Imagine bringing almost 350 people together from 7 different cities, some as far as 200 miles away, to the same place at the same time for a grand celebration! Well, it happened in Wisconsin on September 10th when a statewide joint event for all Wisconsin employees and supported individuals was held at the Milwaukee County Zoo. The group gathered to celebrate Dungarvin’s 40th anniversary and Dungarvin Wisconsin’s 20th anniversary.

Although the event was held at the zoo, the theme for the day was baseball. Everyone scored as the day began with a catered luncheon followed by the All Stars Employee Recognition honoring the 4+ year employees, the employees with milestone anniversaries, the DSP nominees for Employee of the Year, the recipient of ANCOR’s 2015 DSP of the Year award and the recipient of the Peggy Porter Award.

For the next few innings, everyone had their choice to tour the zoo and/or to partake in face painting/tattoos, various games and a scavenger hunt. Pictured below are several managers and members of the Executive Team as they congregated in the dug-out to strategize their next play for guiding folks towards the zoo attractions.

Pictured below are folks as they enjoyed touring the zoo!

During the final inning of the day, all players reconvened at home plate for the exciting announcement of the winners of the card design contest which was conducted during the summer. Dungarvin’s founders, Diane and Tim Madden, announced the two winners and presented each of them with a Visa gift card. The lucky recipients were Chris Nelson, who receives supports in the Sheboygan area, and Amanda Gretzinger, CSP from Marinette. Congratulations to Chris and Amanda!! Also, many thanks to the other participants in the contest for sharing their artistic talents.

Diane and Tim Madden announcing card design winner Chris:

Description of Chris’s design: Chris thinks it would be cool to own a Federation ship and how cool it would be exploring with family, friends and Dungarvin staff.

Diane and Tim Madden announcing card design winner Amanda:

Description of Amanda’s design: The images of the two Phoenixes represent one helping the other one which has a disability and cannot fly on its own. Amanda thinks it’s a good allegory for the help Dungarvin gives to individuals, helping them to spread their wings and fly.

There were no strike outs that day. It was a day of celebration, full of food, fun, and activities. It is a rare occasion that staff and individuals supported by Dungarvin Wisconsin come together in one place at the same time. It was an incredible opportunity to have everyone together to recognize the amazing people we support and our incredible staff.

Jacob A. has always enjoyed art.

When he first started in services with Dungarvin in 2014, Jacob used art as a daily activity. Eventually he was able to start day service with Wabash Center in the Greenbush Industries workshop. Working with rivets, he quickly excelled as one of the top performers in his area. Although Jacob liked what he was doing, he soon expressed that he sometimes got bored and wanted to try more jobs, leading him to participate in other areas such as cutting paper, working with nuts and bolts, and various other placements.

Still, he wanted to do more with his art. To help make this happen, his Dungarvin behaviorist, Katie Mitchell, called a local art studio called La La Gallery. Through this contact Jacob was able to start working with a local artist named Angela once a week. Jacob enjoyed this experience so much, he soon expressed a desire to participate in an art class. Jacob’s team was excited to share with him that there were classes offered through the Greater La Fayette Art Museum in various areas of art.

A challenge soon presented itself. The classes were $180 for a six week period. Although Jacob made good money at his day program, this expense was pushing the limit of what he could afford. When presented with the opportunity to apply for a scholarship that were available for people who wanted to take the class but couldn’t afford it, Jacob eagerly completed an application. On it, Jacob had to identify why he wanted to take an art class. He explained that art was a way he coped with problems that he experienced in life. Through his art, he could express his feelings, and because of this, he wanted to learn more about drawing. In addition, Jacob also wanted to meet more people who had a similar interest in art as he did.

We were all excited that Jacob won the scholarship for the program…for the FULL $180 tuition course cost! Jacob attended his six week course, on Rendering/Drawing 1, for six weeks this past September and October. We can’t wait to see his next artistic endeavor!