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Recently, Easterseals Delaware & Maryland’s Eastern Shore received a 55-gallon drum of hand sanitizer from P&G Dover Wipes Company, located in Dover, DE. This donation will help Easterseals meet guidelines when they start reopening many of their programs that are currently suspended due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

Recently, Maryland Delegates Jay Jacobs, Stephen Arentz, and Sheree Sample-Hughes toured Easterseals Camp Fairlee outside of Chestertown, MD to view improvements made possible through their support of Maryland Bond Bill funding.

There is nothing better than being in a room full of friends and familiar faces – even if it is a virtual room. Although Easterseals adult day programs reopened in the fall, many of the participants have not been able to return due to health factors. However, Easterseals Direct Support Professionals have not let that stop them from connecting through virtual platforms with participants like Toni Parago.

Easterseals Supported Employment program has been an essential part of our community, Easterseals participant’s lives, and the companies who benefit from the hard-working employees in the program. Easterseals Supported Employment gives adults with intellectual disabilities, including autism, the choice to experience the community through individualized employment. The program matches participants with jobs in local businesses so they can earn competitive wages with the assistance of job coaching and training.

Easterseals Delaware & Maryland’s Eastern Shore recently received a highly sought-after $30,000 Quality of Life grant from The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. Easterseals was one of only 17 grantees nationwide awarded funds from this foundation this year. The grant money will be used to install cameras within the Easterseals Resource Center to allow virtual tours for consumers with disabilities, including paralysis, and their caregivers.

Mikayla Buterbaugh, of Newark (formerly of Middletown), recently testified at Delaware’s Joint Finance Budget Hearing sharing her experience with Easterseals and pleading with the committee to ensure fair pay for Direct Support Professionals, who support adults with disabilities like Mikayla.

Easterseals Delaware & Maryland’s Eastern Shore employee, Jennifer Cossa, of Hartly, DE, has been recognized as one of the top five Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) in Delaware for her leadership in supporting people with disabilities. Pamela Montague, of Georgetown, DE, was awarded Honorable Mention in the Advocate category. Cossa, who supports individuals attending the day program for adults with intellectual disabilities in Dover and Montague, who supports individuals in Easterseals Supported Employment program, were nominated by their supervisors and honored at an annual event held by the Ability Network of Delaware.

Easterseals Delaware & Maryland’s Eastern Shore recently appointed Maggie Webb, of Bear, DE, as the Chief Compliance Officer. Webb has been working for Easterseals since 2018.

An “Adaptive Canoe/Kayak Program” to help participants with physical disabilities gain greater independence through water sports at Easterseals Camp Fairlee is the winner of the third annual “Bill Adami Fund for Innovation” award. Camp Fairlee, located in Chestertown, MD, serves children and adults with disabilities.

Verna Hensley is the mother of Julia Hensley and the vice president of public affairs at Easterseals Delaware and Maryland's Eastern Shore. "Most parents of children in their twenties are contemplating 'empty nest' syndrome, but it's a different syndrome that haunts me each day. Trisomy 9 Syndrome, a rare chromosome abnormality, entered my world almost 23 years ago when my daughter, Julia, was born."