May 28, 2025 In The Know Education Series: Self-Care Isn't Selfish!

This In The Know session explores the importance of self-care—especially for those who support and care for others. You will also be guided through the Emotional Wellness Toolkit from the National Institutes of Health, with practical tools to support emotional well-being in daily life. Watch the full session to learn how small, mindful steps can make a big difference.

PRESENTED BY: Karleen M. Haines, MPS (Chief of Advocacy & Member Engagement)

April 9, 2025 In The Know Education Series: The Importance of Financial Wellness

In this virtual session, we chat about how self-advocates and others can stay on top of their finances all year long. Our guest speaker shares practical budgeting tips—like how to plan ahead, save for the future, or even set aside money for a well-deserved vacation. We also cover helpful tax advice and ways to protect your financial privacy.

PRESENTED BY: Jamie Junior, Executive Director of EmpowerYOU Financial Solutions, Certified Financial Coach and Self-advocate

March 19, 2025 In The Know Education Series: Tips to Stay Safe: Personal Privacy on the Internet

Learn about simple ways to protect your personal privacy when using the internet or talking on the phone.

PRESENTED BY: Jessica Campbell, Self-Advocate and Michelle Rudoff, Self-Advocate

February 19, 2025 In The Know Education Series: Winter Wellness

Learn all about the ways you can be proactive and practice self-care during this cold season!

PRESENTED BY: Stephanie Hodelin, MSW, MCLC, Guardianship/Advocate with AHRC Nassau 

October 21, 2024 In The Know Education Series: Travel Training 101

In this webinar, you will hear an in-depth overview of a structured travel training program tailored for individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities ages 14 and up. Our guest speaker will guide attendees through the essential stages of training, focusing on how to develop critical skills for independent travel.

You’ll also learn about the comprehensive services YAI offers to empower individuals in navigating New York City and beyond with confidence. Whether you’re a parent, caregiver, or advocate, this session is a valuable opportunity to gain insights and tools to support independent travel for people with IDD.

PRESENTED BY: Stephanie Rozanski from YAI

October 16, 2024 In The Know Education Series: Staying Healthy This Fall

In this webinar, you will hear from nurses and leaders on our Healthcare Management team about how to stay healthy during the upcoming fall season. Topics will include the prevention of colds, COVID, RSV, and flu; vaccines, mask-wearing, and maintaining a safe environment. Along with treatment and updated news from sources such as the CDC.

PRESENTED BY: Brittany Miske, Vice President of Healthcare Management and Clinical Support; Carrie Delong, Director of Health Care Management

September 26, 2024 Member & Family Update: Online Meeting

In this webinar, we dive into the ins and outs of the Coordinated Assessment System (CAS) and OPWDD Assessments, ensuring members are up to speed with all the latest updates. Plus, our HealthCare Management Team shares crucial tips to keep you and your loved ones healthy this fall—covering everything from colds to COVID, RSV, and flu. 

PRESENTED BY: CDNY Care Management Team

September 18, 2024  In The Know Education Series: Voting 101 — Exercise Your Right!

In this webinar, we've gathered self-advocate guest speakers who share basic information on why it's important to vote, how to register, how to vote with an early ballot, and what to expect on Election Day. 

"We believe that every person should be supported to register to vote and exercise their rights as a Citizen if they choose to do so. It is important for people to be educated and exposed to this right and what this right means. When people are registered to vote they have the option to choose the candidate that supports their individual beliefs and causes."

PRESENTED BY: Danielle Mazza, AVP of Care Management for Upstate NY; Self-Advocates from the IDD Community

Connect

Celebrating Disability Employment

Care Design NY members share their stories describing the diverse experiences of people with disabilities and the employers that are benefiting from the dedication these talented individuals bring to their professional roles.

Meet Julia! Julia has her own baking business and donates a portion of her proceeds to charity.  

Care Design NY member Julia became interested in baking at a young age and now has her own baking business, Hello Julia!  According to her Care Manager, "Julia's cookies are amazing and she makes all kinds, especially gluten-free, vegan cookies."

VISIT JULIA'S WEBSITE to learn more about Julia's story and business, her desire to "bake us happy," and how she continues to give back to the community. 

Meet Chun! Chun has been employed for 20 years and loves that her job gives her a sense of independence. 

Care Design NY member Chun began working at Phoenix Rehabilitation and Nursing Center (formerly known as Greenpoint Nursing Home) 20 years ago. Chun started employment through the Lifespire Community Based Employment Program at the nursing home. While there, Chun became so proficient at her job that she was offered a full-time position in 2016. She currently works in the dietary office where she performs administrative duties including answering phones and filling out menu cards for the patients.

Chun continues to make tremendous strides professionally and has worked through various challenges related to anxiety and communication, with support from her Care Design NY Care Manager, Debra, and her job coach. Debra is Chun's conduit for communication between her advocates, job coach, and supervisors, to ensure that she receives the support she needs to foster independence and to be successful in the workplace. Having a circle of support has made a difference for Chun and has helped her to maintain successful and meaningful employment. She regularly receives praise from her supervisors for doing a good job and loves that her employment has given her a sense of independence. Chun's motto is to always do the best that you can.

Meet Vivian, a Care Design NY member.  Here's what she has to say about her employment success. 

"I love working at Target as a Cashier.  For 17 years, I’ve enjoyed interacting with the Target customers.  It gives me a sense of purpose and I’m proud to have been with them for this long. My philosophy is that every person with a disability should be able to work for any company they want to work for!  It’s also important that I earn money to support my cats.  They depend upon me and having a paycheck allows me to pay my bills.  My advice in looking for employment is, it should be something you want to do  and interests you."

Meet Robert! Robert’s employment success story is rooted in sheer determination and hard work!  He has risen above difficult circumstances and disabilities to achieve a new home, a new job, and a life to live that he is very proud to call his own.  

Robert joined the paid workforce ranks this year thanks to the hard work in the past 5 years to improve himself in every way. His self-improvement path included day habilitation and volunteering to develop skills and experience working for and with other people. This all happened  while he and his mother were often without resources including being homeless.

It was at this low point that Robert asked for assistance through OPWDD to secure residential habilitation to keep him safe.  He took this courageous step forward without a parent or guardian by his side. For 5 years, he has maintained this supportive housing through Wildwood Programs which helped to increase his self-confidence.  It was the stability of a home and people surrounding him with encouragement, that propelled him to the next phase of learning new skills and becoming more independent and self-sufficient.

Through the Wildwood pre-Vocational Program, he has advanced to the SEMP program where he was recently hired by Burlington Coat Factory. Robert loves his job and feels very confident that this new opportunity will provide him with career growth. His goal in sharing his journey and employment success story is to inspire others who may feel that life is just too hard and advancement not obtainable. His inspiring words are,
“no matter what challenges you face in life, you can succeed if you just believe in yourself.”

Meet Bob! Bob has been employed for over 27 years as a groundskeeper for Samaritan Hospital.

Bob began his career at the hospital as a volunteer at the age of 14. He has performed every grounds-keeping responsibility for the hospital providing opportunities over the years to learn and do more. Today, Bob drives all the hospital’s major machinery used to maintain the grounds and landscape.

His stellar work has been noticed by everyone and in December 2019, he achieved “Employee of the Month” with a featured story on his award in the Samaritan Hospital newsletter.  This also gave him an n assigned parking spot for the month!  In a recent visit with the hospital’s cardiologist, he told Bob that he and all of the employees feel he is one of the hardest working people at Samaritan and an inspiration to all.

Meet Vincent! Vincent's father, Bin Feng, shares how the pandemic effected Vincent and how important it was to him to resume his employment at the Hudson River Services, a company owned by AHRC and contracted by the FDNY EMS Academy.

My son, Vincent, had a crisis last year. Thanks to a good team, including the Care Design NY Care Management team, Vincent was able to resume his employment at the Hudson River Services, a company owned by AHRC.  They were contracted to provide janitorial services to the FDNY EMS Academy and Vincent loved going to work and being on that campus. He was very disappointed to have to stop working for almost three months when the pandemic struck and voluntarily quarantined in our home, like millions of other Americans.  

Vincent’s work ethic is extraordinary, and he kept asking us when he could go back to work. After almost three months, we felt that Vincent could go back to work even though New York City was not fully reopened. We were confident that his employer was taking all the extra precautions to keep employees safe.

Before heading back into the field, Vincent had to overcome some of his sensory issues, like wearing a mask and gloves for long periods of time and modifying his once rigid schedule to adjust to new procedures in the workplace. He was fully aware of the danger of the pandemic but was willing to make any necessary adjustments to get back to his job. A big challenge he faced in returning to employment was wearing a mask and gloves throughout his shift. The essential Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) makes him very uncomfortable due to his sensory issues. But Vincent took the safety requirements very seriously and practiced wearing a mask and gloves at home for one week prior to returning to work. Each day he increased his practice time of wearing the PPE from a half hour to up to five hours, just like he would do during his work shift. He also needed to change his routines, like not taking the bus, skipping dinner while at work, drinking bottled water instead of tap water, and so on. Thankfully, Vincent was able to overcome difficulties that some people on the autism spectrum often encounter - sensory sensitivity and rigid routines. His motivation to be back doing what he loved empowered him to conquer these obstacles! 

On his first day back to work, we came upon a ceremony for a recently retired 30-year FDNY employee, who had been there for over thirty years! I asked Vincent if he wanted to take a picture in front of the firetruck parked in front of the ceremony and of course he was glad to do so. I think we both hoped that one day we could be back in the same place together celebrating his retirement after 30 years of service at a career he loves. That would be a dream come true for both of us!    

Since he began working, I can see Vincent’s confidence grow leaps and bounds. I believe he has realized that one day he could support himself, have a meaningful career and live on his own. He started by working 15 hours per week, but one month later, his manager gave him more hours because they saw his desire to learn. Now, he goes to work every day with a smile on his face. I am so proud of my son and how far he has come.  

For Vincent and our family, this pandemic does impact our lives in many ways, but it could not stop us from pursuing our dreams. Vincent may not be able to verbally give career advice for fellow young men and women on the spectrum, but his actions and persistence speak out for him. If you can protect yourself, we all can overcome this pandemic together. However different the world may look right now, Vincent's actions tell us to not let the pandemic stop you from doing what you love and from following your dreams!

DD Provider

Frequently Asked Questions

Most incidents reported by CDNY are called "625 Events/Situations." These include incidents that occur outside of provider agencies, such as:

• At an individual's private home
• In the community when the individual is alone or with family/friends
• Involving staff from agencies other than OPWDD
• Involving family, friends, employers, or co-workers
• Neglect in a private home (excluding family care homes)
• Police involvement or a crime
• Injuries requiring more than basic first aid
• Death of an individual in a community setting (non-residential) 

When an event/situation occurs, the care manager must ensure immediate protections are put in place, such as:

• Referring to Adult/Child Protective Services
• Involving counseling services, law enforcement, schools, or family members • Assessing and monitoring the individual
• Educating the individual about choices/options
• Interviewing those involved
• Reviewing documents
• Making referrals 

The care manager will follow up to ensure protections remain in place and referrals are completed. You can request a copy of CDNY's full Incident Management Policy from your care manager. 

Important Phone Numbers:

NYS Justice Center: 1-855-373-2122

CDNY Incident Management Hotline: 518-912-4007

OPWDD Incident Management Unit: 518-473-7032