Pat Sheely, President of the Board of United Cerebral Palsy of Berkshire County, came into the UCP office with Jamie, her service dog. UCP works to give people with disabilities independence, she said, to give them full accessibility. By full accessibility, she means the ability to participate wholly in a community — to be able to use the phone, to enter a building. And accessibility deals with more subtle pressures, like the stresses on a family with a disabled child, the things the child has to have help with.
“If you look at ‘access,’ it sounds like a simple getting into something. In fact, it’s a broad spectrum,†she said.
Jamie, service dog trained by the NEADS program, has been with Sheely two months, since her last dog retired. Jamie picks up things, opens doors, turns on lights, fetches things, reaches for things on high counters or table tops — and most importantly, Sheely said, she is a companion.
UCP fills very important gaps in the services many agencies provide, Sheely said. She has been impressed: the Berkshire agency is very small compared to many around the country, but it has won a lot of clout. As president, Sheely has watched the Berkshire UCP come into the 21st century. “They fully understand all that having a disability entails,†she said.
In January, UCP will be running its 39th telethon and fund drive. The money raised in the annual drive benefits UCP’s direct services, Executive Director Christine Singer said. It underwrites staff salaries and covers anything with individual and family support: camperships, wheelchair repair, medication, advocacy . . . The telethon will broadcast live, Jan. 20, from two locations: Crowne Plaza Hotel in Pittsfield from 2-6 p.m. and Northern Berkshire Television corporation in North Adams from 2-6 p.m. It will appear on Adelphia Cable, Channel 11, broadcast by students from Monument Mountain High School at the CTSB television station in Lee, 2-6 p.m. And it will run on Adelphia Cable Channel 15 in North County, 2-6 p.m. Singer said ElectroStor is sponsoring the event this year with a $5000 donation.
Laurel Slongwhite, an Advocate at UCP, works with Brenda Garcia, Director of Children, Adult and Family Services. Slongwhite explained that cerebral palsy is an umbrella term for a range of disabilities that are caused when the voluntary control center in the brain is injured.Cerebral palsy refers to brain injuries suffered before the age of 5, including during pregnancy and birth.
UCP has worked in Pittsfield for 40 years. The organization began with a group of parents whose children had cerebral palsy. Singer said since then, the organization has spread to assist all disabilities. “We don’t have all the answers,†she said, but they have the resources to find them. The Berkshire UCP is networked to UPC branches across the country.
UCP provides a great range of services that expand whenever a need arises. They pick up the slack, fill in the gaps, Singer said. Many agencies have restrictive state contracts. UCP works with many state agencies and steps in when they cannot. Berkshire UCP has recently won the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission award, she added. Mass Rehab helps people with disabilities to go to work, or to return to work. The Mass. Department of Mental Retardation gave Berkshire UPC an award for community partnerships.
UCP offers family support for families with disabled children. They provide educational advocacy for kids in school, mediating between between parents, kids and teachers. “They’re all nice people,†Singer said; “we smooth things over.†Teachers often use UPC as a resource to learn how to help disabled students.
UCP also provides teacher training in different communication softwares: writing through pictures, having the computer read the text, different ways for kids who have trouble speaking, reading or writing to communicate and create stories. UCP works with many special education programs. Schools across the county are developing assistive technology programs, technology to assist people with disabilities. UCP can supplement these programs.
With United Way funding and their own fund raising, UCP also helps people with disabilities to find and set up many kinds of assistive technology. Through the STEP phone program, for example, people with disabilities can apply for various free Verizon phones: a speaker and very lightweight phone for those who have difficulty lifting; a phone with large numbers for the vision impaired; TDY for the deaf. UCP also sets people up with remote controls with large numbers, bagel cutters, automated toasters and fans, lights that turn on at a hand clap, and other devices.
UPC staffers go to people’s homes to set up this equipment, or help to find professionals to install it. Mike Daigneault, Assistive Technology Specialist, helped Sheely to hook her computer recently, and Sharon Carroll, Director of Assistive Technology, made a house call in Montague to get a computer running. If equipment breaks, they will also find a way to fix it, and when they install equipment, they also teach its owner how to use it.
Some people like to come to the office, Singer said, but others cannot leave home easily. UCP does need space, but less than it might seem, because most of the staff is generally in the community, in homes, schools, libraries. UCP has also been growing. It has outgrown its North Street office in Pittsfield. It has added an office in North County, at 57 Main Street, North Adams.
Some of the most important things they do are subtle and difficult for state agencies to do, Slongwhite said. She takes one client shopping, for example. That kind of simple, daily interaction is important; one of the most vital things UCP can do is simply to get someone out of the house, she said. People who cannot get around easily often spend most of their time at home, and often alone.
UCP has a new incentive to bring people to the office as well. They opened their computer lab to the public — all the public — in 2000. They give low cost classes open to anyone the community, from raw beginners on up. The lab is equipped with a variety of assistive technologies.
Daigneault displayed a sip and puff device for a quadriplegic, which allowed him to select and double click with the mouse, by inhaling and blowing. He pointed out an infrared headmaster head set. Wearing it, someone can direct the mouse with a move of the head. It is also outfitted with a sip and puff. The lab has a Braille keyboard as well, and voice activated software that will follow spoken directions and write dictation. This software has to be trained to recognize each user’s way of speaking, he said, but with practice it gets to be within 99 percent accurate.
Outside the main office, UCP runs the Berkshire Toy Library, along with Girls Inc. and Berkshire Arc. They run play groups for children with and without disabilities and lend toys to members. It is a way for families to meet in an informal, safe place, and to bring children with and without disabilities together, singer said.
Slongwhite runs UCP’s integrated playgroup there Wednesdays from 12:30-2:30 p.m. She will also run the People Empowerment Program, a series of seasonal events to bring together young people with disabilities. And UCP runs Winners on Wheels, WOW, a girl scouts/boy scouts kind of program for children in wheelchairs.
At the North St. office, UCP has a wheelchair repair shop and a room full of walkers, canes, scooters, and ramps that they have had donated, and they loan these out, free.
And Groux’s Cruise patrol trains volunteers to spot and correctly report cars illegally parked in handicapped spaces. Illegality aside, Slongwhite said, drivers of handicapped accessible vans have to park in handicapped spaces: they need extra room to operate the lift, in order to get out of the car.
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Berkshire County Homes Celebrating Holiday Cheer
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
There's holiday cheer throughout the Berkshires this winter.
Many homeowners are showing their holiday spirit by decorating their houses. We asked for submissions so those in the community can check out these fanciful lights and decor when they're out.
We asked the homeowners questions on their decorations and why they like to light up their houses.
In Great Barrington, Matt Pevzner has decorated his house with many lights and even has a Facebook page dedicated to making sure others can see the holiday joy.
Located at 93 Brush Hill Road, there's more than 61,000 lights strewn across the yard decorating trees and reindeer and even a polar bear.
The Pevzner family started decorating in September by testing their hundreds of boxes of lights. He builds all of his own decorations like the star 10-foot star that shines done from 80-feet up, 10 10-foot trees, nine 5-foot trees, and even the sleigh, and more that he also uses a lift to make sure are perfect each year.
"I always decorated but I went big during COVID. I felt that people needed something positive and to bring joy and happiness to everyone," he wrote. "I strive to bring as much joy and happiness as I can during the holidays. I love it when I get a message about how much people enjoy it. I've received cards thanking me how much they enjoyed it and made them smile. That means a lot."
Pevzner starts thinking about next year's display immediately after they take it down after New Year's. He gets his ideas by asking on his Facebook page for people's favorite decorations. The Pevzner family encourages you to take a drive and see their decorations, which are lighted every night from 5 to 10.
In North Adams, the Wilson family decorates their house with fun inflatables and even a big Santa waving to those who pass by.
The Wilsons start decorating before Thanksgiving and started decorating once their daughter was born and have grown their decorations each year as she has grown. They love to decorate as they used to drive around to look at decorations when they were younger and hope to spread the same joy.
"I have always loved driving around looking at Christmas lights and decorations. It's incredible what people can achieve these days with their displays," they wrote.
The Wilsons' invite you to come and look at their display at 432 Church St. that's lit from 4:30 to 10:30 every night, though if it's really windy, the inflatables might not be up as the weather will be too harsh.
In Pittsfield, Travis and Shannon Dozier decorated their house for the first time this Christmas as they recently purchased their home on Faucett Lane. The two started decorating in November, and hope to bring joy to the community.
"If we put a smile on one child's face driving by, then our mission was accomplished," they said.
Many homeowners are showing their holiday spirit by decorating their houses. We asked for submissions so those in the community can check out these fanciful lights and decor when they're out.
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