News
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Click here for the full pdf of this online newsletter.
Here are highlights from Spring 2023 edition of The Clipboard, the newsletter of the MDS community!
- Message from the Executive Director
- Service Awards
- Family Council Update and Picnic Information
- DSP and Home Provider of the Year Nomination Form
- Articles from the MDS Community
- Self- Advocacy Update
PS: Have you "liked" the MDS Facebook page? Do it now and keep up with news, ideas and information for our community.
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Join us for hybrid sessions to learn more information and ask questions about the DD Systems Work.
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October is Disability Employment Awareness month. We celebrate the contributions of America’s workers with disabilities and also recognize supportive, inclusive employment policies and practices, especially those here in the Monadnock region.
Each year, NH businesses are nominated for the Employment Leadership Award for their inclusive hiring practices. This year Cheshire Medical Center, JOANN, Keene Beauty Academy, Moore Nanotech, Multi Med, and Touchstone Farm were all nominated for this award. We applaud their efforts to build inclusive workplaces. These businesses have created opportunities that assist people with disabilities to develop the skills they need to obtain competitive employment, have adopted inclusive hiring practices that allow people with disabilities to fairly compete for employment, and engage community partners to become a more diverse workplace.
NH’s disability employment rate hovers around 25% -- here in the Monadnock Region our disability employment rate is 33%, with 145 people working an average of 14.4 hours per week, earning an hourly average wage of $10.14.* MDS and its partners are committed to closing this employment gap so that individuals with developmental disabilities who want to work are able to do so.
The NH Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) and the Institute on Disability (IOD) provide quarterly reports on disability employment data. You can access these reports online at the DHHS website: https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/programs-services/disability-care/employment-individuals-disabilities.
*(Data from DHHS Employment Data report, 12/31/2021)
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Rachel Moses of Keene has been named New Hampshire’s Home Provider of the Year by the New Hampshire Council on Developmental Disabilities, as part of Direct Support Professional (DSP) Appreciation during the month of September. Rachel was nominated by local service provider Residential Resources Inc., and joins a group of six Monadnock area Home Providers and DSPs who have received this statewide award.
Each year, the NH Council’s DSP Conference Committee selects a Direct Support Professional (DSP) and a Home Provider from the many statewide nominations they receive. These awards recognize caregivers who have shown outstanding service in supporting the people with whom they work on a daily basis.
Rachel Moses and her husband, Peter, opened their homes to an individual with developmental disabilities more than a decade ago, bringing her in as part of their family. In recent years, the individual has had some major health issues, resulting in her having to stay in a nursing home for rehabilitation. During this time, Rachel stepped right up to continue with care and advocacy to see this woman through cancer, blood transfusions, and procedures. Rachel has taken her to several appointments weekly, helped her adjust to new medications and protocols, and helping her go through surgeries. Never missing a beat, she always brings in her favorite food, Dunkin coffee and a donut. Rachel has worked hard to make sure that all of the individual’s needs are being met while in nursing home care.
“Rachel Moses so deserves to be recognized for the outstanding care she gives,” says Vikki White, Program Manager at Residential Resources, a provider agency working with Monadnock Developmental Services. “There is just no one else like her. She is top notch in my book, for the fun she creates and the love that she shows to her individual. Rachel never gives up, and is always sharing a smile with everyone around her!”
The individual herself says: "I love Rachel and Peter, they are my family and I want to be with them forever.”
MDS sends out its deepest thanks to the hundreds of Direct Support Professionals and Home Providers in the Monadnock Region, who are the closest to the front line, after families, in supporting people with disabilities. These caregiving heroes make a difference each and every day in the lives of those with developmental disabilities, providing long-term care and support.
If you or someone you know would like to enhance the lives of others while enriching your own, MDS is looking for compassionate, caring people for full and part-time work. Call 603-352-1304 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
