us more about her childhood and what it was like being in an institute as far as now living in a home with her shared living provider who she has a very tight connection with. So then we put together notes and these artists took them back and started the process doing multiple different drafts and every single time I would give it to the person that we interviewed that had the cerebral palsy. They would approve it. Some people wanted to make it changed. It didn't look like they wanted it to. We worked very tightly back and forth and then we got the final product. You know, look at superhero type of thing. Yeah, some of them want to be seen as a superhero. Other people want to be drawn in their wheelchair and shown their day-to-day life. Yeah, it was a pretty cool, interesting experience. So these are not independent artists? Yes. Yes, and each person had their own. So no one artist did two stories on the same person. How long did the process take? The process, I think it was probably six months. I think we did the interviews in November and they had to have everything turned into us by April. And now we're just in the final touches of getting everything put together in the comic book published. Are you guys going to market the comic book? I honestly don't know the answer to that, that would be a Josh question. But I believe that we will have copies for sale here at the office and then from here we're moving forward even in the process of getting our second comic book going. The second book going that will be about direct support personnel. So we plan on doing multiple of all the different branches and categories and interests and things within the agency. Okay. Do the comic book artists also are they teaching art to the individuals with special needs? No, they did nothing with the art. So I sent back typed up notes and this is the first draft of one so she just wrote out page one with the different panels and then the second copy was Yeah, the second. The second. Yeah, I just wanted to kind of show you. So then the second draft was like bubble pictures. Very, very rough drawing art and then they kind of read the panel with the picture and then the next draft was more of a finalized and tell me a little bit about more of what you do here. So my role isn't really to do with the comics as much. I work at the front desk. I'm an administrative assistant. So that's how I got bodied up with doing this part of it. But I'm also a shared living provider coordinator meaning I help clients find new homes and I'm bringing new shared living providers for our clients. Yeah, so Janine does the opposite end of what I do. She finds the clients and I find the homes. How has been your experience working here? Well, I have a really fun job here. I get to work with our service coordination team quite a bit helping them ensure that their support plans are respectful, and centered, comply with regulations of course, but are really driven toward helping people achieve their goals. So I help them up. And those goals are? Well, that depends upon the individual. Explain. Explain? Sure. Well, we provide personalized services to people. We don't provide a one-size-fits-all package of supports here. So when people come to us, they come with various needs and various desires. So a big part of what we need to do is identify what it is that they want to achieve in their lives and then work with them to find methods, approaches, and strategies to help them achieve those goals. When you say one-size-fits-all, obviously, you know, for example, care packages, okay, why isn't it a one-size-fits-all package in this case in terms of disability? Well, you know, every person on this planet is unique and that's as true for people with disabilities, with different abilities as it is for anybody else. So a one-size-fits-all package doesn't work for the folks we serve any more than it would for anybody else. Explain to me. I'm really interested in the shared living provider program through GreenMiles Support Services. So explain a little bit more about that program within your agency. Sure. So, would you like me to start with what it is? Yeah. Sure. In your opinion, what is it? How does it work? Yeah. The ins and outs? Sure. So a frame of reference that's often helpful for people who haven't heard of it is the foster care model for children because most people have some familiarity with that when children, you know, can't live with their families for one reason or another. We seek to find an alternative family-style situation for them and help support them and keep them safe and meet their goals. So that's a starting point. By and large, however, we serve adults but we serve adults who, in many cases, need some additional supports to be able to live on their own or perhaps people who just can't live on their own due to the level of support that they need. So we use this community-based model called the shared living provider model and what we do is we seek to find a good match between each individual who comes to us for services and needs that level of support and people in the community, hopefully, of their choosing. You know, we used to institutionalize people with developmental disabilities. Rend and state school. Other institutions like Willowbrook and New York. That's right. So we've closed those and we're now trying to build lives that are more authentic, that are truly community-based. So today, you know, folks might have I think we think of our seniors, right? Because we still institutionalize some of our seniors in nursing homes. Yeah. With the exception, well, certain religious, like, Asian communities, Jewish communities, Spanish communities, or Latino communities, they try to keep their people at home versus nursing home. Yeah. Yeah, we can't generalize. The cultural background of the people we support is really important because it affects what they're accustomed to, what they expect, what they hope for, and what their families might be prepared to do to support them as well. Yeah, that's a great point. So the shared living provider model, you know, in essence, when somebody comes to us and they need some help, they can't live on their own, we seek to match them with someone. It could be an individual. It could be a couple. It could be a family. But someone who is a good match for them, family-wise, activity-level-wise, geography matters. People want to, in many cases, continue going to their church, synagogue, or mosque, or their hairdresser that they're familiar with, or their favorite cinema. So we seek to find matches for people that enable them to keep living lives independently. Like old movies, sir. Right. Right. You know, somebody who wants the hustle and bustle of city life doesn't want to be living out in the country. So these are the kinds of questions we ask, you know. Do you like animals? Are you afraid of dogs? We need to know these things in order to find that good match. And the good match, that's the magic sauce. That's where it's all at. Yeah. Do you eat kosher food, or that type of thing? Absolutely. Your opinion, what happens if a person is not a good match? Mm-hmm. Like, how long does it take to fire the match? Mm-hmm. Like, and what if it's an emergency that a person is about to be homeless? Mm-hmm. In your opinion, how does that work within all of it? Yeah. So it's tricky. We want to get the match right, and sometimes it can take longer than others to find that right match. We don't always get it right the first time. There are some emergency circumstances like the one you ask about where we don't have that right match ready. So we might try to go with a, I hesitate to call it, but a good enough for now match? What's the safest and best thing we can offer a person in the moment while we seek to build something better that more truly matches their needs? What do you mean, like a good for now match? Mm-hmm. So if we have an individual who's going to be homeless for one reason or another, who isn't going to have a place to stay the night after next, we may not be able to identify their dream home in 24 or 48 hours. So what we'll do is... Because living... Go ahead. As an example, state of Vermont, I know economic services during the winter. Mm-hmm. I know my wife and I experienced this at one time or another. They give you a motel for 28 days or a month to give you enough time to find a part. So that's my point. If the match is good enough for now, it's not... Because you don't want a person, especially a person with a special need, you don't want them in a situation where cold weather, snow... Of course not. They don't need to be outside. Right, right. So what do you do in that case? Right. So we have a network of shared living providers that we work with. We also have a network of employees. And we just... It's all hands on deck if we have an emergency circumstance like that with somebody who is extra vulnerable, who cannot... Who can't fend for him or herself and who needs some support. We would... We just dig down until we figure it out. Okay. Anything else, particularly... You want to talk about the shadow we provide? Anything that we've missed so far? No, I'd say, you know, they have a really special role in the Vermont Developmental Services structure, if you will. It's a wonderful opportunity for Vermonters to help support other Vermonters with disabilities. And it's a very enriching experience. And I think we need to do a better job as provider agencies of teaching our neighbors about those opportunities because we all benefit when we can grow that network of skilled shared living providers. Now, what makes the shared living providers different, especially in Vermont, versus a group home setting? Sure. So a group home setting is about the home and the structure and the system set up to operate a group home. The shared living provider model is really about people living real lives in their own home. And what we're asking folks to do is open up their doors and make space not just in their homes, but in their lives for a new person. You know, to integrate another person into their family life, not just sharing what they do and what they have, but also allowing the other person to share what they bring to the family dynamic as well. How long has the shared living provider model been in Vermont, or do you know that? You know, I can't give you a year for that, but I can tell you for sure that the closing of the Brandon Training School was a really pivotal time. In 1994? Yeah, and the development of the current adult services model for Vermont. Why was Blue Mountain Support Services nominated as the best place to work? You know, we were so proud of that because it was the employees that were nominated as the best places to work site. And then when we won, we felt really gratified. GMS has got an extraordinary benefits package. We think it's the best in the state of Vermont. And the workplace culture is really unique and quite special. We've got benefits such as unlimited paid time off for many of our staff. You think about that, that's extraordinary. You know, folks can accommodate family needs and extended trips like they're going to be in trouble at work. Or do you mean like taking extended vacations? Folks can, yeah. You know, we have someone who's getting married this fall and she's going to take an extended trip with her new husband and she can do that and she wouldn't have been able to do that in previous jobs and she's thrilled. But she's a great worker and she is just on top of everything and we're so happy to be able to support her that way. Speaking of which, you know, because they passed family leave act and all this other my question is like in the field of disabilities how can I put this, how can I put it in the best way? You can always edit it. But in the field of disabilities I know the same thing as being a chef. You don't necessarily have a set time off or set money to but let's say an employee in the field of disabilities maybe with your agency is pregnant. Does the package allow maternity leave and how does that work? Within the field not necessarily your agency but across the board people with disabilities. Because it is customer service and you have to be back to work. Yeah, well you know our agency has been like any other employer we honor all the laws and regulations around extended family leave and we certainly do that but we go above and beyond with some of our employees for example new moms or new grandmothers and it could extend to fathers and grandfathers as well just so far women are taking advantage of it. They can bring babies to work. I did that myself. Both my kids came to work with me and that was 15 years ago. Take your kid to work day? Yeah, we usually have one or two office babies the first year of life who are in the office pretty regularly and it's a really nice benefit for our employees because they don't have to worry about finding childcare which as we all know in Vermont is really hard to find high quality childcare. It's really hard to find high quality childcare and there's an affordability gap too. It's expensive so when we have new moms who know that they can bring their baby to work for that first year and they're supported to take care of that child takes a huge amount of stress off the employees and really fuels their productivity fuels their happiness fuels their affection for the agency which benefits all of us. Good. Okay. I am currently a service coordinator and I am running the flexible choices program. Explain more about the flexible choices program. Flexible choices program is a wonderful program. It allows people to stay in their home instead of going into a nursing home so basically people apply for the long term Medicaid which is choices for care and they get to choose what services they want. It could be laundry, cooking, respite, companionship doing errands for people employment. Yeah, it does basically everything. The only thing we're not offering right now is the nursing piece of it. What do you mean nursing piece? The nursing of coming in and doing skilled nursing like a nursing home would do or home health would do. We're not offering that service but it's really great the referrals have been coming in like crazy I actually just left. I went and met with community connections and sat down and told them about our programs and gave them our referral forms and the process and then I just went and met with St. Johnsbury Health Center where I actually used to work and went down and talked to them they actually had a couple of cases they wanted to review with me to see if that would be a good match for them. Yeah. How long have you been working here at Green Most? Almost on two months. Besides... OK. You've worked in nursing before? No, I am not a nurse I'm actually a clinical social worker I've worked various places before previous to this I worked in the health care I worked at primary care office I was a chronic care coordinator and we would coordinate services either mental health social aspects a lot of social determinants the ACEs screening them for things if they were lack of housing, food not just the medical piece. What makes the model choices for care and all the the living providers what makes that a better model than being just in a group home? It's individualized they get to choose what they want they get to have their own choices they get to have a say in their care instead of just being stuck somewhere and having to stay there they get to choose what they want and their goals and their quality of life which would be like the AFC program adult family care going into someone's home they have a say in that and they're part of the process of that flexible choices, same thing if they're eligible for flexible choices and there's the money's piece they get to choose what they want so whether like I said, whether it's laundry or someone mowing their lawn or someone just visiting with them for a few hours or taking them to doctor's appointments or bringing them to bingo they get to choose what they want and that's what's so wonderful about our programs is that it's individualized it's person centered Anything else you want to say? No Thanks Major sponsorship was given by Green Mountain Support Services Empowering neighbors with disability to be home in the community Also sponsorship was given by Washington County Mental Health Services where hope and support come together and Champlain Community Services of Vermont