Our program model utilizes a Person Centered Approach and includes structured activities and interventions that provide instruction and support in 5 key areas. These include accommodating changes in physical functioning, cognitive ability, Executive Functioning areas, behavior and emotion regulation, and language and communication development. A high degree of structure exampled by scheduling, routine and visual and auditory adaptations is combined with a commitment to individualization, community inclusion and skill acquisition to provide participants the opportunity to achieve the highest degree of independence and growth possible.
ABI
Our program model utilizes a Person Centered Approach and includes structured activities and interventions that provide instruction and support in 5 key areas. These include accommodating changes in physical functioning, cognitive ability, Executive Functioning areas, behavior and emotion regulation, and language and communication development. A high degree of structure exampled by scheduling, routine and visual and auditory adaptations is combined with a commitment to individualization, community inclusion and skill acquisition to provide participants the opportunity to achieve the highest degree of independence and growth possible.
The program model provides intensive, community and site-based services in a number of critical areas.
- Social Skill Training
- Personal Care
- Leisure Time Exposure & Development
- Behavior Programming and Anger Management
- Emotion Regulation Techniques
- Community Integration & Inclusion
- Physical Exercise & Mobility Training
- Pre-vocational Skill Development
For more information, please contact
Monica Albach, Director of Operations Newburyport
978-462-6144 x 229
The Day Habilitation program is designed to provide a series of planned, coordinated, goal oriented services that include training in self-care, self-preservation, receptive and expressive communication, self-direction, community skills, activities of daily living, hygiene, grooming and recreation and leisure.
Clinical supports services offered through this program design include Health Services, Occupational and Physical Therapy, Speech and Language services and behavioral consultation.
Each participant has a support plan developed by staff, clinicians, family and guardians that is tailored to meet the individual needs of each member.
Day Habilitation
The Day Habilitation program is designed to provide a series of planned, coordinated, goal oriented services that include training in self-care, self-preservation, receptive and expressive communication, self-direction, community skills, activities of daily living, hygiene, grooming and recreation and leisure.
Clinical supports services offered through this program design include Health Services, Occupational and Physical Therapy, Speech and Language services and behavioral consultation.
Each participant has a support plan developed by staff, clinicians, family and guardians that is tailored to meet the individual needs of each member.
Therapeutic services and functional skills development training are provided while individuals participate in a wide selection of enriching activities that include some of the following:
- Gardening
- Swimming and Exercise
- Sensory
- Nutrition
- Arts and Crafts
- Self-advocacy and Human Rights
- Current Events
- Volunteering
- Community
- OpArt
Individuals must have Mass Health to be eligible to participate in this program.
For more information, please contact
Melissa Merrow, Director of Operations Haverhill
978-374-5281 x 113
This program meets one weekend per month and provides fuller life experiences that encourage companionship within an integrated setting. Each participant is expected to pay an annual fee to participate in the program, in addition to the extra costs associated with program activities. Activities include movies,
The Explorers Club
This program meets one weekend per month and provides fuller life experiences that encourage companionship within an integrated setting. Each participant is expected to pay an annual fee to participate in the program, in addition to the extra costs associated with program activities. Activities include movies, boat excursions, sporting events, sightseeing trips, tours of local festivals, amusement parks, etc.
For more information please contact
Suzanne Roberts, Explorers Program Manager
1-978-462-6144, x223
The purpose of this program is to get people working! Opportunity Works provides employment supports to individuals who express a desire to explore and to obtain jobs within their community. The agency provides vocational assessment, career exploration, on-the-job training, job placement, follow-up, and supervision.
Employment Services
The purpose of this program is to get people working! Opportunity Works provides employment supports to individuals who express a desire to explore and to obtain jobs within their community. The agency provides vocational assessment, career exploration, on-the-job training, job placement, follow-up, and supervision.
- The agency assists individuals to secure full or part-time competitive employment within their community. The overall goal is to develop, maintain, and/or improve job skills, including career planning and advancement.
- Once job placement is achieved, an Employment Specialist provides periodic assistance, training, and support if needed.
- Individuals are generally paid by the employer, but may be paid by Opportunity Works in some circumstances.
- Group Supported Employment: In this enclave setting, an Employment Specialist provides on-site job training and supervision to a small group of individuals who are employed at a business in their community.
“Glen is Market Basket’s greatest asset. Whether he’s bagging groceries or assisting a customer to their car with a carriage full, he always sports a big smile and has an infectious laugh. Besides being a hard worker for the past 6 years, the consumers look forward to going through the line at the cash register when Glen is scheduled.”- Market Basket of Rowley
The Community Based Day Supports Program is a model designed for those people who desire services in addition to work. This program encourages self-determination by empowering participants to select activities that are personally meaningful to them. Individuals select from a broad range of daily activities that take place in a variety of community settings such as museums, parks, farms, theaters, fitness clubs, salons and local volunteer groups. Individuals participate in other activities such as nutrition and cooking, computers, current events, fire safety, and human rights groups.
Community Based Day Supports
The Community Based Day Supports Program is a model designed for those people who desire services in addition to work. This program encourages self-determination by empowering participants to select activities that are personally meaningful to them. Individuals select from a broad range of daily activities that take place in a variety of community settings such as museums, parks, farms, theaters, fitness clubs, salons and local volunteer groups. Individuals participate in other activities such as nutrition and cooking, computers, current events, fire safety, and human rights groups.
Some of the activities include:
- Swimming
- Volunteering
- Gardening
- OpArt
- Communication
- Technology
- Work
- Cooking/Nutrition
- Various Community Experiences
For more information, please contact
Melissa Merrow, Director of Operations Haverhill
[email protected]
978 372-5281 x 113
To provide further services to those who complete Project SEARCH, as well as other applicants, we now offer a new Community Based Day Service (CBDS) called Community Works. Instead of beginning and ending their day at the agency location, team members spend their entire day in the community and at volunteer sites. By participating in these activities, they develop skills that they have previously identified they would like to either improve on or acquire, with the long term goal of obtaining meaningful employment.
*New* CBDS Program: Community Works
To provide further services to those who complete Project SEARCH, as well as other applicants, we now offer a new Community Based Day Service (CBDS) called Community Works. Instead of beginning and ending their day at the agency location, team members spend their entire day in the community and at volunteer sites. By participating in these activities, they develop skills that they have previously identified they would like to either improve on or acquire, with the long term goal of obtaining meaningful employment.
Community Works is an Opportunity Works Community Based Day Supports (CBDS) program without walls that supports and empowers people with intellectual disabilities, developmental disabilities and those who are on the autism spectrum. The program is aimed at supporting people to acquire and refine work and life skills with a focus on functional learning, community access and inclusion, relationships, meaningful community contributions, and work exploration. Unlike the traditional CBDS model where individuals begin and end their day at the agency facility, participants will spend their entire day in the community. Staff will pick people up at their homes in the morning and transport them back to their homes at the end of the day.
There will be an ongoing focus of spending time on a regular basis in/near each participant’s home community through volunteering, job exploration, and community activities. Being a contributing community member fosters relationships; social skills and personal empowerment which are important to help participants successfully obtain and maintain meaningful employment. We will identify skills that can be worked on at volunteer sites and ensure that each participant is working in a way that helps them develop skills that they have previously identified they would like to either acquire or improve upon.
Upon entering the program, team members will complete a Positive Personality Profile which identifies a participant’s personal preferences, likes, dislikes, interests, talents, learning styles, values, positive personality traits, environmental preferences, work experiences, support system, specific challenges and needed accommodations. This profile will help identify appropriate volunteer and job exploration sites, supports needed at those sites, and help identify future work possibilities. These profiles will be updated on a regular basis to accommodate changing interests and experiences.
We are creating an environment where participants will fully participate in guiding their day-to-day activities including:
- Working with staff to develop their daily/weekly schedules.
- Being engaged in continuous dialogue regarding potential activities that can assist participants in meeting their goals.
- Being provided a range of choices and guidance to make informed decisions.
- Encouraging and supporting participants to be involved in collecting and recording their own data related to goals
Participants will utilize generic community resources such as the Valleyworks One Stop Career Service Center, and other career centers in/near their home communities, to access job readiness classes, build resumes, identify possible work interests and find paid employment. Participants will also visit a range of workplaces in the community to learn more about and identify future job possibilities.
Participants will also learn about transportation possibilities in their communities to identify the available options to meet their needs. Community works plans to use public transportation on a variety of community outings to lay the groundwork for individualized travel training for each participant depending on the types of public transportation available in their city or town.
Chelmsford Senior Center – Lazarus House- Watch the Wild – Meals on Wheels
YMCA -HC Media – Cradles to Crayons – Cards for Hospitalized Children
Homefront Hugs – Merrimac Heights Academy – Feline Rescue Society
Project SEARCH is a business-led internship program that prepares people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to secure integrated, competitive employment. Project SEARCH has grown from a single program site in 1996 at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to over 300 sites internationally.
Opportunity Works introduced Project SEARCH to NECC in 2014. As our partnership has strengthened, our internships have grown from working with 10 departments to over 30. Opportunity Works is an agency that is fully committed to enhancing life for people with disabilities by promoting a culture of dignity and respect and ensuring individualized services that maximize the independence of the people they serve.
Project Search
Project SEARCH is a business-led internship program that prepares people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to secure integrated, competitive employment. Project SEARCH has grown from a single program site in 1996 at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to over 300 sites internationally.
Opportunity Works introduced Project SEARCH to NECC in 2014. As our partnership has strengthened, our internships have grown from working with 10 departments to over 30. Opportunity Works is an agency that is fully committed to enhancing life for people with disabilities by promoting a culture of dignity and respect and ensuring individualized services that maximize the independence of the people they serve.
Project SEARCH interns receive the opportunity to acquire competitive, transferable, and marketable job skills that can lead to paid employment while giving NECC access to a well-trained talent base, as well as an enriched business culture
Program Details
Project SEARCH Opportunity Works takes place on the campus of Northern Essex Community College over a 9-month period. Participants begin and end each day with work readiness classes covering topics like job interviews, résumé writing, teamwork, professionalism, and technology in the workplace. In between the classroom learning, students spend their time interning in different Northern Essex departments. Over the course of the school year, students intern for three months in each of three different departments
OpArt is a visual arts program where artists with developmental disabilities create, exhibit, and sell art. The program is a collaboration with the Newburyport Art Association. Our creative art program provides artists with instruction in the media of their choice. OpArt artists explore printmaking, painting with acrylics or watercolors, drawing, working with pastels, sculptures, ceramics, fabric art, jewelry and more.
OpArt
OpArt is a visual arts program where artists with developmental disabilities create, exhibit, and sell art. The program is a collaboration with the Newburyport Art Association.
Our creative art program provides artists with instruction in the media of their choice. OpArt artists explore printmaking, painting with acrylics or watercolors, drawing, working with pastels, sculptures, ceramics, fabric art, jewelry and more.
OpArt professionally exhibits and markets artwork created by artists in local businesses, gallery’s and organizations.
Opportunity Works collaborates with the Newburyport Art Association to offer the “OpArt” Program which encourages and trains people with disabilities to fulfill their life’s ambitions and interests through the creative process associated with the visual arts.
For more information, please contact
Monica Albach, Director of Operations Newburyport
978-462-6144 x 229