Human Resources Update

Heather Bagshaw, Director of Human Resources, will be leaving LIFEDesigns on October 2nd to move with her husband to Florida – a move they have been looking forward to for quite some time. Heather and the entire HR Department have been instrumental in increasing the number of direct service staff working at LIFEDesigns. Amy Joslin, Associate Director of Human Resources, was offered and accepted the position of Director of Human Resources. Amy has worked continuously with LIFEDesigns (and Christole before that) for over twenty years. We wish Heather the best of luck going forward and offer our congratulations to Amy on her promotion!

Changes to our Community Intergration Services

The concept of providing services outside the home for our clients has been changing for many years. LIFEDesigns has worked to remain in the forefront of these changes, and we continue to make changes in order to support our mission to partner with and promote independence for people with disabilities. The first phase of change began when LECO changed to Community Integration Services (CIS) shortly before the impact of COVID-19 was known. The second phase was to continue moving toward more individualized community activities with clients. Once the extent of the pandemic was known, the CIS program was suspended and CIS staff went to work in residential settings.

It has now been five months since CIS was suspended, and there is no end of the danger from COVID-19 in sight. Some facility-based day programs have reopened by invitation only. But our programs have not been facility-based and moving to such a program would be not only a step backwards but a move toward programming that does not help clients become active and involved members of their community. As a result we have made the difficult decision to discontinue offering scheduled day services. We will work with clients, guardians, and service teams to find ways to give clients time out of the home in a safe manner which likely means one staff member with one client in most cases. Moving to this model will take time since for many clients it will involve changes in their PC-ISP as well as budgets. Our Services staff will work closely with teams to promote this individualized service that truly helps clients explore their likes, expand their interests, and increase their community engagement and quality of life. 

August 2020 Newsletter

It has been a busy summer for LIFEDesigns! Since the pandemic began, we have been adjusting to our new ‘normal’ regarding events, client activities and overall day-to-day tasks for our administrative staff.

From fundraising to planning future events and more, we have been making sure to stick to our mission, despite this abnormal summer. To see what we’ve been up to, check out our August 2020 Newsletter!