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When Easterseals Pre-Vocational Services group enters the room, it is all hands (and paws) on deck to help Faithful Friends stay in tip top shape so they can continue the great work they do in the community. While the Easterseals participants are helping Faithful Friends, they are also learning valuable job skills that can lead to full-time, paid employment.

It is hard to find a group of people who bring dedication and a hard-working attitude but also smiles with them. The CHEER Center, which serves seniors in the Sussex County Region, found that in a group of volunteers from Easterseals Pre-Vocational Services. Participants at Easterseals love volunteering in the community, and thanks to this partnership, they are able to do just that while learning valuable work
skills.

Brian Perry, of Frederica, DE, is a world traveler, recently returning from Germany where he competed in the Special Olympics World Games as a swimming champion representing the United States. Meanwhile at home, his team at the café at Delaware State University, where he has worked for the last ten years through Easterseals’ Supported Employment program, was cheering him on.

In an instant, Mike and Virginia Minor’s lives changed forever. One minute they were enjoying time with family and, in what felt like the next minute, Virginia was in the hospital. She had experienced a stroke and then cardiac arrest. Gone was their old lifestyle. Mike was suddenly thrust into the role of caregiving, which can be very overwhelming and lonely. Thankfully, he found a group of people walking the same path with an Easterseals Caregiver Support group.

Doctors may have painted a bleak picture for little Demi Rodgers, who was born without an esophagus, the part of the body that connects the throat to the stomach, and Spina Bifida. However, the team of therapists at Easterseals Delaware & Maryland’s Eastern Shore is working side-by-side with her family, offering support and encouragement to help Demi meet her milestones.

It is a typical scene happening in many homes across the country, a family sharing a meal at the table. However, for the Shrieves family, this night is anything but typical. For the first time since two-year-old Cheyanne was born, the family is all eating the same meal. Easterseals speech therapy services helped this magical moment come true.

When Stella was born 10 weeks early, Amanda saw in her daughter a determination that carried her through many complications and eight weeks in the NICU. Between three and six months, Amanda and Jim, Stella’s parents, noticed Stella was not using her left arm and leg. They were shocked to learn she had had a stroke after birth. Wanting the best outcome for their daughter, they sought out Easterseals Children’s Therapy services.

Experiencing the joy and unconditional love that is Kenzie Pickett, of Lincoln, DE, is one of the world’s great gifts to offer. She can find a friend in any room and knows who needs a hug the most. Kenzie is a three-year-old girl full of sass, spirit and who also happens to have Down Syndrome. Kenzie is meeting her milestones with Easterseals by her side every step of the way.

Easterseals Delaware & Maryland’s Eastern Shore recently received a $25,000 grant through Discover Bank to support its Supported Employment program – a program that opens the door to meaningful work and competitive wages in the community for adults with intellectual disabilities, while providing employers with dedicated, productive employees.

Easterseals Delaware & Maryland’s Eastern Shore is delighted to announce that Conor Pellinger, of Berlin, MD, will serve as this year’s ambassador for their inaugural “Walk With Me & 5K Fun Run Salisbury” event. It will be held on Saturday, September 10, 2022 at 9 a.m., at the Salisbury Elks Lodge #817 located at 401 Churchill Avenue, Salisbury, MD.

When most young adults graduate from high school, they typically know which direction they are going to head, whether it be attending college or jumping right into a job. When Mikayla graduated from high school, she and her mom, Michele, knew exactly where to turn and it was the place where she began many years before -- Easterseals!