erik

Erik Nielsen Returns to Support as Associate Director of the Denver Metro 1 Team

Please join us in welcoming back Erik Nielsen:

It’s great to be back! I have re-joined the Support, Inc family as of August 17th after completing active duty service time with my Army Reserve unit this past year. It’s been my pleasure to reconnect with co-workers, providers, and clients over these past several days.

I’m excited to take on a new role within the company, now overseeing things for the Denver Metro 1 Residential Team. I will do my best to continue to provide the best service possible to the people we serve. Looking forward to talking with you soon!

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LIFE Club Events This Week!

Tuesday, September 15

Pop Culture Group: Cartoons and Animation

When:  Tuesday, September 15 from 10:00am-11:00am

What:  Pop Culture Group is an opportunity for clients to come together and connect over their common interests and explore new ideas at the same time. Come explore different styles of cartoons, animation, and comedy through illustrated art. We will learn, laugh, and watch in this upcoming session focused on cartoons and animation. This one is for the tv lovers! Pop Culture Group is open to all.

Instructions:  In order to participate, please follow https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83324855770 at 10:00am to participate. Everyone is welcome! Contact meredith.kane@supportinc.com for any questions. All are welcome!

LIFE Club:  Game Night

When:  Tuesday, September 15 from 5:00pm-6:00pm

What: Join us for an evening of friendship, discussion, and learning! These interactive groups will focus on developing skills and confidence for social situations in a way that is fun and informative! It’s time for another game night. Join us as we learn some new virtual games and discuss what some of our favorite games have been. Let’s get to know each other virtually! LIFE Club is open to all.

Instructions:  In order to participate, please follow https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88541386228 at 5:00pm to participate. Contact christopher.sharkey@supportinc.com or gwen.bonilla@supportinc.com for any questions. Everyone is welcome!

Wednesday, September 16

Moving and Grooving:  Strength

When:  Wednesday, September 16 from 12:00pm-1:00pm

What:  We will join together to discuss life’s stressors while improving the physical health of our bodies to create a healthy lifestyle by learning helpful social and exercise habits. Thisgroupwill incorporate a different movement activity every session. This week is all about strength. What makes you strong? We will discuss different types of strengths and how it relates to both our inner and outer selves. This is a great opportunity to be active during a virtual time. Adaptable for all abilities! Moving and Grooving is open to all.

Instructions:  In order to participate, please follow https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85277454478  at 12:00pm to participate. Everyone is welcome! Contact ashley.treiber@supportinc.com or meredith.kane@supportinc.com for any questions.

Thursday, September 17

Touching Stories

When:  Thursday, September 17 from 11:00am-12:00pm

What: Touching Stories is a unique therapy model, specifically designed for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, that pairs the social and emotional learning of story with sensory integration activities in a way that is educational, engaging, and simply, a lot of fun! We have adapted our Touching Stories for at home use. Gwen and Meredith will first lead participants in a scavenger hunt for the sensory items needed for the stories (all items are common items found in every home) and then will tell the sensory-based stories to the group. Please see the attached list for scavenger hunt items. If you are curious to learn more, please watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcjzvevJ9_w&t=67s. Touching Stories is open to all.

Instructions:  In order to participate, please follow https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86143640216 at 11:00am to participate. Everyone is welcome! Contact gwen.bonilla@supportinc.com or meredith.kane@supportinc.com for any questions. Everyone is welcome!

Moving and Grooving:  Adaptive Yoga

When:  Thursday, September 17 from 12:45pm-1:45pm

What:  We will join together to discuss life’s stressors while improving the physical health of our bodies to create a healthy lifestyle by learning helpful social and exercise habits. Thisgroupwill incorporate a different movement activity every session. Let’s slow down and take a day to get back to basics. We will stretch and focus on our inner strength by using adaptive yoga techniques. This is a great opportunity to be active during a virtual time. Adaptable for all abilities! Moving and Grooving is open to all.

Instructions:  In order to participate, please follow https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83907174169 at 12:00pm to participate. Everyone is welcome! Contact ashley.treiber@supportinc.com for any questions.

Friday, September 18

Pop Culture Group: Show and Tell

When:  Friday, September 18 from 12:00pm-1:00pm

What:  Pop Culture Group is an opportunity for clients to come together and connect over their common interests and explore new ideas at the same time. Join us as we explore the exciting genre of mystery. We will learn, watch and solve in this upcoming session focused on mysteries and unexplained phenomenon. The game is afoot! This week we will “get a clue” about what makes mysteries work. This is what we have all been waiting for! Bring your talents, enthusiasm, and support for our friends as we show off our talents and talk about our favorite hobbies. Make sure to invite everyone in your house to show off your new skills in performance! Pop Culture Group is open to all.

Instructions:  In order to participate, please follow https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83324855770 at 12:00pm to participate. Everyone is welcome! Contact meredith.kane@supportinc.com for any questions. All are welcome!

Items Needed For Thursday, September 17

We’ll do two stories:

Scavenger Hunt for Little Red Hen!

Find the following items:
1.3 pennies
2. A squishy pillow (with a pillowcase)
3. A rolling pin (If you don’t have that, a can or a bottle will do!)
4. A water glass
5. A spoon
6. A piece of bread

You should be sitting at a hard, flat surface for this story

Writing Our Own Story!

*Let’s work together and create our own story for Touching Stories. The only thing you need to bring is yourself.

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DSP Home Visits

We continue to exercise caution when deploying DSPs to community settings, and by this point, many sessions are being enjoyed in client homes.

The 4 goals we have for these sessions (aside from person-specific goals) include the following:
1. Mitigating Boredom
2. Getting Enough Physical Activity
3. Maintaining Social Connections
4. Meeting Physical/Tangible Needs

With this, we have our guidelines for DSP visits. For further questions, please contact Meghan at Meghan.steineker@supportinc.com

2019-coronavirus (1)

COVID-19 Agency Updates

March 26, 2020

To All Support, Inc. Staff, Families, and Providers:

By now you have heard that the entire state is now under a “stay at home” order as an additional measure to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 across the state.  This means that individuals are required to stay home, except when completing essential tasks.  To clarify, our operations are considered essential tasks and services, and we will continue to operate under the modified arrangement that we have for the last several weeks.  To summarize, this has included:

  • Most administrative staff are working remotely and limiting contact with others
  • Day and community oriented services being provided in significantly smaller groups or one on one both in the home and safely in the community, targeted towards individuals who need this critical service to ensure stability in the home and to support families and/or providers
  • Conducting operations via remote technology when possible, such as home visits, clinical sessions, administrative meetings, and check ins

We will continue these practices for the foreseeable future and constantly seek creativity in service delivery.  As always throughout this time, our aim is to operate fully to support everyone around the organization as best we can given the circumstances, using creative methods developed by our staff and precautionary practices outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Should you have difficulty navigating the community under this order when working with our individuals in care, or traveling to and from locations, a letter has been circulated that you can use to show that you are providing essential services.  If you have not received this via email, please contact Idania Ochoa, Human Resources Manager at idania.ochoa@supportinc.com or 303.340.0322 to get a copy.

I have been impressed with everyone’s commitment despite the challenges we all face.  I cannot express the gratitude I have for each of you during this time of need to support each other and the individuals in our care.

Regards,

Bentley Smith

Chief Executive Officer

Important Links:

Link to State of Colorado Stay at Home Order

Link to COVID-19 Information by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Link to the Support, Inc. Website News Feed, Including our Facebook Page